g class. The womens team had a 20-win season that Yow said without any question deserved an NCAA bid for third-year coach Wes Moore.Were going to sail, Yow said while praising Moores recruiting. W

STILLWATER, Okla. -- Phil Forte scored 31 points and Jawun Evans contributed 23 points, eight assists and five rebounds to lead Oklahoma State to a 102-90 victory over Central Arkansas on Monday.Jeffrey Carroll provided a spark off the bench once again for Oklahoma State (2-0), scoring 20 points and grabbing a game-high 11 rebounds.Forte, a sixth-year senior, fell one point shy of his career high. He finished fourth in the Big 12 in scoring in 2014-15 before he missed all but the first three games of last year with an elbow injury.I thought Phil was incredible tonight, at both ends of the court, said first-year Oklahoma State coach Brad Underwood, who earned his second victory. He was the one guy I thought was very dialed in.Jordan Howard scored 28 points for Central Arkansas (0-2), while Mathieu Kamba contributed 19 points -- 14 in the second half -- and 10 rebounds.The game was much closer than the score would indicate, despite the fact that Central Arkansas never led at all. When Howard sank a 3 with 11:57 remaining to cap a 12-4 run, the Bears trailed just 63-62, but Oklahoma State responded with 11 consecutive points over the next 2:47 to finally put the game out of reach. Central Arkansas never got closer than nine points the rest of the way.Im really proud of the guys and Im proud of the effort they put forth, said Central Arkansas coach Russ Pennell. We competed at a high level and thats one of the things Ive been wanting our guys to do. We bothered them with our pressure and when we got behind, we fought back.BIG PICTURECentral Arkansas: Howard continues to prove he can perform at a high level. After scoring 12 points and eight rebounds Friday night in a 79-47 loss to No. 9 Wisconsin, he put forth another impressive outing. Howard shot 7-for-13 from the floor, went 10 of 11 from the free throw line and matched a career-high with three steals.Oklahoma State: The Cowboys under Underwood still have plenty of work left to do. This game was a lot closer than it should have been, as Oklahoma State turned the ball over 17 times, leading to 26 Central Arkansas points. The Cowboys also committed 30 fouls, putting Central Arkansas on the foul line 39 times (of which the Bears converted 28 for 71.8 percent). Starting forward Mitchell Solomon and freshman reserve Cameron McGriff both fouled out by the time there was 7:51 remaining, and two more players finished the game with four fouls.I think lack of communication is a big part of it, Underwood said of all the fouls. We dont understand that fouling is a defensive mistake. Weve obviously got to eliminate that problem.TIP-INSOklahoma State heaved up a lot of 3-point attempts, shooting 10 of 29 from beyond the arc. Forte led the way, going 4-for-10. . For the second straight game, Oklahoma State enjoyed the edge in bench production, outscoring Central Arkansas 36-26 off the bench, after holding a 45-30 advantage over Campbell in its opener. . Oklahoma State recorded 20 assists on 34 baskets after totaling just 10 in the opener.HE SAID ITTheres not enough adjectives to describe Phil, in my book, Underwood said of Forte. His value to our team will outlast his days in uniform here. Hes one of the hardest-working guys Ive ever been around. Hes becoming a very vocal leader, hes everything that a college student-athlete is about. He means the world to me, he means the world to this program and he means the world to our locker room. His play is speaking for itself right now.UP NEXTCentral Arkansas will next travel to West Point, N.Y., to take on Chattanooga, which has started out 1-1, as part of the first round of the Maui Jim Maui Invitational tournament on Saturday.Oklahoma State remains at home to take on New Orleans on Saturday. The Privateers opened its season with a 103-67 win over Division III La Grange on Friday.