RUNDOWN
WICHITA FALLS, Texas -- Devante Pullum poured in 28 points to lead hot-shooting Midwestern State to a 96-82 win over Oklahoma City in exhibition play Monday night at D.L. Ligon Coliseum.
 
The junior from Little Elm was nearly perfect connecting on 8-of-11 shots, while knocking down five 3-pointers as MSU went 53.6 -percent from the field.
 
The Mustangs opened up a 22-point lead in the opening half then had to hold off a hard charging Oklahoma City squad which buried 11 triples of its own in the second half including seven by senior guard Terence Bonhomme, who finished with a game-high 31 points.
 
It wasn't enough to overcome a steady diet of unselfish basketball as the Mustangs finished exhibition play hitting on at least 50-percent of its shots in each half while going 21-of-42 from the arc.
 
Pullum, who also dished six assists, was one of five players in double figures for MSU joined by junior guard Brandon Neel (15 points, 4 assists), senior guard Pat Smith (14 points, 4 steals), junior forward Igor Ibaka (12 points, 7 rebounds, 3 blocks) and junior forward Nick Powell (11 points, 4 rebounds).
 
The Stars managed to pulled to within 11 points at 79-68 on Bonhomme's four-point play with 7:27 to go, but would get no closer than a dozen the rest of the way.
 
NOTES
* Midwestern State has won the last four times against Oklahoma City in combined regular season and exhibition play. OCU won 17 of the 18 meetings while both programs were in the NAIA from 1947-95.
* Junior guard Devante Pullum splashed in five 3-pointers on his way to a 28-point, 6 assists performance. He scored 19 points in a 68-57 win over Colorado State-Pueblo in 2014-15.
* Senior guard Pat Smith scored 14 points in each of MSU's exhibition games going 10-of-16 from the field with five 3-pointers.
* Junior guard Brandon Neel averaged 12.5 points and 3.5 rebounds in exhibition play.
* Junior forward Igor Ibaka booked averages of 13.5 points and 8.5 rebounds with three blocked shots in wins over USAO and Oklahoma City.
* Junior forward Nick Powell scored 10 points per game off of the bench while going 7-for-11 from the field in exhibition play.
* Senior guard Sheldon Hagigal (15 points vs. USAO) and junior Shawn Nottingham (22 points vs. USAO) did not play due to injury.
 
STAT OF THE GAME
89.7 percent -- Midwestern State connected on 26-of-29 shots from the free throw line as a team.
 
NEXT GAME
Midwestern State opens the regular season against No. 23-ranked Arkansas-Fort Smith Friday night in the Rogers State Classic in Claremore. Tipoff is set for 5 p.m.