Hargress and Dak Combine for 33 points to Lead Colorado Over Oklahoma State 83-69
(This story had contributions from the University of Colorado Athletic Media Relations.)
BOULDER, Colo. – Oklahoma State, desperate to improve their NCAA Tournament resume’ that has been sliding the wrong way on a five-game Big 12 losing skid, saw the bottom fall out again. Oklahoma State had trailed much of the game, but a midcourt three pointer at the end of the first half got the game back to single digits. Then the Pokes started the second half with a seven-point run, and at the 16:07 mark in the game took a 48-47 lead. Colorado answered with a 14-to-5 scoring run and never looked back in beating the Cowboys 83-69.
With the loss at Colorado, Oklahoma State falls to 16-11 and 4-10 in the Big 12 Conference. Colorado with the win actually passes the Cowboys in the Big 12 standings at 5-9 and the Buffs are 15-12 overall. Oklahoma State will play West Virginia (16-10/7-6 pending the result at TCU Saturday) in Gallagher-Iba Arena on Tuesday night.
“Hats off to Colorado, they executed especially well in the first half and never really let us get our heads up and they made big shots when they needed to,” OSU head coach Steve Lutz said in his statement after the game. “They were good defensively and we missed shots early and never got going. Therefore we never made it a game early. We made it a game in the second half and took the lead. Then we shot ourselves in the foot, turned the ball over and had some miscues. We just didn’t play winning basketball.”
The Cowboys were led by Parsa Fallah again as he had 14 points. Vyctorius Miller and Christian Coleman each hadd 11 points. More trouble on offense to go with struggles defensively. The Cowboys shot just 38 percent from the field and were 5-of-23 from three-point range. They turned the ball over 15 times, but 10 of those came in the first half.
Barrington Hargress and Bangot Dak led the way for Colorado. Hargress scored 16 points and dished out 8 assists. Dak led the team with 17 points and 7 rebounds. Freshman Alon Michaeli scored 12 points off the bench and grabbed five rebounds.
Colorado opened the game and took control, going on a 20-2 run to take a 17-point lead, its largest of the game. Then after that Oklahoma State rally, the Buffs responded. Tad Boyle’s team getting contributions all across the lineup, going on three different 7-0 runs to retake control of the game. A late defensive surge allowed the Buffs to push the lead to as much as 16 with a couple of minutes left before the 14 point verdict.
Oklahoma State head coach Steve Lutz has been pushing his team and defending the improvement in the program to the media. That pitch has now gone out with the five-game losing streak.
“We certainly had some costly, costly turnovers,” Lutz added. “When it is a period where you have a chance to get up three or four. We just shot ourselves in the foot. It is part of basketball and we have to get our heads up and figure out a way to beat West Virginia on Tuesday.”
