STILLWATER – Oklahoma State kept it relatively close for most of the game, but No. 5 Kansas pulled away late for the 87-76 win.
With the loss, the Cowboys move to 16-10 overall and 7-6 in Big 12 play.
It was Kalib Boone who led the way in scoring with a career-high 27 points on 10-of-15 shooting from the floor, 7-of-12 from the free throw line. He was second on the stat sheet in rebounds with nine. Moussa Cisse led the way with 11.
Turnovers were an issue for the Cowboys as they turned it over 15 times, 11 of which were steals by the Jayhawks, leading to 16 points for the Jayhawks on the other end. KU also led the way in assists going 26-9, while also outscoring the Pokes on the fastbreak, 20-5.
The Cowboys also went 14-of-22 from the free throw line, with KU going 9-of-13.
The Jayhawks jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead before Bryce Thompson nailed a big three just a few minutes into the game, which starting a quick 7-0 run by the Pokes, putting them up 7-5.
Moussa Cisse checked into the game for the first time nearly six minutes into the first half and immediately made an impact by sending a block into the first row of the student section.
As the shot clock ran down just ahead of the nine-minute mark, Cisse hauled in a rebound and got it to Thompson at the top of the key with just five seconds left on the shot clock. Thompson rose up and nailed a mid-range as the clock expired to put the Pokes up five, 23-18.
There was a sloppy stretch for both teams towards the end of the first half as the Cowboys held the Jayhawks scoreless for more than three minutes, while the Pokes turned it over four times in the same amount of time, with no field goals either.
Enter John-Michael Wright. Wright rose up and buried a three from Hall of Fame to out the Pokes up by four, 37-33, with 1:05 left in the half.
The Jayhawks had a hot start to the second half, especially freshman Gradey Dick, who scored eight quick points in the first two minutes to make it an eight-point game, 52-44.
KU jumped out to its largest lead a few minutes later, 58-47, before Wright got hot, knocking down two 3-pointers to get it back to a five-point game, 58-53, with 13:43 remaining in the game.
The Cowboys started to struggle on both ends of the court following Wright’s buckets, going on a three-minute scoring drought, while the Jayhawks went on a 6-0 run. It was Caleb Asberry who ended the drought with a 3-pointer of his own, making it a 64-56 game with 10:43 left.
Kalib Boone hit a huge put-back bucket after getting his own rebound following two missed free throws, his fifth-straight. But the bucket got the Pokes back within seven, 70-63, with 6:35 left in the game. Gradey Dick, however, had an answer at the other end as he hit yet another three, giving him 26 points, and putting the Jayhawks back up 10, 73-63.
After nearly forcing a shot clock violation with 2:27 left in the game, the Pokes forced a five-second call on the ensuing in-bounds play to get the ball back. They weren’t, however, able to capitalize on the way back down the court, still trailing seven, 78-71.
The Pokes hit a few more buckets, but KU had an answer and then some back down the court.
Next up for the Pokes is a trip down to Fort Worth on Saturday, Feb. 18 for a 1 p.m. CT tip against No. 22 TCU.
