Instacap: Oklahoma State Falls to West Virginia 85-79

On the first night of Big 12 conference play, Oklahoma State pushed seventh-ranked West Virginia to the brink and nearly pulled off a stunner to open up league play with a bang.

Nearly.

The Cowboys led by as many as 9 points in the first half and got within 2 in the final minute of action after a back-and-forth game down the stretch, but went cold down the stretch. West Virginia chipped away at the lead steadily in the final frame, and took the lead for good with 9 minutes left.

Oklahoma State shot a tick better than 60 percent in the opening half to build the early lead, but went cold in the final 20 and shot 51.1 percent from the floor on the night. The Pokes hit six of their 17 3-point attempts, too, as Lindy Waters and and Jeff Carroll hit two a piece.

OSU was led by Jeff Carroll and Tavarius Shine who both finished with 17 points each. Waters added 13 points and Mitchell Solomon and Yankuba Sima combined for 15 and 9.

The defensive effort was no doubt there for the Pokes but, as we’ve seen in OSU’s losses, the team appeared to simply run out of gas down the stretch which gave way to the WVU comeback.

OSU falls to 10-3 on the season and, for the second consecutive season, the team suffers a Big 12-opening loss to West Virginia inside GIA. Next up is a trip to Norman to face the Trae Young-led Sooners on Wednesday.