OSU Players Throw Shade at Fans After Lackluster Attendance vs. Baylor

Gallagher-Iba Arena, affectionately referred to as “The Rowdiest Arena in the Country” by the great Larry Reece and anyone who has seen or felt the place come to life, was anything but on Tuesday.

With an announced crowd of 6,017 on hand Tuesday night to watch Oklahoma State suffer a head-scratching loss to a floundering Baylor team, Oklahoma State players Kendall Smith and Mitch Solomon noticed the lack of orange in the crowd. And they called fans on it.

“Honestly I think we’re focusing on our crowd to pick us up too much,” said Smith. “Obviously with this second half of Big 12 play, our games are on Tuesday’s and not Saturday’s so we don’t really have the crowd that we expected but we can’t make that be our excuse. We still got to come out every night with the same mindset no matter who’s in the crowd. I just think that we’re focusing on that a little bit too much and it can’t be that way if we want to win.”

Against Baylor, OSU’s offense stagnated and the Bears took advantage of a lifeless crowd and even more lifeless offense, using a 16-0 run in the game to distance themselves while the Pokes suffered the effects of a nine-minute scoring drought.

Smith, a graduate transfer, made it clear he didn’t want to use the lack of attendance as an excuse. Mitch Solomon did, too. But he called it how he saw it after the game when describing his feelings about the less than half full crowd.

“Everyone plays better when there’s a more exciting atmosphere,” Solomon said. “That’s what you grow up dreaming of is playing in packed arenas, so I think everyone gets a little boost from that, but that can’t be us. We have to come out and play as hard as we can every night regardless of the crowd.”

After beating Kansas in Lawrence on Saturday — a feat not even Eddie Sutton accomplished — Mike Boynton pleaded with fans on Twitter to fill the stands for the game on Tuesday, but they were collectively a no-show.

Maybe the game turns out differently if 13,000 show up in droves to cheer on OSU on Tuesday. Maybe — just maybe — a win here could’ve been the momentum it needed to fuel a run to the Big Dance.

Nothing is absolute.

But what I do know is this: it’s on players to play, regardless of fan turnout. And in one of the most pivotal games of the season, Oklahoma State laid a Waco-sized egg that will almost certainly keep them from the NCAAs.

That’s not on the fans.