Oklahoma State basketball: Le'Bryan Nash scores 28 as Cowboys rout TCU

Nash responded with a career-high 28 points and Smart added nine points, five assists, three steals and his usual directorial job as the No. 15 Cowboys improved to 21-6 overall, 11-4 in the Big 12.

And for Nash, it was a much more memorable experience than his only previous return to the area as a Cowboy, last year's double-overtime win over SMU, when he managed but four points on 2-of-10 shooting in 28 minutes.

This time, Nash kept creating exploiting mismatches with any Horned Frog defender he found charged with guarding him, finishing 12-of-16 from the floor while repeatedly taking the ball to the hole on a variety of slashing drives, or taking open feeds for dunks.

“It felt good,” said Nash, who was a standout at Lincoln High in south Dallas. “I had a lot of people here for me, a lot of people I haven't seen in a long time. I tried to invite them to the game, ‘Come out and see the game.'

“I'm glad I had a good game; because last year, against SMU, I didn't. It was fun. And it was a good win. That's the most important thing.” The Horned Frogs have presented little trouble for Big 12 opponents, with the exception of their still stunning upset of Kansas three weeks prior. And Cowboys coach Travis Ford reminded his team of that outcome regularly through the week.

“Every second,” Nash said.

Yet this game never seemed in doubt, especially after OSU used a 12-1 run to close out the first half for a 38-24 lead. The Cowboys pushed the margin as high as 20 in the second half and was never threatened in winning their fifth straight conference road game.

“I mentioned to the guys before the game, in my opinion, that's as versatile a team as we have in our league,” said Horned Frogs coach Trent Johnson. “They can play fast. They can play slow.