Orlando, FL (SportsNetwork.com) - Marcus Smart scored 30 points and fifth- ranked Oklahoma State put together a dominant first half en route to a 97-87 decision over Purdue in the tip-off game of the Old Spice Classic.
Smart put up 24 of his points during an opening period in which the Cowboys (6-0) scored at will in building a commanding 52-29 lead. Markel Brown finished with 25 points and six rebounds in the win, with Le'Bryan Nash adding 16 points for Oklahoma State.
The Cowboys advance to face unbeaten Butler, a 76-69 victor over Washington State, in Friday's winner's bracket.
Bryson Scott totaled 18 points in the loss, the first of the season for Purdue (5-1), with Errick Peck netting 12. The Boilermakers will take on Washington State Friday in the consolation round.
Oklahoma State began to pull away via a 9-0 run in which seven of its points came from the foul line, though Nash capped the spurt with a layup that put the cold-shooting Boilermakers in a 17-6 hole with 12:49 left in the period.
A Peck 3-pointer nearing the midway mark of the frame enabled Purdue to close within 19-14, but Smart drained a trio of attempts from beyond the arc during a 13-3 surge that extended the Cowboys' advantage to 15 points.
Another trey from Smart ignited one more big run for OSU, an 8-0 flurry that increased the margin to 48-25 entering the final 3 1/2 minutes of the half. During that time frame, Purdue's Jay Simpson was ejected for a flagrant foul on the Cowboys' Leyton Hammonds.
"When you make mistakes like that you deserve what happened to us," said Boilermakers head coach Matt Painter, "[Simpson] got frustrated and made a foolish decision and it's too bad, but hopefully he can learn from it. He's simply gotta grow up."
Purdue came out strong after the break, however, outscoring the Cowboys by a 12-3 count over the first three minutes of the second half. Ronnie Johnson accounted for the last nine points of the swing, which cut the Boilermakers' deficit to 55-41.
Oklahoma State countered with an 8-2 burst to regain the momentum, with Brown's dunk off a Smart feed with 15 1/2 minutes left to play.
Smart picked up a technical foul around four minutes later, however, giving him four for the game. Purdue capitalized with the Cowboys' star player on the bench, scoring 12 straight points at one stage to bring the differential under double digits.
A 3-point play by Peck followed by a Terone Johnson triple cut the lead to 79-71 with 6 1/2 minutes remaining, and the spread was dwindled down to six when Scott canned a pair of free throws just prior to the 5-minute mark.
"Purdue's a good team and at halftime [Cowboys head coach Travis Ford] let us know that they were going to make a run," said Brown.
Purdue kept chipping away down the stretch, pulling within 84-80 on a Kendall Stephens 3-pointer with 3:17 to go. However, Oklahoma State scored on each of its next four possessions during an 8-2 run that finally put the Boilermakers away.
"They get an A for finishing," Ford said of his team. "A lot lower grades in the middle of the second half, but how we finished ... I liked it."
Game Notes
The Cowboys finished 33-of-44 from the free throw line, with Brown making all eight of his attempts, while Purdue went just 19-of-30 from the stripe to offset a 10-of-20 success rate from 3-point range ... Oklahoma State was 6- of-11 from the perimeter, marking only the second time this season it has been held to under 10 3-point makes ... The Boilermakers fell to 19-77 all-time against top-five opponents ... Oklahoma State also won the only previous meeting between the schools, a 67-48 verdict in November of 1991.
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