Oklahoma State Wins Must-Win Game Over Kansas State 84-83 In Stillwater
STILLWATER – It was a late-night must-win game for Oklahoma State on Saturday night as they hosted Kansas State, and the Pokes took care of business to beat the Wildcats 84-83.
With the win, the Cowboys moved to 14-4 overall on the season and 2-3 in Big 12 play. And there’s some separation from the bottom of the conference as the Wildcats fell to 0-5 in Big 12 play.
With the game on the line, Vyctorius Miller was fouled shooting a three with 2.5 seconds left and the Pokes down two, 83-81. He stepped up and knocked down all three to put the Pokes up by one, 84-83. On the ensuing inbounds, K-State called a timeout before a turnover at mid-court with 2.1 seconds left. Haggerty missed a deep three at the buzzer as the Pokes held on to win.
Anthony Roy led the Pokes in scoring with 23 points on 7-of-15 shooting from the floor, 3-of-9 from 3-point range and 6-of-7 from the free throw line. Parsa Fallah was second with 17 points on 50% shooting from the floor, 2-of-2 from 3-point range and a perfect 7-of-7 from the free throw line. He also led the team with seven rebounds.
As a team, the Cowboys shot 41% from the floor, compared to 50% from the Wildcats, 33% from 3-point range, compared to 44% from the Wildcats and 83% from the free throw line on 20-of-24 shooting, compared to just 2-of-5 from the Wildcats.
They were outrebounded by the Wildcats 39-37, but outscored them 40-32 in the paint, 36-15 off the bench and forced 16 turnovers, leading to 26 points on the other end. The Cowboys turned the ball over just seven teams leading to 10 points.
The Cowboys had a solid first half performance, as they shot 46% from the floor, 42% from 3-point range and a perfect 9-of-9 from the free throw line. In fact, the discrepancies in free throws were the main difference in the first half as the Wildcats were just 1-of-1 from the charity stripe, with the Pokes entering the break with a 48-43 lead.
The Cowboys came out of the break playing very well as they took their largest lead of the game three minutes into the second half, 56-46, following a fastbreak corner three by Vyctorius Miller to force a KSU timeout.
The Wildcats battled back and took their first lead since the 5:22 mark of the first half by going on a 6-0 run to go up 67-64 with 10:30 left to go in the game. To that point in the second half, the Cowboys were 2-of-7 from the free throw line. The Cowboys would tie the game back up at 67 apiece following a free throw by Miller and layup by Roy. Roy would give the Pokes their lead back with two made free throws a few seconds later, 69-67.
Back and forth it would go as the Wildcats would take the lead back a few minutes later, 73-72, before a 5-0 run by Fallah to put the Pokes back up by four, 77-73, before diving on the floor to force a turnover to get the ball back. He would, however, turn the ball back over on the ensuing possession.
A three from Haggerty, his fourth of the game, put the Cats back on top 81-79 with two minutes left. A turnover by Haggerty at the 1:32 mark gave the Pokes the ball back after a media timeout. Clary tied the game up at 81 apiece on a layup, with Haggerty giving KSU a lead with 50 seconds left.
The Cowboys are back in action this coming Tuesday as they travel down to Fort Worth to face TCU.
