Cowboys Struggle in Lawrence as They Fall 78-66 to Kansas
STILLWATER – Oklahoma State picked up its first AP Top-25 ranking since the 2015 season, but they weren’t able to protect it against a struggling KU team as the Pokes fall in Lawrence, KS, 78-66.
With the loss, the Cowboys drop to 12-6 on the season and 5-6 in Big 12 play.
“Obviously, I think the turnovers were clearly a problem for us and offensive rebounding,” said head coach Mike Boynton. “David McCormack had kicked our butts and he set a tone for [KU] that we didn’t have an answer for.”
McCormack finished with 23 points and 10 rebounds, seven coming on the defensive end.
While he struggled in the first half with just five points, Cade Cunningham turned it on in the second and finished with 26 points and nine rebounds. However, he also finished with a season-high seven turnovers.
Point guard Avery Anderson III had another solid performance as he finished with 13 points on 4-of-9 shooting from the field, five rebounds and three assists.
It was a rough night shooting the ball for the Pokes as they shot just 35% from the field and 27% from 3-point range for the game. They also were also out-rebounded by KU 45-32 and turned the ball over 18 times, but forced 19 KU turnovers on the other end.
Reminiscent of the Texas game on Saturday, the Cowboys’ game against Kansas got off to a slow start as both teams combined for five turnovers in the first three minutes of action. That sloppiness continued for the remainder of the half as both teams combined for 22 turnovers, with OSU accounting for 12 of those.
The Pokes also went on multiple multi-minute scoring droughts in the first half, including a near-four-minute drought to end the first half, but Ferron Flavors Jr. hit a floater with just over :30 remaining to get the Pokes back within one, 26-25. The Pokes went into the half trailing the Jayhawks 28-25.
Avery Anderson III put the Pokes on the board first with two free throws and would finish the half with eight points and four rebounds. Kalib Boone also had a solid first half as he continued his solid play. He finished the half with eight points, four rebounds, three blocks and a steal. However, something must have happened because he played only four in the second half finishing with the same stats he had in the first.
While he’s still dealing with his foot injury, Isaac Likekele finished with an impressive four assists, effectively passing former Cowboy point guard Bill Self and Chianti Roberts for 13th all-time in assists in the OSU record books. He finished the game with 10 points, five rebounds and four assists.
KU took the largest lead of the game to start the second half, 31-25, but Anderson hit an impressive layup on the other end to get it back to four. KU would extend that lead up to nine with just over 15 minutes remaining in the game on a 6-0 run and a near-3-minute scoring drought by the Pokes.
That drought would continue up to near-four-minutes as the Cowboys continued to struggle offensively in the second half, until Bryce Williams nailed a corner three with 13 minutes left in the half, bringing the game back to six, 43-35. That lead to two quick buckets in the paint, Likekele with one and Cunningham with a fast-break layup.
KU kept extending their lead up to 10 points or close to 10 every time the Pokes got close, but the Cowboys kept knocking down shots. Likekele started to feel it a little bit as he attacked the basket and hit a shot 3:43 left in the game and getting the score back to eight points, 65-57.
The Jayhawks extended that lead up to 15 points, 73-61, but Cunningham nails two huge 3-pointers to get the game back to nine, 73-64.
However, it just wasn’t enough as KU pulled away late from the free throw line.
The Cowboys are back in action this coming Saturday, Feb. 13 with an 11 a.m. tip against Kansas State in Stillwater.