Oklahoma State Falls to 1-3 In Big 12 Play Following 83-62 Blowout Loss to Utah

Oklahoma State’s shooting woes showed up in the first half against Utah as they fell to 1-3 in Big 12 play with a 21-point 83-62 loss to the Utes.

With the loss, the Cowboys fell to 9-6 on the season, and will travel to Provo, UT, for a showdown with BYU on Tuesday.

“Three-point shooting [defense] was an emphasis, rebounding was an emphasis,” head coach Steve Lutz said after the game. “We barely won the rebounding battle by one, you win it, but you don’t really win it – we had 18 offensive rebounds, but we never rewarded ourselves with points. But at the end of the day, no matter how you slice it, we didn’t compete hard enough on the defensive end to win. You can’t allow people to shoot 56-7-8, whatever that percentage was, from the floor and expect to win anywhere, no matter if it’s at home, no matter if you’re plane’s on time, that doesn’t matter. What matters is that you compete defensively and we did not do so.”

The Cowboys shot just 23% from the field in the first half and 15% from 3-point range. Marchelus Avery led the way in scoring with nine points in the first half, but on 3-of-10 shooting from the field and 0-of-3 from 3-point range.

They shot much better from the field in the second half, nearly 44% from the field and 40% from 3-point range. But Utah shot nearly 67% from the floor in the second half and 50% from 3-point range. They also outscored the Pokes in the paint 46-24.

The Cowboys finished the game with just 15 second chance points on 18 offensive rebounds and just five fastbreak points.

Bryce Thompson led the way with 16 points on 7-of-13 shooting from the floor, with four rebounds and three assists. Avery finished the game with 13 points. 

The Utes started the game on a 12-0 run in three and a half minutes before Brandon Newman hit two free throws, followed by a layup from Avery. The Utes kept a double-digit lead for the rest of the first half, with the Pokes cut their deficit down to just 11 at the break following a 5-0 run in the last minute and a half. 

The Utes really turned it up in the first 10 minutes of the second half as they extended their lead out to 22 points, before a 3-pointer from Ousmane, leading to a Utah timeout with a 19-point lead over the Pokes.

Ousmane didn’t hit his first bucket of the game until the 12:24 mark of the second half. He then hit a free throw and 3-pointer to give him six quick points in less than two minutes. He finished with eight points on 3-of-10 shooting.