Marcus Smart tweets apology

ByABC News
January 26, 2014, 11:47 AM

— -- Oklahoma State star Marcus Smart apologized to his teammates on Twitter late Saturday for his behavior earlier in the day during the Cowboys' victory over West Virginia.

Smart, one of the top prospects in this year's NBA draft, scored a season-low four points Saturday and played just 25 minutes before fouling out of what was an extremely physical contest.

West Virginia's game plan was to bring the contact to Smart, who entered the contest as the Big 12's leading scorer. Smart took to Twitter after the game, acknowledging that he lost his composure.

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

— marcus smart (@smart_MS3) January 26, 2014

Smart also sent a follow-up tweet to several of his teammates, including Le'Bryan Nash, who scored a career-high 29 points in Oklahoma State's 81-75 victory.

@PhilForte13 @iMarkelBrown22 @YoungCobbo20 @Oakstate_Murphy @KingNash02 @B_Will4 @Leyfro23 @_JeffreyCarroll my bad fellas good win

— marcus smart (@smart_MS3) January 26, 2014

Smart was visibly upset throughout the game and spent much of his playing time picking himself up off the ground. The sophomore's frustration seemed to boil over on multiple occasions, including an episode where we walked out of sight behind the bleachers at Gallagher-Iba Arena.

"I think he did get a little frustrated, and I'm anxious to see if it was justified," Oklahoma State coach Travis Ford said.

"When you're a top player like that, you'll get frustrated when stuff doesn't go your way," Nash said, according to the Oklahoman. "I get frustrated a lot of times when stuff doesn't go my way. We try to help him out, but I feel like he was getting beat up. Every time he went to the hole, he was getting some calls that weren't going his way."

Smart scored his first points on two free throws with 10:42 left in the first half.

West Virginia led 25-18 in the first half when Smart picked up his second foul, but Oklahoma State rallied without him.

"He likes to be physical, so you have to be physical back," West Virginia guard Juwan Staten said. "Try to get in his head a little bit, try to get him to commit some fouls he doesn't want to commit, try to get him in foul trouble. That's what we did."

Smart is averaging 17.1 points, 4.4 assists and 2.5 steals -- all team highs -- in 19 games this season for the 11th-ranked Cowboys. The 6-foot-4 guard has been projected as the No. 6 overall pick in ESPN NBA Insider Chad Ford's latest mock draft.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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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

— marcus smart (@smart_MS3) January 26, 2014

Smart also sent a follow-up tweet to several of his teammates, including Le'Bryan Nash, who scored a career-high 29 points in Oklahoma State's 81-75 victory.

@PhilForte13 @iMarkelBrown22 @YoungCobbo20 @Oakstate_Murphy @KingNash02 @B_Will4 @Leyfro23 @_JeffreyCarroll my bad fellas good win

— marcus smart (@smart_MS3) January 26, 2014

Smart was visibly upset throughout the game and spent much of his playing time picking himself up off the ground. The sophomore's frustration seemed to boil over on multiple occasions, including an episode where we walked out of sight behind the bleachers at Gallagher-Iba Arena.

\"I think he did get a little frustrated, and I'm anxious to see if it was justified,\" Oklahoma State coach Travis Ford said.

\"When you're a top player like that, you'll get frustrated when stuff doesn't go your way,\" Nash said, according to the Oklahoman. \"I get frustrated a lot of times when stuff doesn't go my way. We try to help him out, but I feel like he was getting beat up. Every time he went to the hole, he was getting some calls that weren't going his way.\"

Smart scored his first points on two free throws with 10:42 left in the first half.

West Virginia led 25-18 in the first half when Smart picked up his second foul, but Oklahoma State rallied without him.

\"He likes to be physical, so you have to be physical back,\" West Virginia guard Juwan Staten said. \"Try to get in his head a little bit, try to get him to commit some fouls he doesn't want to commit, try to get him in foul trouble. That's what we did.\"

Smart is averaging 17.1 points, 4.4 assists and 2.5 steals -- all team highs -- in 19 games this season for the 11th-ranked Cowboys. The 6-foot-4 guard has been projected as the No. 6 overall pick in ESPN NBA Insider Chad Ford's latest mock draft.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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