Jaylen Curry scored 18 points, Anthony Roy scored all of his 16 points in the final eight-plus minutes, and Oklahoma State beat Northwestern 86-81 on Thursday night in the Thanksgiving Classic at the United Center.
Vyctorius Miller added 17 points for Oklahoma State (7-0), and Parsa Fallah had 13 points and 11 rebounds. Christian Coleman scored 10.
The Cowboys are off to their best start since the 2019-20 team also won its first seven games.
Nick Martinelli scored a season-high 28 points on 12-of-16 shooting and grabbed 10 rebounds, his first double-double this season, for Northwestern (5-2). Angelo Ciaravino scored 11 of his 14 points in the second half, and Arrinten Page scored 11.
Ciaravino scored six consecutive Northwestern points before Martinelli converted a three-point play to trim the deficit to a point with 34 seconds left. Kanye Clary, Miller and Isaiah Coleman each made 2 of 2 from the free-throw line from there to seal it.
It was the first matchup between the programs.
Roy made three 3-pointers and Miller added another in a 16-4 run that gave the Cowboys a eight-point lead — their biggest of the game — with 6:05 to play.
Curry on Sunday became the first player in program history with at least 30 points and 10 assists in a game in a 92-81 win over Nicholls.
Up next
Oklahoma State: The Cowboys host Sam Houston on Tuesday.
Northwestern: The Wildcats open their Big Ten schedule Wednesday at Wisconsin.
