Instacap: OSU Outlasts Tulsa 71-59 by Shaking off Shooting Slump Late

The Cowboys held off the Golden Hurricane 71-59 on Tuesday in a game that was a lot closer than the final score indicates, but a whole lot uglier, too.

The traveling Golden Hurricane brought in a solid game plan which paid off for head coach Frank Haith — for most of the night. The soft zone defense he employed to beat Kansas State and nearly beat Iowa State earlier this year forced OSU to settle for long shots and struggle to realize driving lanes.

The Cowboys started off the game 1 of 8 from beyond the arc and sat at 3 of 17 at halftime. Oklahoma State attempted 34 3-point field goals which ties for fourth-most in program history while shooting just 29 percent by the final buzzer —  and that’s after making five of its last six from beyond the arc.

Kendall Smith started 1 of 6 from 3 but made two very timely treys late to push Oklahoma State’s lead to 8, its biggest so far with just under four minutes remaining.

You live by the 3, you die by the 3.

Oklahoma State spent most of the night on life support, but that late stretch really settled the game. Cam McGriff started off the hot streak making his only attempt from 3. Then Smith made his two and Lindy Waters and Tavarius Shine each knocked one in.

Smith led all Cowboys with 16 points on 6-of-13 shooting (3 of 8 from 3) and added two assist and two rebounds. Jeffrey Carroll scored 14 on 6 of 13 from the field (2 of 8 from 3).

Tulsa senior Junior Etou led all scorers with 18 on 5-of-12 shooting (1 of 6 from 3) both much lower than his average coming in. Mitchell Solomon continued to be OSU’s most valuable defender and Yankuba Sima has been a breath of fresh air in his two games in orange.

The Cowboys’ defense kept them in it most of the first half while its offense struggled. The ability to finally string together a couple of good possessions on offense, saw OSU come back from as much as 8 down to tie it at 28 at the half.

OSU was unable to force turnovers like it has as of late — just 12 by Tulsa for the night — but the Pokes made the most of them by scoring 17 points off of those 12 TOs and only gave up 5 points off of nine turns themselve. The Cowboys out-rebounded the Hurricane 39-30 and won the battle for the offensive glass 13-9.

OSU moves to 9-2 with a just home game against UT-Rio Grande Valley on Friday left before Big 12 play starts with a visit from West Virginia on December 29.