Oklahoma State Drops Home Tilt to UCF 77-71

STILLWATER — It was a rough second half for Oklahoma State as the Pokes fall to UCF, 77-71.

With the loss, the Cowboys fall to 12-16 on the season and 4-11 in Big 12 play, marking the second-straight loss for the Pokes and giving the Knights their first back-to-back wins in Big 12 play.

It was senior guard John-Michael Wright led the way for the Cowboys as he finished with 22 points on 5-of-14 shooting from the floor, 5-of-13 from 3-point range and 7-of-9 from the free throw line.

Eric Dailey Jr. was next on the stat sheet with 15 points on 4-of-6 shooting from the floor and 7-of-7 from the free throw line. Javon Small finished with 13 points.

The Cowboys were dominated on the boards as UCF brought down 40 rebounds to just 27 by the Pokes.

It was a story of two halves for the Cowboys as they controlled most of the first half, including taking a 12-point lead with a handful of minutes left in the half, 36-24. They shot nearly 44% from the field and 92% from the free throw line. They also led the rebound game with a 17-15 clip.

However, things changed out of the break as they shot below 30% for most of the first 10 minutes of the half, with the Knights taking their largest lead of the game, 60-53. They broke that mark a few minutes later as they went up eight points, 64-56, with just under eight minutes to play.

The Cowboys entered the second half with a four-point lead, 42-38. In the first 12 minutes of the second half, the Knights outscored the Pokes 23-14.

Javon Small hit a huge bucket with 6:28 left in the game, leading to an and-one situation to get the Pokes back within just three points, 64-61, giving Small six of the Pokes’ last eight points.

Small then hit an around-the-rim layup to get with one just one, 64-63, with 5:42 remaining leading to a UCF timeout.

The Knights didn’t shoot the ball all that well in the final five minutes, but they did take advantage of fouls, including Eric Dailey’s fourth foul with 3:22 left in the game to go back up by five, 68-63.

The last five minutes were tough for the Cowboys as they went more than five minutes without a field goal, combined with Brandon Garrison fouling out of the game with :35 remaining. Following his foul, CJ Walker hit a field goal to put UCF back up four and ended a two-minute scoring drought. The Cowboys failed to get the defensive rebound, leading to Small fouling out with :26 remaining.

The Cowboys have just three games remaining in the regular season, with a trip to Austin against Texas up next. Tipoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. CT this coming Saturday, March 2, on ESPN2.