After a valiant second-half effort, Oklahoma State comes up short in the Big 12 championship game as they fall 91-86 to Texas.
With the loss, the Cowboys move to 20-8 on the season and 11-8 on the season.
The difference in the game came down to stamina. Oklahoma State played three games in three days, while Texas played only two games in three days. They were scheduled to play Kansas on Friday, but the Jayhawks had a positive COVID-19 test that sent them home.
It came down to the final minute of the game with the Pokes within six points and Cade Cunningham and Isaac Likekele combined to hit three 3-pointers, but Texas was able to keep the game just out of reach with six points from the free throw line.
It was Cade Cunningham who led the way for the Pokes as he finished with 29 points on 11-of-23 shooting, 5-of-12 from 3-point range and three rebounds and assists.
The Cowboys had five scores in double digits, Cunningham with his 29, Likekele with 13, Kalib Boone with 12, Matthew-Alexander Moncrieffe with 11 and Avery Anderson III with 10. Both Anderson and Moncrieffe fouled out late in the second half.
Both Cunningham and Anderson were named to the Big 12 All-Tournament team.
It was Matt Coleman and Jericho Sims who wreaked havoc against the Pokes as Coleman finished with 30-points and Sims with 21 points and 14 rebounds.
Cunningham hit the Pokes’ first 3-point shot with 17:50 left in the game to get the Pokes back within single digits. They were 0-9 up to that point.
Just a few minutes later, down 11, MA Moncrieffe completed a 3-point play for the Pokes that got them back within eight, 51-43. But Moncrieffe fouled Texas big man Jericho Sims on the next drive sending Sims to the line where he missed the front end of two with just under 16 minutes remaining in the game.
After hitting two huge free throws to get the Pokes within seven with under 15 minutes remaining, he rose up and hit an even bigger 3-pointer to get the Pokes within four, 52-48 with 14:16 remaining.
Rondel Walker hit a fast break layup to get the Pokes within two a minute later, 52-50, giving the Pokes a 7-0 run of their own.
The Longhorns would extend their lead back up to 11 points with just under nine minutes, 66-55, but the Pokes hit two quick buckets to get back within seven, 66-59. The Horns would extend their lead back up to 13-points, but two quick threes by Cunningham and Walker got the Pokes back within six points with 4:47 left.
It would continue this way for the remainder of the night, the Pokes would get within single digits, but Texas would have an answer on the other end to extend its lead back up.
The Cowboys shot 50.8% from the field on the night, but just 33.3% from 3-point range. They were outrebounded 39-30, but outscored Texas 22-11 in bench points, 44-32 in points in the paint and 17-15 in fast break points. However, the Cowboys led just 2:49 of the game.
The game started just about as electric as anyone could’ve asked for as the Cowboys won the opening tip and Cade Cunningham found fellow freshman Matthew-Alexander Moncrieffe for an alley-oop slam to get the Pokes on the board first.
A few minutes later, the Cowboys found themselves reeling a bit as they’d go on a near-three-minute scoring drought, while the Longhorns went on a 7-0 run on the other end.
Towards the end of the half, Texas really turned up the pressure with Cunningham off the floor and took their largest lead of the half, 14 points, with just over a minute to play.
It was a difficult first half for the Pokes as the Longhorns went into the break with a 10-point lead, 43-33. Cunningham made his way to the bench with more than five minutes remaining in the half after he picked up his third personal foul. He finished the half four points and one rebound.
While they shot a combined 42% from the floor in the first half, the Pokes couldn’t buy an outside shot as they 0-9 from 3-point range. That’s compared to a 55% shooting half for the Longhorns, 50% coming beyond the 3-point line.
The Cowboys will find out their seed and first round matchup in the NCAA tournament as selection Sunday takes place tomorrow, March 14 at 6 p.m. CT on ESPN.
