It was another tough out for Oklahoma State as they had a chance to tie the game up at 71 and send it to overtime, but Kansas State forced a bad shot to send the Pokes back to Stillwater with a 71-68 loss.
With the loss, the Cowboys’ losing streak extends to four games as they drop to 10-11 on the season and 3-6 in Big 12 play.
The first half was a game of runs and droughts for the Cowboys. After an 8-0 run by the Wildcats and a near-four-minute drought for the Pokes, they went on a 5-0 run of their own to take a 17-16 lead on a 3-pointer from Rondel Walker. However, the Pokes finished the half on another four-minute scoring drought compared to a 13-0 KSU run to go into the half trailing 39-32.
The Wildcats shot nearly 62% from the field in the first half, including 54% from 3-point range. The Pokes shot the ball well on the other end shooting 45% from the field.
Keylan Boone and Bryce Thompson were solid in the first half as Boone led the way with 11 points on 4-of-7 shooting from the field, 3-of-6 from 3-point range, while Thompson posted 10 points on 4-of-7 shooting.
Boone would finish the game with 13 points, but Thompson was solid in the second half as he finished with a career-high 22 points on 10-of-14 shooting. Rondel Walker also had a very good second half as he finished with 18 points on 6-of-16 shooting from the floor, 4-of-11 from 3point range. Avery Anderson III also finished with a career-high seven assists.
He struggled from the floor, but Isaac Likekele was solid in other areas as he finished with seven rebounds and six assists, same with Matthew-Alexander Moncrieffe as he finished with seven rebounds and no points.
It was a bit of the same to start the second half as the first 10 minutes featured runs and droughts as well. Starting around the 15-minute mark, the Pokes went on a 9-0 run of their own, compared to a four-minute scoring drought on the other end for K-State. That was followed up by a two-minute scoring drought by the Pokes going back down the court.
As in the first half, there was a lot of back-and-forth with the Pokes holding onto a lead a bulk of the second half, but another three-minute scoring drought having missed five of six shots down the stretch led to a tie game, 64-64, with just 3:26 left in the game. The Pokes had a chance to end that drought as Avery Anderson III got to the bucket, but the refs called him for a 10-second call for a turnover, which was questionable due to him crossing the timeline with 21 seconds on the shot clock.
He'd make up for it on the Pokes’ next possession as he ended the scoring drought and giving the Pokes another lead, 66-64.
The game was tied at 68-68 with one minute remaining when Mike Boynton called a timeout.
Out of the break, the Wildcats played lockdown defense and forcing a jump ball, but the possession arrow remained with the Pokes with just nine seconds on the shot clock and :40.8 on the game clock.
Mike McGuirl was called for a foul, which sent Thompson to the line for a chance to give the Pokes the lead. He missed the front end, which was rebounded by K-State with just under :30 left. After a missed 3-point attempt, Thompson rebounded the shot, but was tied up by Nijel Pack to give KSU the ball back with just :06 remaining.
Pack nailed a 3-pointer with just 2.2 seconds remaining to put KSU up 71-68. The Cowboys had a chance to tie the game up at the end, but the shot went off the backboard.
However, the last six minutes of the game was just as streaky as the rest of the game as the Pokes scored just six points, four coming from Thompson, in the final 6:46 of play.
The Pokes have Bedlam up next on the schedule as the Sooners come into town this coming Saturday, Feb. 5 for an 11 a.m. CT tip on ESPN2.
