Five Thoughts on Oklahoma State’s 71-61 Loss to Baylor

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The Cowboys road woes continue, as they came out on the bottom of a physical game in Waco.

Oklahoma State lost to Baylor 71-61 on Saturday night. Here are five thoughts on the game.

1. It Was an Ugly, But Competitive Slugfest

Scoring picked up a bit in the second half, but with 3:57 left in the first half, Jamyron Keller hit a free throw to give the Cowboys a 24-17 lead.

That’s right, 16 minutes of basketball had been played and only 41 points were scored. It was ugly, but both teams were playing so hard that its competitive nature still made it entertaining.

Baylor closed the first half on a 9-0 to take a 26-24 lead into the locker room. The teams combined to shoot 17-for-61 (28%) from the field, 4-for-24 (17%) from 3 and 12-for-23 (52%) from the foul line in the first half. One of the commentators said it felt like a high school game, and that wasn’t a horrible take.

But bodies were flying around. There was one defensive possession for the Cowboys in the first half where I believe two different Pokes dived to the floor. The Bears still came up with the ball, but the Cowboys just kept rotating around the perimeter and ended the possession with a Connor Dow steal. The hustle was there, but no one could score. It was the earliest I’ve ever felt every singular point mattered so much, which was extra stress-inducing given the early free-throw shooting.

The second half was less entertaining as it was quite the foul fest. There were 40 total free throws were shot in the second half. The real separating stat is Baylor shot 6-for-13 from 3 in the half after going 2-for-17 in the first half. The Cowboys were 0-for-7 from 3 in the second half, shooting 14% from deep in the game.

2. Omier, Foul Trouble an Issue

Baylor forward Norchad Omier is a beast on the glass, entering Saturday’s game in the top 10 nationally in rebounds per game (10.4) and seventh in double-doubles (16).

Well, he added to that tally against the Pokes, finishing with 10 points and 13 boards before fouling out late.

A backbreaker in the defensive struggle that was that first half was Baylor had 12 offensive rebounds and turned those into 12 second-chance points. So, 12 of Baylor’s 26 points in the first half came after an offensive rebound.

The Cowboys’ rebounding efforts weren’t helped by the fact that starting center Abou Ousmane picked up two early fouls and played just four minutes in the first half. Ousmane was big for the Pokes in the second half and finished with nine points and six boards in just 13 minutes because of that foul trouble.

3. Suemnick’s Playing Some Sneaky Good Basketball

Ousmane’s found himself in a little extra foul trouble here lately, but I thought Patrick Suemnick has played admirably in OSU’s past few games filling in for him.

Suemnick played 11 minutes in the first half because of Ousmane’s early foul trouble, and Suemnick had four points, five rebounds, two blocks and a steal in that stretch. I also thought he looked good in the first half of OSU’s win against Iowa State on Tuesday. He scored six points in nine minutes in that first half.

REJECTED ❌ https://t.co/XKq3c966kf pic.twitter.com/w2hSNHABaS

— OSU Cowboy Basketball (@OSUMBB) March 2, 2025

Ousmane has been such a difference maker for this team that you’d rather he be on the floor, but Suemnick’s had a nice stretch.

4. Thompson Was OSU’s Offense

Bryce Thompson was the only Cowboy to score in double figures, dropping 19 points on 7-for-15 shooting. He had a dunk early that was among the most physically impressive of his career.

He averaged 14.8 points in the month of February and is off to a hot start in March. Thompson is up to 1,304 points in an OSU uniform, which ranks 24th in program history (between Terrel Harris and Victor Williams). If he could get up to 1,400 before the season comes to a close, he’d hop up to No. 19 between Byron Eaton and Obi Muonelo.

5. One More Shot at a Road Win

The Cowboys are now 0-9 in Big 12 roads games this season with their last win in a conference foe’s gym coming back on Feb. 21, 2024 (at Cincinnati).

OSU’s last shot at avoiding a winless season on the road comes Wednesday in Orlando against UCF. The Cowboys hung 104 points on the Knight’s on Feb. 19, so hopefully there’s confidence in that. But, 104 points seems like a far cry from this tough night in Waco.