Instant Recap: Cowboys Fall to TCU 95-88 in Round 2 of Big 12 Tournament

BOXSCORE

The Cowboys did their best to cool them, but the Horned Frogs remain the league’s hottest team.

14th-seeded Oklahoma State fell to the 6 seed TCU 95-88 in the second round of the Big 12 Tournament. The Horned Frogs have now won nine of their last 10 games.

The Cowboys kind of ran out of steam late, but they were a well-oiled machine for much of the game, especially in the first half.

They came out shooting well, but it was the result quality offense and spreading the wealth. The Pokes started 9-for-13 from the field and finished the half shooting 51%. They rebounded the ball, worked their offense inside-out and made the extra pass.

At the break, five Cowboys had at least six points in the first, led by 10 from Jaylen Curry and eight apiece from Anthony Roy, Benjamin Ahmed and Isaiah Coleman.

The Cowboys led by as much as seven, but it was pretty much a two-possession affair for most of the first 20 minutes. OSU took a 46-43 into the break.

Despite being down a couple of bigs in Parsa Fallah and Andrija Vukovic, The Pokes did their damage in the paint. In the first half, OSU outrebounded TCU 20-16. The Pokes 30 first-half points in the paint were the most in a half so far in the tournament.

Christian Coleman had six points in the first half and nine in the first five minutes of the second half. That’s fresh off a 17-point, 14-rebound game the night before.

Coleman helped start another 8-0 run by the Pokes which saw their lead extend to 67-57 by the 13:46 mark. That would be their biggest lead.

The Cowboys found themselves in foul trouble in the second half. Jaylen Curry and big men Ahmed and Mekhi Ragland each had four personal fouls just past the midway point of the second and had to hit the bench.

During that time with Curry, the Cowboys weren’t able to play with the same tempo. The Frogs rattled off six-straight points to go up 81-80 thanks to a Xavier Edmonds 3-pointer with 5:40 to go. It was their first lead since just 90 seconds into the second.

The deep ball was a huge factor in the end result. Despite 52 points in the paint, the Cowboys were outshot on the perimeter, going just 4-for-19 from 3 (21%) to TCU’s 8-for-23 (35%).

The Cowboys hung with them but when you trade buckets, it’s hard to get your lead back. The Frogs took a six-point lead with another deep ball (this one by Tanner Toolson) with 1:56 to go and the Cowboys weren’t able to get back in front.

After owning the paint in the first, the Cowboys ended the game losing the battle of the boards 39-35 and being outscored in second-chance points 27-16.

Six Cowboys scored in double digits led by 25 and nine rebounds by Anthony Roy in his final game as a Cowboy. Christian Coleman scored 15 on 7-of-10 shooting and Kanye Clary added 14 and five assists.

TCU’s David Punch led all scorers with a career-high 26 points on just 14 shots.

With the loss, the Cowboys’ season ends at 19-13, a two-win improvement from Steve Lutz’s first season last year. They won’t make the NCAA Tournament but do have a chance at continuing their season in the NIT or the Crown.