With just over eight minutes played tonight at Gallagher-Iba Arena in Stillwater, the 11th-ranked Tigers were tied with the 7th-ranked Oklahoma State Cowboys.
That’s the last indication the two teams belong on the same floor.
Preseason All-America Marcus Smart outscored Memphis 24-20 over the first 12 minutes on his way to a career-high 39 points in the Cowboys’ fourth blowout victory of the season.
It was only the second game under coach Josh Pastner that the Tigers have allowed 100 points, the first being a 104-84 loss at Tennessee on January 5, 2011.
Freshman forward Nick King led the Tigers with 23 points and 8 rebounds while Shaq Goodwin added 13 and 7. The Tigers’ vaunted quartet of senior guards — Joe Jackson, Chris Crawford, Geron Johnson, and Michael Dixon — combined to score 21 points.
OSU won by 21 points despite taking nine fewer shots. Memphis missed 11 of 13 from three-point range and shot 40 percent (28 for 70) for the game.
The loss drops the Tigers (1-1) to 0-7 against Top-10 teams in five seasons under Pastner. And it rings an all-too-familiar bell for Memphis fans long accustomed to the Tigers beating up on lesser competition (Austin Peay), falling short against power teams, then licking their wounds against more weak sisters (Nicholls State this Saturday?). The Tigers’ next real test will come with three games at the Old Spice Classic in Orlando on Thanksgiving weekend. Among the teams in the field near Disney World: Oklahoma State.
