Dehorned: Oklahoma State Knocks off No. 6 Texas in Double-Overtime, 75-67

STILLWATER – It was a sloppy game from start to finish, but Oklahoma State found a way to hold on and force overtime, then double-over with No. 6 Texas. They played their best basketball of the day in that double-overtime and held on to beat Texas 75-67.

With the win, the Cowboys move to 12-5 on the season and back to .500 in conference play at 5-5.

“Counter to Wednesday night [against TCU], we played with an unbelieved amount of urgency,” said head coach Mike Boynton. “Even though it wasn’t pretty most of the night, we had a determination about us that we were going to do everything we could to put ourselves in a position to win. That’s all we ask. That’s why I was so disappointed the other day [against TCU] because we didn’t play with that fire and that grit to start the game. We tried to get ourselves going late and you just can’t do that in this league. So, I was proud of the response that the guys had from a competitive standpoint. We defended at a high level for most of the night and that was an Oklahoma State throwback win and one that maybe coach [Eddie] Sutton and coach [Henry] Iba would be proud of.”

It was the second overtime game of the season for the Cowboys, as they also took No. 13 Texas Tech to overtime back in January and beat the Red Raiders 82-77.

It was a low-scoring first overtime, but it was Kalib Boone who shined for the Pokes. He scored their first four points on two impressive buckets. As he did towards the end of regulation, Cade Cunningham came up big. He recorded a steal with 1:35 left, then hit both free throws after being fouled on the shot to put the Pokes up 65-63.

With about :30 left in the game, Bryce Williams recorded another huge block on a Texas shot, giving the Pokes the ball back. Mike Boynton called a timeout with :21.9 left on the clock, but Cunningham threw the ball away with :4.4 left. He’d steal the ball on the ensuing inbounds pass, miss the shot, but the ball was out on Texas giving the Pokes the ball back with 1.2 left on the clock.

Cunningham gets it in to Kalin Boone, but he missed the shot to send the game to double-overtime.

The Cowboys played some of their best basketball of the game in the second overtime. They scored four quick points, then a huge three by Cunningham out on the wing to put the Pokes up 72-67. They’d continue to pull away as Texas went into hack-a-Cowboy mode.

The Pokes held Texas to 0-12 shooting from the field in both overtimes, while finishing the game on a 6-0 run the final minute and a half of the game.

Kalib Boone led the way for the Pokes as he had a great start to the game scoring four points, hauling in four rebounds and recording block, but picked up a quick foul in the first five minutes of the game. He’d finish the half with 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting, six rebounds, two blocks and a steal. He finished the game recording his second double-double of the season with a season-high 22 points and 15 rebounds, five blocks and a steal.

Ka. Boone also played a career-high 41 minutes.

Avery Anderson III also recorded a double-double, the first of his career, with 16 points and a career-high 10 rebounds.

Cade Cunningham finished the game with 19 points on 5-of-22 shooting from the floor, 3-of-5 from 3-point range and 6-of-6 from the free throw line. He also hauled in eight rebounds, but turned the ball over six times.

The Pokes held Texas to just 25% shooting from the field on the game, and just 14% from 3-point range. Texas out-rebounded the Pokes 56-53, 22-15 on the offensive end, but the Cowboys were solid on the defensive end as they were 38 to 34 from the Horns. The Cowboys were also strong in the paint as they out-scored UT 38-28 down low.

Turnovers were a problem once again as the Pokes turned it over 22 times to Texas’ 21.

The Longhorns would jump out to their largest lead of the first half of nine points, 23-14, on a 7-0 run. They wouldn’t have it for long as Cade Cunningham nailed a huge three to give him his first points of the game, quickly followed by a three by Ferron Flavors Jr., then a layup by Avery Anderson III to get the Pokes back within one-point, 23-22, on an 8-0 run.

The Cowboys would take the lead after two free throws by Anderson, 24-23., then extend that run up to 12-0 and hold the Longhorns to nearly a four-minute scoring drought before the Longhorns hit a bucket to end the drought.

The Pokes would extend their lead up to 29-25 with just over three minutes left in the half and then go into halftime with a 35-29 lead. They’d finish the half on an impressive 21-6 run.

They held Texas to just 29% shooting from the field and just 18% from 3-point range in the first half. The Pokes also forced 11 turnovers and 11 fouls, compared to just eight fouls and seven turnovers on the other end.

Cunningham started the second half very differently than the first as he hit two quick buckets taking the Pokes’ lead up to 10 points, 39-29. The Cowboys would then go on a three-minute scoring drought on a 9-0 Texas run.

Kalib Boone would end that drought after being fouled by Courtney Ramey and nailing both free throws to put the Pokes back up three, 41-38. Texas, however, would regain the lead a few minutes later with a 13-2 run and a bucket by Ramey, 42-41.

Both teams would continue to play very sloppy basketball as the Cowboys would turn the ball over four times in two minutes from the 10-and-a-half-minute mark to the eight-and-a-half-minute mark, including going 1-of-12 from the field and a near-five-minute scoring drought before Avery Anderson III hit a circus layup falling out of bounds. That bucket got the Pokes back within three, 51-48.

After a continued back-and-forth game, with :50 left in the game and trailing three, Cade Cunningham rose up and nailed a huge three from the wing to put him in double-digit points and tie the game up at 59 that send the game into overtime.

The Cowboys head to Lawrence on Monday, Feb. 8 with a showdown with the Kansas Jayhawks. Tipoff is scheduled for 8 p.m. CT on ESPN.