Nash & Forte Lead OSU Past No. 10 Texas

Finally, the win they were looking for.

Le'Bryan Nash and Phil Forte each scored 20 to lead Oklahoma State's upset of No. 10 Texas 69-58 on Saturday in Stillwater.

Playing their third ranked opponent of the season, the Cowboys entered Saturday's contest in desperate need of a high-quality win to headline their NCAA Tournament resume. A date with the tenth-ranked Longhorns provided an opportunity and the Pokes took advantage.

The game was tied at 28-28 at halftime and the early stages of the second half became Nash vs. Demarcus Holland. Holland made a layup to give Texas a 32-28 lead only to be answered by Nash's layup. Holland responded with another short bucket but on the ensuing possession, Nash knocked down a jumper. Holland came right back and drilled a jumper of his own, only to be answered by another Nash layup. After an empty Texas possession, Nash got the rim again and finished to tie the game at 36-36.

Later in the half with the game tied at 39-39, Forte began to heat up. Forte drilled one from downtown to break the tie, and after Prince Ibeh's tip in for UT, Forte drained another 3-ball. Anthony Hickey's 3-pointer put the Pokes up 48-42 with 10:53 to play but Texas wasn't done yet.

Back to back buckets brought the Longhorns within 6:08 to play, but that was as close as they got. Hickey responded with a short shot and then OSU got a surprise 3-pointer from Tavarius Shine. Shine's jumper gave OSU a 58-50 lead and essentially ended Texas' hopes.

Nash and Forte's combined 40 points came very efficiently. The two stars combined to shoot 17-29 and for just two turnovers.

Hickey was the unsung hero of this contest. The former LSU Tiger grabbed nine rebounds to go with his 10 points and handed out seven assists to just one turnover.

Freshman Myles Turner led the Longhorns with 18 points, six rebounds and five blocks. Jonathan Holmes had a rough day – the senior shot 0-10 from the floor (0-5 from deep) and finished with zero points.

This is OSU's second home win over a top-10 opponent in as many years. The Cowboys beat No. 5 Kansas on Mar. 1 of last season.

Oklahoma State (12-3, 2-1) is back in action Tuesday night at Kansas.