Oklahoma State basketball: Cowboys rout Texas Tech

Now, what would really boost these Pokes: a win away from GIA.

Yeah, that old line, again, for a team that has had so much trouble on the road in the Big 12.

And here they go again, on the road Monday in a quick turnaround, at Baylor, for a special Martin Luther King Day appearance on ESPN (tip time 4:30 p.m.).

At least the Cowboys will head to Waco with renewed confidence, which came abundantly against Tech.

“This is definitely a game we needed,” said OSU guard Markel Brown, who scored a game-high 21 points and handed out six assists. “Coming off three losses in four games, we needed this game to get back in our rhythm, to get back to playing the way we played at the beginning of the season.

“And we need this game going on the road to play Baylor, a big rebounding team. And we needed it to help us get our offense flowing again. It should help us come Monday.”

OSU, improving to 12-4 overall and 2-2 in the conference, built an early double-digit lead, got everybody involved — even the long-lost Marek Soucek — and cruised to the comfortable win. The 34-point margin is the largest over a Big 12 foe since a 2000 beating of Nebraska and the fourth-largest for OSU in the Big 12 era.

Brown, with his second 20-point scoring game of the season, turned in a sharp performance, making 6-of-8 shots from the floor and adding six assists. Phil Forte added 19 off the bench, fueled by a 4-for-7 effort from beyond the 3-point line.

OSU dominated on the boards, outrebounding Tech 43-26, and held the Red Raiders to four field goals in the second half, when they shot just 18.2 percent from the floor.