Instacap: Texas A&M Hands Oklahoma State First Loss of the Season 72-55

After an early slugfest in the first half, Texas A&M and Oklahoma State were locked in a 6-5 game six minutes into the game. Then the Aggies started showing off their length and their shooting and built a 23-point lead that would prove to be insurmountable by Mike Boynton’s Cowboys.

The Pokes rattled back at the end to make it respectable, but a down night from superstar Jeffrey Carroll (to say the least) coupled with a 3-24 (!) night from 3-point range doomed their chances against the No. 16 Aggies.

Carroll started 1 for 10 from the field as he came off the bench to begin the game and ended with just 4 points on 12 shots in his debut. He missed five 3s, and Oklahoma State had no chance without a decent showing from its top scoring threat.

The first 20 minutes were as sloppy as you would expect mid-November college hoops to be, and A&M led by 17 at the break. Robert Williams and Co. flexed their muscles down low, and the out-sized Cowboys had no answers offensively or defensively for A&M’s crazy length.

Robert Williams PUT THAT MAN ON A POSTER! ? pic.twitter.com/93TqS0nEcp

— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) November 21, 2017

The second half was a different story, though. OSU found some rhythm offensively, limited A&M to 33 points and looked like they could hang with a top 20 team. Unfortunately — ahem, stop me if you’ve heard this in the last three days — the hole OSU dug itself in the first half was too big to get out of.

The Pokes shot 30 percent from the field, 12 percent from 3-point range and 55 percent on free throws. They also only dished out 7 assists after notching at least 18 in each of the first three games.

Despite hanging tough on the glass against a monstrous A&M front line (OSU lost the rebounding battle 45-38), you’re not going to beat many teams when you post a 30-12-55 shooting percentage night (and you’re not going to beat any top 20 teams).

Still, there were moments. OSU was more aggressive defensively in the second half and much more active offensively. That led to steals and clever fast breaks, two things that have lacked a bit over the first three games of the season.

Kendall Smith is a terrific passer. So clever. pic.twitter.com/R6V0M2koHu

— Pistols Firing (@pistolsguys) November 21, 2017

OSU was led by Brandon Averette who had 10 points … and that’s about all that stood out statistically. On the Aggie side of the ball, D.J. Hogg had 18 points on just 11 shots, and a season debut from Williams led to him dunking on everybody on OSU’s end except for Keiton Page.

OSU would never get closer than 10 in the second half, and three A&M 3-pointers when the game was 58-45 more or less put a Pokes W completely out of reach as A&M stretched the lead to 67-45 as the game faded into garbage time.

Oklahoma State will face the loser of the Penn State-Pittsburgh game on Tuesday at 2:30 p.m. on ESPNU.