Oklahoma State played No. 11 Kansas State close on the road in Manhattan, but came up short in the end as they lose 65-57 to the Wildcats.
With the loss, the Cowboys fall to 9-7 on the season and 1-3 to start Big 12 play.
“Pretty much back and forth game, the numbers indicate that it was close in a lot of ways, other than [Kansas State] made a few more threes than we did,” Mike Boynton said on the Cowboy Radio Network. “We countered that by playing through Kalib Boone, who gave us a great night of offensive production. They just made a couple of plays down the stretch more than we did, and that was the difference.”
Senior Kalib Boone continued his dominant play from Saturday as he had 12 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the field in the first half. He came out in the second half and picked up where he left off with a quick bucket in the paint.
The senior out of Tulsa, OK, finished with the game with a career-high 23 points on 9-of-15 shooting from the field, 5-of-6 from the free throw line, with three rebounds and five turnovers.
Caleb Asberry also finished with a season-high of 15 points on 5-of-11 shooting.
While he didn’t score any points in the first half, it was Tyreek Smith who led the way in rebounds with four. Smith finished with the game with two points on 1-of-3 shooting with seven rebounds.
For the second-straight game, the Cowboy trio of Avery Anderson III, Bryce Thompson and John-Michael Wright struggled mightily from the field as they combined for just eight points on 3-of-25 shooting from the floor.
Turnovers were an issue for the Cowboys again as they turned it over 16 times, leading to 19 KSU points. They did, however, forced 16 on the other end, leading to just 10 points back down the court. In terms of rebounds, it was 42 for both sides, with the Cowboys outscoring the Wildcats by 10 in the paint, 30-20.
It was a good first half for the Cowboys as they entered the break with a two-point lead over the No. 11 Wildcats, 32-30.
The game started out as a rather low scoring affair for most of the first half as it was tied 17-17 with just over eight minutes remaining in the first half. The Wildcats would go on a quick 5-0 run in less than two minutes, but the Cowboys had a response as they’d go on an 11-0 run, while hold the Wildcats scoreless for three-plus minutes, to go up 28-23 with 3:18 remaining in the half.
Caleb Asberry hit a floater with :13 left in the half to put the Pokes back up five, 32-27, but an extra pass from Desi Sills into the corner found a wide-open Cam Carter for a 3-pointer to make it a two-point game at the break.
The second half started out fairly similar to the first half as both sides combined for just seven points in the first three minutes, the latest bring a corner three by KSU’s Ismael Massoud, giving the Wildcats their first lead since the 5:32 mark remaining in the first half, which lead to a Mike Boynton timeout.
The Cowboys’ offensive woes continued as they combined for 1-of-13 the first six minutes of the second half following Boone’s bucket, including a nearly six minute scoring drought before a dunk by Kalib Boone to end the 10-0 KSU run. Smith hit a big bucket after a Wildcat miss to get the Pokes back within two, 40-38 with just under 13-minutes left in the game.
Caleb Asberry made it a one-point game a few plays later with a corner three, 42-41, but Markquis Nowell nailed a deep three back down the court to the KSU back up four, 45-41. The Cowboys had a chance to respond, but a charge on Bernard Kouma led to a KSU bucket on the other end following a media timeout.
A four-point play back down the court for the Wildcats came following a foul on Bryce Thompson, putting KSU by 10, 51-41, with 10 minutes left.
The Pokes trailed by 10 points a couple of times down the stretch, including 56-46 with seven minutes left in the game. That’s when the Cowboys went on a quick 6-0 run to cut the lead to just four, 56-52, with 4:46 left in the game, leading to a KSU timeout.
Chris Harris Jr. hit his first bucket of the game to cut the Pokes’ deficit to just one point, 56-55, just under four minutes to play.
K-State extended its lead to three points at the two-minute mark, 58-55. The Cowboys had a chance to cut that back down to one, but Boone’s shot in the lane was blocked, and an OSU foul on the other end allowed the Wildcats to extend their lead to five, 60-55, with 1:21 to play.
Those three points, however, would be the closest the Cowboys would get as the Wildcats hit a pair of free throws with :26 left on the clock following a foul, going up 64-57, then forced a John-Michael Wright turnover and Chris Harris foul a few seconds later.
