STILLWATER – It was a story of two halves as Oklahoma State battled back to beat Tarleton State, 66-61.
With the win, the Cowboys moved to 7-3 to start the season.
“Obviously, not our best first half performance defensively of the year, it seemed we still have a bit of a hangover from Bedlam, and that’s unacceptable,” Steve Lutz said after the game. “That’s unacceptable on our part, from the head coach down to the players. With that being said, I thought we were much better in the second half, and we gave ourselves an opportunity to win through our defense and through playing the right way. We got to figure out a way to put that together for 40 minutes on Sunday against Oral Roberts, and then obviously in the Big 12.”
Marchelus Avery led the way in scoring for the Pokes with 18 points on 5-of-12 shooting from the floor, 3-of-6 from 3-point range and 5-of-8 from the free throw line.
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Bryce Thompson and Jamyron Keller each had 10 points, Thompson on 4-of-11 shooting from the floor and Keller 3-of-7 shooting.
The Cowboys finished the game shooting 40% from the floor, 35% from 3-point range and 74% from the free throw line. They turned the ball over 18 times, leading to 12 points on the other end, forcing just 14 turnovers. They outrebounded the Texans 42-26, but was outscored in the paint, 30-26.
“Tonight’s biggest problem is that we took quick and easy shots,” said Lutz. “If I have a good shot, and I can pass that shot up for a great shot, obviously your numbers are going to go up exponentially. We let them off the hook when we had opportunities, when we had a good shot instead of maybe driving the ball and passing it one more and taking a great shot. The numbers are staggering, like our uncontested shots versus contested shots, we shoot 27% (on) contested shots, we shot 41% uncontested. So, why would you ever do that? We’ve got to be tougher all the way around on both ends of the floor.”
It was a horrendous first half for the Cowboys as they went into the break trailing the Texans, 31-25. That’s with the Pokes finishing on a 6-0 run. But the Cowboys shot just 24% from the field, 18% from 3-point range, starting the game just 1-of-6 from the floor in the first four minutes of the game.
Thompson and Avery combined for 10 first half points on 3-of-10 shooting from the field, 2-of-5 from the free throw line.
On the other end, the Texans shot a blistering 56.5% from the floor ad 50% from 3-point range.
Going back to the first half, the Cowboys went on a 14-2 run to cut the game to just two points, 33-31, four minutes into the second half before Mpaka hit a shot in the paint just ahead of the media timeout.
A layup by Keller tied the game up at 35 just over 14 minutes left in the game before Dean drilled a corner three to take their first lead since the 13-minute mark of the first half. It was just the third made three of the game for the Pokes, making it 3-of-15 from beyond the arc.
Just a minute later, Avery drilled his second three of the game giving the Pokes a four-point lead, 41-37.
Brantley drilled a third-straight three for the Pokes just under 11 minutes left in the game to make it a four-point game, 44-40, before the Texans responded with a bucket in the paint on the other end. A steal and a fastbreak layup tied the game up at 44 just a little more than a minute later.
Thompson drilled a fourth-straight three for the Pokes to take a 48-44 lead, with a free throw by Avery giving the Pokes the single point between threes.
Avery extended the Pokes’ lead to eight, 62-54, before the Texans responded in less than a minute to cut the game back to three, 62-59.
Up three with just 30 seconds left, 64-61, following a bucket by the Texans, Dean was tripped up on the in-bounds play by Avery, turning the ball back over with 28 seconds left.
After a missed desperation three by the Texans, Thompson rebounded the shot, leading to multiple fouls by the Texans in the final 14 seconds of the game, finally leading to two made free throws by Avery to put the Pokes up five, 66-61.
