Kansas Pulls Away Late as Oklahoma State Falls 74-63

STILLWATER – After a valiant first-half effort by Oklahoma State that saw the game tied at 29 going into halftime, KU turned up the pressure in the second half and pulled away late to a 74-63 win.

With the loss, the Cowboys move to 7-5 on the season, 0-1 to start Big 12 Conference play.

Isaac Likekele led the way for the Cowboys as he recorded his first double-double of the season, posting 16 points and 12 rebounds, marking his first double-double since March 7, 2020, against Texas when he posted 15 points and 10 rebounds.

Bryce Thompson and Moussa Cisse were next on the stat sheet with eight apiece.

The game started a little slow for the Pokes as they fell behind by 14 points at the midway point of the first half, 29-15 following a big three-pointer by Christian Braun. However, that was the last points the Jayhawks hit in the half as the Cowboys finished on a 14-0 run with Bryce Thompson hitting a bucket with :36 left to tie the game at 29 going into the half.

The Cowboys finished the first half shooting 33%, compared to just 27% by the Jayhawks, with Isaac Likekele leading the way for the Pokes with eight points and nine rebounds.

Out of the break, Likekele hit a layup to put the Pokes up 31-29, then Mitch Lightfoot hit the Jayhawks’ first bucket at start the second half, which was their first bucket since just over the nine-minute mark in the first half.

KU started to pull away just a bit the next few minutes as they jumped out to a seven-point lead, 53-43, following a pair of free throws by Christian Braun and a three by Jalen Coleman-Lands, forcing a quick timeout from Mike Boynton.

The Jayhawks were able to keep an 8–10-point lead for the next six minutes as they led 63-55 at the under-seven-minute media timeout. The Jayhawks then extended their lead up to 15-points following a two-minute 9-0 run to the 3:35 mark of the second half.

The Cowboys cut KU’s lead down to single digits, nine points, 72-63, before the Jayhawks turned up the pressure and extended the game back up to double-digits, where the lead would stay the rest of the game.

The Cowboys will be back in action on Saturday, Jan. 8 as the Texas Longhorns come to town. Tipoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. CT on the CBS Sports Network.