Smart Apologizes For Saturday's Outburst

Marcus Smart has enjoyed considerably more good days than bad in his two-year career in Stillwater but Saturday was arguably the worst to date.

Anything that could go wrong did for the All-American sophomore in an 81-75 Cowboy victory against West Virginia and the numbers back it up: four points, 1-for-7 shooting, three turnovers and five fouls. But, for as poorly as things went for him on the floor, it was his sideline antics that have drawn the loudest criticisms.

As a result of obvious frustration, Smart repeatedly kicked one of the chairs on the bench in the first half before having another outburst in the second where he snapped at OSU coach Travis Ford prior to leaving for the locker room for a few minutes while the game was in play.

Smart is usually an intense player, but that intensity tends to manifest itself in his style of play rather than in his emotions. It was so uncharacteristic, in fact, that it prompted Smart to issue a public apology on Twitter Saturday night.

He released this statement on his account @smart_MS3: "Today wasn't one of my most proudest moments I lost my composure and left my team hanging it won't happen again and I apologize to my team"

He followed up that Tweet with another one tagging several of his teammates saying, "my bad fellas good win."

Smart leads the team in scoring at 17.1 points per game and also averages 5.7 rebounds, 4.4 assists, 2.5 steals and 2.6 turnovers.

The No. 11 Cowboys (16-3, 4-2 Big 12) travel to Norman to take on Bedlam rival No. 25 Oklahoma (16-4, 5-2) on Monday at 8 p.m.