Oklahoma State Cuts Corners to Early Lead, But Another Lead They Couldn't Keep

STILLWATER – The Cowboys have become pretty good at grabbing early leads, but have failed at hanging onto them. The evidence was their 0-6 record in games decided by five points or less. You can make that 0-7 now as TCU used a stable second half, doing the right things at the right time to win 74-69. The loss in front of the smallest home crowd during Big 12 play dropped the Cowboys to 8-11 and 0-6 in Big 12 play. TCU recovers after losing two close games to Cincinnati in overtime and at home to Iowa State. TCU is now 14-5 and 3-3 in the Big 12.

“I feel bad for our kids they keep showing up and preparing, listening to us, and doing the right things,” Mike Boynton said. “I want success for them so badly. We have to believe that if we keep chopping that it will play off.”

After playing well in the first half, OSU guard Javon Small kept running the offense. He watched early int he second half as John-Michael Wright and Eric Dailey Jr. took advantage of Small’s passes early in the second hlaf as the two teams traded the lead. Wright led the Cowboys with 16 points and Dailey Jr. had 13.

Then with 10:16 left in the game Small got another heater going from beyond the three-point line with his first giving the Cowboys a 56-54 lead and then on a kickout pass he nailed another for a 59-54 lead. Small had 15 points for the Cowboys and six assists.

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This drive by Coles was huge and it gave TCU a 70-65 lead.

That’s when TCU went on a 7-0 run keyed by a three-pointer ny Trevian Tennyson ad the Frogs surged ahead for good. Former Cowboy Avery Anderson hit a three from the top of the key and the Frogs led 64-61. Anderson finished with 15 points, but Micah Peavy led TCU with 16 points.

Both teams cranked their defense up late in the final minutes and it came down to hitting key free throws, but a very important play came from JaKobe Coles. It was his only bucket of the game, but Coles pumped faked a three and then drove to the basket and put it in. That made the score 70-65, a five-point advantage with three minutes to play.

“We didn’t have enough resistence at the rim to stop them,” Boynton said and he could have been describing that basket by Coles. “We just didn’t execute enough plays at winning time to come out ahead at the end.”

The grind saw the two teams each score four from that point on for the final score. 

“I think they (our players) are starting to hope at the end and just hoping the clock runs out with us in the lead,” added Boynton. “They need to push through and make the plays to win.”

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Mike Boynton during the first half vs. TCU.

In the first half after the first time out, Cowboys head coach Mike Boynton, decked out in the suit and sneakers for Coaches vs. Cancer, subbed in Eric Dailey Jr. and the freshman made things happen. Javon Small threw up an alley oop and Dailey had the slam to make it 8-6. That as the start of a 13-0 run for the Cowboys. The Pokes did not turn the ball over at all the first 16 minutes of the contest. 

After Dailey Jr. scored inside then the heavy artillary came out and JJarius Hicklen caught a Small kick out on the wing and nailed the three-pointer to make it 13-6. Small followed that up with a dribble step to buy space and hit a three for his only bucket of the half. He closed out the half with a pair of free throws for five points but his six assists in the first half were the bigger story. 

Hicklen from the corner on the baseline in front of the TCU bench on an inbounds play, catch and shoot, made it 19-6. A sweet play where Hicklen double screened on his way over to his spot and Small sold the play and made the inbounds pass perfect. 

Five minutes later, Hicklen did it again from the same spot and the Cowboys led 29-14. Hicklen had 10 in the first half and Dailey Jr. had eight. The Cowboys at one point were shooting nearly 70 percent but finished the half at 45 percent.

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Small driving past Emanuel Miller of TCU. Small had 15 points and six assists.

The lead was at it’s biggest at 33-16, a 17-point advantage and then they blew it. Missed shots combined with a couple of turnovers and to make it worse, the Horned Frog doing the most damage was the former Cowboy Avery Anderson. He kind of started what ended up being a 12-0 TCU run when he drove the baseline and put the ball up as he was fouled. The shot crawled over the rim and the foul by Small put Anderson at the line fo the three-point play.  Anderson also had a pair of assists that helped out as one fastbreak play that Anderson started led to a three-point possession. Emanuel Miller hit a jumpshot at the shot clock buzzer during the run. Anderson had 12 points in the half and when the first 20 minutes ended the Cowboys had blown a big lead down to a 37-33 much smaller margin. 

TCU came out on a 7-0 run to start the second half and take that comeback all the way. The Frogs erased the Cowboys lead and used the early second half run and a pair of threes from Emanuel Miller to tie the game at 42-42.

That led to the fight to the finish and the TCU win. Oklahoma State will look for Big 12 win No. 1 now on Saturday when they host West Virginia in the “Remember the Ten” game.