By Alex Burr | @alexburr4
Sports Capital Journalism Program
INDIANAPOLIS — Avery Anderson kept the Oklahoma State Cowboys alive, and Cade Cunningham finished the job to help deliver the win.
Cunningham, an All-American, scored 14 of his 15 points in the second half, to lead the fourth-seeded Cowboys to a 69-60 victory over the Liberty Flames. Cunningham showed why many projected him to the first pick in the NBA Draft, hitting clutch 3-point shots and imposing his will.
Oklahoma State (21-8) advanced to a second-round game against Oregon State with its first NCAA Tournament win since 2009. Anderson finished with 21 points, six rebounds, three steals and a block in the win, while Cunningham finished with 15 points and 5 rebounds. For the Flames, Elijah Cuffee led the way with 16 points.
For the Cowboys, the victory was the second in NCAA play in the last 16 years. A program that won national championships in 1945 and 1946 under coach Hank Iba and reached the Final Four in 1995 and 2004 under Eddie Sutton will meet Oregon State on Sunday night with a chance to reach a regional semifinal for the first time since 2005.
Liberty (23-6) had a chance to win first-round games in consecutive NCAA tournaments for the first time in school history. The Flames, who have a 1-5 record in the tournament, defeated Mississippi State in the first round in 2019.
In the first half, Cunningham, a first-team All American and finalist for the Wayman Tisdale Award as National Freshman of the Year, was held to 1-for-6 shooting. He was limited by the stout Liberty defense, which came into the game third in the nation in fewest points allowed per game. With the Flames trailing 20-17 with 5:11 minutes left in the first half, Anderson scored the last 10 Cowboy points with Cunningham on the bench to keep Oklahoma State within three points, 30-27, at the half.
For Anderson, stepping up when his team needs him on both ends is simply what he does. “I don’t put as much as pressure on myself,” Anderson said. “I just go out there every time and do what I need to do for my team to win games. My team had needed some scoring, so luckily I have good teammates that saw I got it going early, and they kept feeding me the ball.”
When asked about his defensive impact, with the three steals and the block, Anderson was glad to be able to contribute. “That means I’m doing my job, being active on the defensive end so I can help my team get out and run,” Anderson said. “Getting hands on loose balls, making high jumping plays and getting blocks.”
With the game tied at 39 with 13:56 left in the second half, the Cowboys went on a 8-0 run that gave them a lead they never relinquished. For the Flames, it was clear the length of the Cowboys bothered them at both ends of the court. Coach Ritchie McKay noted how Oklahoma State’s length and athleticism bothered the Flames, especially with the guard duo of Darius McGhee and Chris Parker shooting 4 for 13 and 3 for 10, respectively. “I think they were incredibly physical with those two guys,” McKay said. “….Their length, athleticism, and physicality bothered them.”
Oklahoma State coach Mike Boynton was asked about Cunningham’s closing ability, and if he ever doubted the ability of Cunningham to bounce back from his poor first half. “I know how he’s wired,” Boynton said. “And I know that he wants to play to win. And if that means he’s got to score 10 points and get other guys involved … he’s comfortable with that.”
Boynton said his team held firm and kept attacking. “Yeah, I actually thought we got off to a pretty good start and it was our defense that was leading us,” Boynton said. “So it took a little bit for our guys to get adjusted to it, but I thought we made the proper adjustments to start the second half and trying to just will ourselves to the basket and get ourselves to the free throw line and it ended up paying big dividends for us.”
