Oklahoma State's Woes Continue As They Fall to Sooners In Bedlam Round One 66-62
Oklahoma State failed to take advantage of Oklahoma turnovers and technical fouls in the second half and gave up a 15-6 run to end the game as they fall to the Sooners in Norman, 66-62.
With the loss, the Cowboys move to 10-14 overall on the season and fall to just 2-9 in Big 12 play.
It was Javon Small and John-Michael Wright who led the way for the Pokes in scoring. Small finished the game with 17 points on 5-of-16 shooting from the field, 1-4 from the 3-point range and 6-7 from the free throw line, while Wright finished with 13 points on just 2-of-12 shooting from the field, 2-of-6 from 3-point range and 7-of-9 from the charity stripe.
The Cowboys really struggled from the field in the first have as they shot just 22% and just 18% from 3-point range. They did, however, shoot an impressive 91% from the free throw line, 10-11 from the charity stripe. The Cowboys had a much better second half from the field as they shot 40% from the field, but a worse 14.3% from 3-point range on just 1-of-7 shooting. However, unlike the first half, the Cowboys really struggled from the line in the second half going 11-of-17 and losing by four points.
They forced 12 turnovers on the OU end of the court, while turning the ball over just six times, but the Cowboys scored just 12 points on the turnovers. They out-rebounded the Sooners 39-34, scored more points in the paint, 30-24, but were out-scored off the bench 29-14 and gave up nine blocks to just two.
It was and ugly game for both teams, especially early in the first half. The Cowboys trailed the Sooners 9-7 under 12-minutes remaining in the first half, then 14-11 just under eight minutes left in the half. The Cowboys had a chance to tie the game, or possibly take the lead with two minutes left in the first half, but a wild missed shot from Mike Marsh led to two-straight OU threes. Then the Sooners drilled a buzzer-beater three to go up 31-26 at the half.
Now we get to the bizarre. The Sooners were hit with three quick technical fouls, Brandon Garrison picked up his fourth foul and Sam Godwin fouled out, all within the first four and a half minutes of the half.
OU drilled a 3-pointer with three minutes left to go in the game to go up by three, points 59-56, leading to an Mike Boynton timeout. That capped a 7-0 OU run, compared to a three-minute scoring drought after going up 56-52, their largest lead of the game, before the Sooner run.
Garrison ended that drought with a layup just under two minutes left, to get the game back within three, 61-58, which was followed by two made free throws by Quion Williams to get within one, 61-60. Small had a chance to give the Pokes the lead back with 30 seconds left, but missed the bucket, leading to two made free throws on the other end following a foul, putting the Pokes back down by three, 62-60.
Williams hit a layup with 15 seconds left to get the Pokes back within one, 63-62, leading to a Boynton timeout. The Sooners hit two more free throws, going up 65-62. Javon Small was fouled on the trip back down the court, but it wasn’t called, leading to another turnover and an OU free throw to finish the game, 66-62.