Instant Recap: Cowboys Fall to Wichita State 96-70 in Second Round of NIT

BOXSCORE

The Cowboys’ season ends at home, though there was a strong contingent of Shockers in the house.

Oklahoma State fell to Wichita State 96-70 in the second round matchup of the National Invitational Tournament. Despite being much closer to full strength than in their first-round win over Davidson, the Cowboys led for just 17 seconds on Sunday.

Three Cowboys that were not available in OSU’s first round NIT win did play on Sunday night, but that wasn’t enough to fend off the surging Shockers.

OSU’s leading scorer Anthony Roy, starter Vyctorius Miller and rotation regular Isaiah Coleman all played in the Cowboys’ second-round matchup against Wichita State after missing the win over Davidson due to an unnamed suspension, but the Cowboys came out shooting blanks.

The Cowboys had no answer for Kenyon Giles. The senior guard kept his season alive pouring in 28 points on 10-of-24 shooting, including eight made 3-pointers.

OSU fell behind as much as 14 midway through the first half and starting just 1-for-14 from the field as the visiting Shockers got hot. Wichita State hit eight of 11 shots at one point in the first to build a 22-8 lead over the Pokes, but they fought back.

Kanye Clary clicked into gear and almost dragged OSU back on his own. He scored seven of the Cowboys’ nine points during a span and led all scorers at the half with 16 on eight shots. Clary helped fuel a 12-2 run over two and half minutes late in the first to pull within 34-31.

Christian Coleman also heated up, scoring the Cowboys’ final eight points of the half to go into the break with 10 and help the Cowboys cut it to 39-37 with 1:20 to go in the first. The Shockers finished the half on a 5-0 run to go up 44-37.

Coming in, the Pokes are 9-2 when Christian Coleman scored at least 15 points. He had a season-high 22 points and led the Cowboys on a 10-2 run to start the second, scoring eight of those points. The Cowboys took their first lead of the game, going up 47-46 at the 17:07 mark of the second.

But the Shockers rattled of six-straight points and didn’t look back. The Cowboys had tied it at 48, but before they knew it they were down 61-51 midway through the second. During that span OSU went just 1-for-8 from the field.

That run extended to 14-2 as the Shockers built a 15-point lead — their largest of the night to that point — with just over nine minutes to go and they were able to keep the Pokes at arm’s length the rest of the way. Then they shoved them back even further.

Kenyon Giles made back-to-back 3-pointers and Emmanuel Okorafor dunked it to put the Shockers up 21 with 4:21 to go. It was all but over but the Shockers poured it on, scoring 10-straight to lead by as much as 29 and take the 96-70 win.

The Cowboys were thumped in second-chance points 23-4 despite only holding a 14-11 edge in offensive boards. The Cowboys also gave up 18 points off 11 turnovers and suffered through three streaks of four-straight misses or more including a 0-for-9 stretch in the first.

Five Shockers scored in double digits led by Giles’ 28. The Pokes boasted just two, led by Coleman’s 22 and 10 rebounds. Kanye Clary scored 19 on 7-of-14 shooting and grabbed four boards.

With the loss, the Cowboys end their season at 20-15, a three-game improvement from Lutz’ first season at OSU last year.