Five Thoughts on Oklahoma State’s 85-76 Win over Seton Hall

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The Cowboys traveled to the northeast and secured the Big East-Big 12 Battle for their conference.

Oklahoma State beat Seton Hall 85-76 on Sunday in New Jersey. Here are five thoughts on the game.

1. Another Suspect Second Half

For the fourth time in eight games this season, the Cowboys were outscored in the second half after outscoring their opponents in the first.

The Pokes on Sunday won the first half 45-26 just to be outscored 50-40 in the second. Perhaps the ugliest stat within that is OSU held Seton Hall to just 38% shooting in the first half but allowed 60% shooting in the second. OSU led by as many as 25 just for Seton Hall to cut the Cowboys’ lead to seven with 54.7 seconds to play.

I think some of the Pokes’ struggles is that they go from a team trying to score instantly to trying to run a little time off the clock. Sunday in particular, the Cowboys had a woeful time figuring out Seton Hall’s press.

So far, poor second halves have proved costly just once this season — a loss to FAU in Charleston — but this is an area the Cowboys will have to figure out or it’ll almost assuredly cost them more in Big 12 play.

2. Arturo Dean Provides Juice

The past two games especially, Arturo Dean has provided some game-settling minutes for the Cowboys.

With Khalil Brantley struggling in Tulsa, Dean came in and settled things to finish with eight points, four assists and three steals.

With things starting to get a little sideways at times in the second half, Dean followed up a three-steal first half by adding nine points, and another steal in the second. He finished with 11 points in total.

Like seemingly every college basketball player, Dean has his moments — like getting called for a five-second violation in the second half with two timeouts. But, the ups and downs of a game don’t seem to effect him because a big portion of his game is about doing the dirty work. And when you play as hard as Dean does, the basketball gods reward you with a 3-pointer that banged hard off the glass at the end of a shot clock. Dean did that in the second half, a shot that felt like a dagger at the time before the Pirates made another run.

3. Jamyron Keller Starting to Pop More

Jamyron Keller, only a true sophomore, keeps chipping away at establishing his role in OSU’s deep group of experienced guards.

He scored in double figures for the first time this season on Sunday, dropping 14 points (tied for a team-high with Robert Jennings) to go with a pair of boards, a trio of assists and a steal.

His first half was super impressive, scoring seven points on three shots.

4. Block or Charge? Both

Bryce Thompson went to the rim in the first minute of the game, and something happened that I didn’t even know was possible: the officials called a block and a charge.

Thompson went up against Emmanuel Okorafor. The official on the baseline called a charge. The official near halfcourt called a block. Both calls stood.

It was the start of a funky day for Thompson. With that foul, Thompson picked up his second a few minutes later and went to the bench for the final 15:57 of the first half. He picked up foul No. 3 less than 30 seconds into the second half, putting him back on the bench for a little while. He finished playing a season-low eight minutes, recording two points, no field-goal attempts, a rebound and an assist.

Luckily for the Pokes, they have a deep pool of guards, and Thompson’s funky day didn’t end up mattering.

5. Regardless of the Second Half Struggles, Still a Solid Result

Now at 5-5, the Pirates don’t appear to be world beaters this season, but this OSU win did secure the Big East-Big 12 Battle for the Big 12.

It was the last game of the challenge this year, and before Sunday, the home teams had won all 10 games of the event.

The win also makes OSU 2-0 in true road games this season. OSU went 1-9 in road games last season. Progress.

OSU is 6-2 heading into a nonconference Bedlam matchup with 9-0 Oklahoma at 7 p.m. Saturday in Paycom Center.