OSU Staves Off 21-2 Second-Half KU Run to Complete Upset
STILLWATER – The first half of Oklahoma State’s game against Kansas had real shades of the West Virginia game last week. The Pokes jumped out to an impressive 46-35 lead on the heels of an 8-0 run to go into the half.
It was a close game until about the eight-minute mark of the first half, which is where the Pokes started to pull ahead. Something the Cowboys really needed in this game was a hot start and strong finish from freshman phenom Cade Cunningham. It would allow the Pokes to settle in and get some solid play from everyone else, which is exactly what happened. Cunningham finished the first half with 14 points on 4-of-7 shooting from the field, 3-of-5 from 3-point range, with five rebounds and three assists.
Because of that, there were two other Cowboys who finished the first half with double-digits points: Avery Anderson III and Bryce Williams, both who finished the half with 10 points. Both Anderson and Williams were huge catalysts in this game as both were walking buckets tonight and Anderson diving all over the floor tonight for loose balls.
However, in the same breath that the first half had a West Virginia game feel, so did the second half. The Pokes jumped out to a 16-point lead, before going on multiple multi-minute scoring droughts in the second half and giving up a 21-2 KU scoring run. Enter the trio of Avery Anderson III, Cade Cunningham and Bryce Williams.
After a huge game-tying three by Isaac Likekele with one minute to go, Cunningham recorded one of the plays of the game, a block that led to Rondel Walker hitting a layup on the other end and converting the three-point play to go up three, 73-70. Following a missed KU 3-pointer, Anderson III dove on the floor for another loose ball and the timeout that led to a KU foul on the ensuing inbounds play. After multiple 3-point opportunities for KU, Bryce Williams would steal an inbounds pass and finished with a rather impressive dunk on the other end to put the Pokes back up five to seal the 75-70 upset of the No. 6 Jayhawks.
“This was a big-time win for us, something that we’re definitely going to take that confidence and put it into the rest of conference play,” said Cade Cunningham. “But I wouldn’t try to get over-excited on this win just because this is something we plan on doing in the future more consistently and have this be who we are, our new identity. We let a couple [of games] slip early on in conference play, but this is what our identity is trying to be.”
By the end of the game, Cunningham had posted 18-points, Williams 17-points and Anderson III 14-points.
Despite the 21-2 KU run being rather demoralizing, the fact the Pokes were able to fight back to complete the comeback and upset of Kansas, not to mention shooting 80% from the free throw line, says a lot about the resiliency of this team. The three losses they’ve suffered this year, TCU, Texas and West Virginia, all included scoring droughts and runs by the other team, as well as poor free throw shooting.
Next up for the Pokes is the first end of Bedlam against Oklahoma on Saturday, Jan. 16. The Sooners obliterated TCU on Tuesday night, 82-46, and nearly upset Kansas on the road in Lawrence this past weekend. This will be another solid test for the Pokes and should they be able to do what they did tonight against KU, they’ve got a great chance at another win.