STILLWATER – In one of the more exciting games of the season, Oklahoma State had a chance both at the end of regulation and overtime to beat No. 10 Baylor, but came up short, 66-64.
With the loss, the Cowboys move to 13-14 overall on the season and 6-9 in Big 12 play.
With the game tied at 60, with :23 left in the game, the Cowboys had a chance to take the lead. Bryce Thompson missed a jumper with less than :02 left in the game, but Isaac Likekele hauled in a rebound and got a circus shot to fall before the clock hit zero. However, the shot clock at hit zero before he got the shot off, sending the game to overtime.
The overtime period was just as close as the rest of the game as it was tied up 64-64 with 1:14 left in the period when the Cowboys called a timeout to preserve possession with six seconds left on the shot clock.
Baylor’s James Akinjo with a jumper with :14 left in overtime to put the Bears up two, 66-64. Likekele had a chance to put the Pokes on top with a 3-pointer with :01 left, but it clanked off the rim.
Bryce Thompson led the way for the Pokes with 15 points on 6-of-15 shooting from the floor. Both Isaac Likekele and Moussa Cisse finished with 12 points, Likekele going 6-of-12 from the floor with seven rebounds. Cisse was 5-of-8 from the floor on 5-of-8 shooting with 10 rebounds and five blocks.
With his 12 points, Likekele became the 44th player in program history to score 1,000 points. He is, however, the first player in program history to score 1,000 points, haul in 600 rebounds and dish out 400 assists.
The Cowboys shot 42% from the field, but was just 50% from the free throw line, going 6-of-12. They also had 17 turnovers on the night, resulting in 19 points for Baylor. The Cowboys did, however, outrebound the Bears 42-37, and outscored them in the paint 34-28.
The Cowboys struggled from the floor early on in the first half but turned it on past the halfway mark of the first half. After starting the game 0-9 from the floor, a banked in corner 3-pointer and jumper in the paint from Bryce Thompson gave the Pokes their first lead of the game, 21-20, with 5:33 left in the first half.
Including the two buckets from Thompson, the Cowboys went on a 10-0 run which spanned four minutes, which included a Baylor scoring drought on the other end.
With less than :30 remaining in the half, Thompson hit Moussa Cisse for an impressive alley oop to put the Pokes up 36-29. On the other end, the Cowboys’ defense prevented the Bears from getting a shot off before the buzzer.
The Cowboys finished the first half making nine of their last 10 shots from the field, shooting 50% from the field in the first 20 minutes.
The Cowboys struggled out of the gate in the second half as the Bears switched to a zone defense, shooting just 1-of-7 in the first five minutes of the half. After a 1-8 start to the half, Thompson recorded a block on the defensive end, followed by a huge three on the offensive end.
The Bears, led by junior guard Adam Flagler, started to make a run in the second half. A couple of big 3-pointers from Flagler got the Bears back within just one point, 45-44, by the 11-minute mark of the game. A follow-up bucket by Flo Thamba gave the Bears their first lead since the 6:21 mark of the first half when they led 20-19.
With 6:42 left in the game, Anderson III hit a huge three to get the Pokes back within one, 51-50, before the Cowboys forced a shot clock violation on the other end. A few minutes later, Bryce Williams hit a bigger three as his tied the game at 53.
The Cowboys forced another shot clock violation following a block by Cisse, followed by jumper by Likekele on the other end to tie the game back up, this time at 57, with less than two minutes left in the game. Cisse recorded another block back down on the other end and was fouled while attempting a shot on the ensuing drive. He’d hit one of the two free throws to give the Pokes a one-point lead, 58-57, with just 1:28 remaining.
Next up for the Pokes is Bedlam part two on Saturday, Feb. 29, with an 11 a.m. CT tip on CBS.
