Instacap: OSU Squanders Another Big Lead On the Road, Loses to Arkansas 66–65

The short-handed Cowboys came out with the loss after watching yet another double-digit lead evaporate. OSU moves to 13-8 and 0-5 in true road games this season.

Oklahoma State, once again, gave up a big early lead. A team with a lack of depth was down two more as Kendall Smith and Tavarius Shine were out with illness and injury, respectively.

Three Cowboys scored in double digits with Lindy Waters leading the way (17 points on eight shots (3 of 7 from 3) and seven rebounds. Brandon Averette and Mitchell Solomon pitched in 10 apiece.

The Razorbacks were led by Daryl Macon who scored 22 points off of the bench on 7-of-13 shooting (4 of 7 from 4). No other Arkansas player scored in double digits.

The Cowboys used a hot 3-of-5 start from the field to build a 9-0 lead. But they gave up 8-straight points to the Razorbacks (without the ball crossing halfcourt) on back-to-back turnovers by Brandon Averette. The Cowboys followed that up with their own 11-0 run.

Mike Boynton has played all eight of his active scholarship players in the first eight minutes of game time.

After the Cowboys built a sizable lead 22-11 lead early in the first, the Razorbacks used pulled within three before OSU zoomed away again. The Cowboys carried a 40-32 lead into the half off of a buzzer-beating layup by Brandon Averette.

Averette goes coast to coast to finish at the half! #okstate pic.twitter.com/2kHZbwxG2P

— Dustin Ragusa (@DustRagu) January 27, 2018

The Cowboys continued their love affair with the 3-point shot, launching it from deep 16 times in the opening frame with just six makes to show for it. Things got worse after the break with the Cowboys going 1 for 8 from beyond the arc in the second.

During a stretch in the second half, OSU gave up a 12-0 Razorback run off of four committed turnovers in the less than four minutes. The Cowboys went 1 of 8 over a five-minute period and 5 of 22 overall in the second period. Arkansas took its first lead 50-49 at the 10:50 mark after OSU held a 49-38 lead just six minutes earlier.

Arkansas intelligently used a full-court press which gave Lindy Waters fits while he spelled Brandon Averette at the point guard position. Waters committed five turnovers as he helped shoulder the point guard load with Kendall Smith at home with the flu.

Arkansas scored 20 points off of 16 OSU turnovers and won the second-chance points contest 23-15. Even though Oklahoma State out-rebounded Arkansas 39-34, they still took nine fewer shots.

After a 10-point first half, Waters didn’t find the twine for the first 12 minutes of the final frame. But he came up with 3 big points when he dial long distance to pull the Cowboys back ahead 56-55 with seven minutes remaining.

The Cowboys were aggressive after Arkansas got into foul trouble, and the Pokes got into the double bonus with just under six minutes remaining. They went 7 of 8 down the stretch from the line.

With 1:01, the Cowboys were awarded the ball after a controversial overturning of an out-of-bounds play that originally went the Razorbacks’ way. On the next possession, after another lengthy out-of-bounds replay, Mitchell Solomon grabbed two-straight offensive boards and was fouled. His two charity shots put the Cowboys up by 1 with 22.4 seconds remaining.

The Cowboys gave up 2 points in six seconds, giving them a chance at the walk-off win with 16.2 seconds remaining. After yet another replay review, the Cowboys got two chances to take the lead but Arkansas secured the rebound and OSU was forced to foul, down 1 with 2.5 seconds remaining.

How? pic.twitter.com/kmMskIgpwz

— Pistols Firing (@pistolsguys) January 28, 2018

A missed free throw gave Thomas Dziagwa a chance at a half-court heave but it missed the mark and the Cowboys lost their third game in four tries.

Next up, the Cowboys welcome a reeling TCU team to Stillwater on Tuesday at 6 p.m.