STILLWATER — Mike Boynton’s eyes quickly turned red and tears began to trickle down his cheeks as he spoke about freshman Brandon Garrison’s shimmering performance in Oklahoma State’s hard-to-swallow overtime loss to Baylor on Saturday afternoon.

For a coach who invests so much emotion in his players, the tears were not as surprising as Garrison’s 20 points, eight rebounds and four blocked shots against a top-20 opponent — by far the most impressive showing of his true freshman season.

And from where Garrison started the year — he had one point, no rebounds and no blocks in the season opener — this was the most significant in-game sign of what the 6-foot-11 McDonald’s All-American from Del City could become.

“Just 19 years old, he, um… he’s special,” Boynton said as his voice began to hang on the knot in his throat. “He’s gonna get better. He’s gotten better.

“He just shows up and does his job. I’m sorry for getting emotional, but I’m just proud of him, because we needed this from him today. To see him give us a chance … it was big-time.”

With Garrison and fellow freshman Eric Dailey Jr. in the starting lineup, these Cowboys are going to need young players to grow up in the spotlight of Big 12 basketball.

The Cowboys (8-6, 0-1 Big 12) have back-to-back road games this week, starting with a 7 p.m. Tuesday contest at Texas Tech, and that will provide another new test for Garrison in his first conference road game.

More: Oklahoma State basketball: 5 things to know about OSU Cowboys going into Big 12 play

Garrison recently said the game was beginning to slow down for him, but of course, Saturday brought an uptick in intensity with a Big 12 opponent — and Garrison felt it.

“I wouldn’t say I was nervous,” Garrison said. “It was just little jitters, just the Big 12, everybody talking about how it’s the best conference. It’s all gone now.”

While Saturday’s point total, and his overall impact on the game, were significantly bigger than anything he’d done prior, the signs of his growth were beginning to show in the box score.

Garrison had a season-high 11 points two games earlier as part of his first career double-double. He’s averaged 7.6 rebounds per game since the beginning of December. He’s dished out 13 assists in the last five games. And he has at least two blocks in seven of the last nine, averaging 2.6 per game in that span.

“The truth of it is, he’s still just scratching the surface of what he can be,” Boynton said. “He really doesn’t know how good he can be yet, which is probably a good thing, because he doesn’t have a corrupted mind. He’s not in a rush to go somewhere. That’s a big part of the reason he’s been able to get better.”

Even Baylor coach Scott Drew was at a loss to describe the effort he saw from Garrison, considering Drew was among the many coaches trying to recruit Garrison out of Del City.

“When we sign guys they don’t grow,” Drew said, referencing Garrison, who was listed at 6-foot-9 when he committed to OSU but now measures 2 inches taller. “I loved him out of high school. I saw him play a lot. Loved his motor, loved his intangibles and character.

“He’s active and long and really made it tough to score around the rim.”

More: Five things to know about Oklahoma State men's basketball team for 2023-24 season

Garrison showed the capability of scoring inside against a strong opponent. He held his own defensively, and ran the floor when his team needed it. Two of his blocked shots turned into fastbreaks in which he scored on the other end.

“I’ve seen a lot of growth, trying to do what he can to get better,” senior guard Bryce Thompson said. “Coming in early, getting in shots, staying later for film, just the little things. And I think it’s showing. When you continue to put the work in like he has, it allows you to play a little more freely.”

The Cowboys have a long way to go to erase the difficult start to the season that included five losses in the first eight games. And the Big 12 schedule won’t make life any easier.

But Garrison’s growth at center could become a major factor for a team that has its most experience on the perimeter.

“I’m not gonna promise he’s gonna get 20, eight and four every night,” Boynton said, “but we’re gonna see him grow into a player that our fans will appreciate and that'll help us in a lot of games moving forward.”

Scott Wright covers Oklahoma State athletics for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Scott? He can be reached at swright@oklahoman.com or on Twitter at @ScottWrightOK. Sign up for the Oklahoma State Cowboys newsletter to access more OSU coverage. Support Scott’s work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com or by using the link at the top of this page.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma State basketball's Brandon Garrison starting to show potential