---This version corrects to show Jawun Evans had eight assists instead of eight steals. Fake Blues Jerseys . -- The goal posts lying flat on the field, Arizonas fans lingered on the field, congregating around the locker room entrance nearly 30 minutes after rushing out of the stands. Blues Jerseys China . Both players have lower body injuries that will keep them out of the lineup until at least January 31, which is the first game they can be activated from IR. https://www.cheapblues.com/ . Now that hes hitting streaking teammates with pin-point passes for easy layups, Love is asserting himself as one of the true superstars in the league. Cheap Blues Jerseys . The incident occurred at 19:56 of the second period of the Kings 4-2 road win over Edmonton on Sunday. Nolan punched Oilers forward Jesse Joensuu in the jaw in front of the Kings goal during a scrum. Wholesale Blues Jerseys . Belfort (24-10) needed just 77 seconds to down Henderson in the headlining bout of Saturdays "UFC Fight Night: Belfort vs. Henderson" event at Goiania Arena in Goiania, Brazil. The fight served as a rematch of the pairs 2006 meeting, which Henderson won by decision. RALEIGH, N.C. -- North Carolina State athletic director Debbie Yow knows the work to build a national top-25 sports program is even tougher now with the Wolfpack hovering near the edge of that goal.In fact, Yow said in an interview with The Associated Press, completing the final steps of that climb could be more difficult than it was to reach the schools current position.Were now into an area where there are very good coaches everywhere, programs that are well-resourced, facilities that are excellent, she said. We have to overcome all of that. Weve got to take someones place. And yeah, that is our goal and I said that the day I was hired six years ago. And it still is.N.C. State stood at 89th in the Directors Cup rankings of Division I sports programs when Yow arrived from Maryland in the summer of 2010. It finished at No. 32 in last weeks final standings for the 2015-16 season after posting its best finish at No. 27 the year before.The school has been ahead of the annual schedule laid out in a five-year strategic plan from 2012. The coming season is the target date to reach top-25 status.We put a stake in the ground. Thats how you have to do this, Yow said. You cant be afraid to put a stake in the ground and then go for it . or (you cant) say, `I cant do that because we might not make it, because thats a horrible way to live.When Yow arrived, N.C. State was coming off a season in which one team finished in the top 25 of its national rankings, while the Wolfpack spent about $78,000 annually per student-athlete, according to the schools report to the U.S. Department of Educations gender equity database.That number has grown to about $109,000 in the most recent numbers for 2014-15 to rank near the middle of the Atlantic Coast Conference. And last year, nine programs earned top-25 finishes, with cross country, mens swimming and diving, and womens swimming and diving finishing in the top 10.The highest-profile sports had mixed results.dddddddddddd. Football made a second straight bowl appearance but fell a win shy of the previous years total. Both basketball programs missed the NCAA Tournament. Baseball was a regional host and a strike away from eliminating eventual College World Series champion Coastal Carolina.Yow -- a former womens basketball coach at Kentucky, Florida and Oral Roberts -- is particularly optimistic about the season ahead for both basketball programs.Hampered by injuries and a shorthanded roster, the mens team missed the NCAAs for the first time in five years under Mark Gottfried but welcomes Scout.coms No. 6-ranked national recruiting class. The womens team had a 20-win season that Yow said without any question deserved an NCAA bid for third-year coach Wes Moore.Were going to sail, Yow said while praising Moores recruiting. Were going to be good. Were going to be fun to watch.That enthusiasm extends to the near-completion of a $35 million revamp to Reynolds Coliseum.Work began in March 2015, displacing womens basketball, volleyball, gymnastics and wrestling into temporary venues. The project included shifting the seating bowl to one end of the nearly 70-year-old campus arena, opening space for new team offices and the Wolfpacks sports walk of fame.Teams are due to return next month. Yow said the campus covered about $15 million to share costs with athletics in a project on schedule and under budget, two of my favorite phrases.I think weve maximized what it will be and can be, she said. Because the walk of fame and history is there, it will become important to football and mens basketball because theyll have big displays there. So well be taking recruits in all sports through there. Weve never had any place like that.---Follow Aaron Beard on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/aaronbeardap ' ' '