Instacap: Oklahoma State Falls 78-66 to No. 6 Wichita State

Oklahoma State and sixth-ranked Wichita State duked it out inside Gallagher-Iba Arena for 40 minutes on Saturday in a grinding slugest of a game that would have made Barry Alvarez proud.

Offense was largely hard to come by and bordering on inept at times for the greater part of 30 of the first 40 minutes. The defense from both units impressed. And despite a second tally in the loss column on the season, it was an overall solid showing by a Big 12 squad picked to finish last in the league to go toe-to-toe with a team many peg as a Final Four contender.

FINAL: WSU 78, OSU 66

Tavarius Shine led OSU with 20 points on an efficient 5 of 10 shooting, followed closely by Mitch Solomon, who was not-so-quietly OSU’s best player all day. No. 41 finished with 17 points, a team-high 8 rebounds, and countless defensive efforts that led to turnovers and wasted Wichita State possessions.

1st Half, 7:52 | Plenty of hustle from @BigMitch_41 on the defensive end today. #OKState up 14-9 with less than eight minutes to go in the first half. pic.twitter.com/vFViEPFVUC

— Cowboy Basketball (@OSUMBB) December 9, 2017

OSU’s defense held its own against the Shockers, too. It created headaches in the first half by not allowing them to get into their sets and forcing 19 total turnovers on the day. Eventually, though, future pro Landry Shamet found his stroke and caught fire, finishing with a career-high 30 points. Conner Frankamp added 14 of his own, and WSU’s 12 of 26 mark from the 3-point line might have been the difference in the game.

Overall, it’s a double digit loss to a top-10 team that, if you look at simply the box score, is a game many will sweep under the rug. But OSU hung tough with Wichita State and held the lead for the greater part of 19 minutes in the first half.

Even to come out on the losing end, OSU and Mike Boynton has to be encouraged coming away from this one. OSU didn’t at all look out of its world, and the Mitch Solomon-Lindy Waters breakout was nearly enough to lead them to a win — despite getting just 3 points from Jeff Carroll in 17 minutes of action.

OSU gets the week off from game action before facing Florida State, a team that just shellacked No. 5 Florida, next Saturday. Barring an upset against Tulane, the Seminoles will carry an unblemished 9-0 record into the MetroPCS Orange Bowl Classic.

Mike Boynton takes the mic to address the fans: "If you do what you did today, we’ll do our part. I promise you." #okstate

— Mark Cooper (@mark_cooperjr) December 9, 2017