Recap: Cowboys Earn Their Must-Win, Send Sooners Packing 57-49 in Round 1 of Big 12 Championship

The Cowboys came into Round 1 of the Big 12 Championship likely needing a win to keep their NCAA Tournament hopes alive. It wasn’t pretty, but the Cowboys got it done.

Oklahoma State, the 7-seed, defeated 10-seeded Oklahoma 57-49 in Round 1 of the Big 12 Championship.

OSU held OU to its lowest-scoring half of the season but only mustered enough offense to take a six-point lead into the break.

For the third time this season, the Cowboys’ length and athleticism were a mismatch for the Sooners at the rim. OSU outscored OU 22-16 in the paint, blocked six shots and out-rebounded the Sooners 49-39. The Cowboys held a 16-6 advantage in second-chance points.

The Cowboys used an 18-1 run over 6:03 to walk away from the Sooners and build a 22-8 lead midway through the first.

But after that Thompson jumper, the Cowboys missed six-straight shots and finished the half 2-of-12 from the field. Meanwhile, the Sooners used their own 12-2 run to pull back within 24-20. The Cowboys took a 26-20 lead into the half.

The Sooners hung around for a good chunk of the second half before the Cowboys put the game away with a 9-0 that started with five and half minutes to go. The Pokes were up as much as 15 with less than two minutes to go before Mike Boynton emptied his bench in the final minute.

While the Sooners were an abysmal 25% from the field, there wasn’t a ton of pretty offensive basketball from either team. But the Cowboys were their steady defensive selves and good enough on offense to move on in Kansas City.

John-Michael Wright stole a Sooner pass and ran it down the court for a one-man fastbreak layup with 8:58 left. It gave him 10 points and made him the first player for either team to reach double digits. The first Sooner didn’t hit double digits until Tanner Groves hit a free throw with 7:45 remaining.

The Cowboys were just 1-of-9 from beyond the arc in the first half but made two of their first three out of the locker room but ended the game just 5-for-20. Fortunately for OSU, OU was 6-for-23 from deep.

Caleb Asberry did the heavy lifting on deep balls, shooting 3-of-8 from 3 with all three of his makes coming after the break. He finished with a game-high 15 points and eight rebounds.

Bryce Thompson scored 12 points and dished out five assists, and Wright finished the night with 10 points, three rebounds and three assists.

Player of the Game: Tyreek Smith

Tyreek Smith scored seven points, grabbed a career-high 14 rebounds and added a block and a steal in 25 minutes. Amazingly, this was Smith’s first career game with double-digit rebounds.

In the Cowboys’ regular-season finale in Lubbock on Saturday, Smith started his first game since Jan. 14. He helped the Cowboys break their skid against his former team scoring 11 points and bringing down five rebounds in 26 minutes. Boynton gave him the nod again in KC, and Smith made it count.

With the win, Oklahoma State moves 18-14 on the season. Mike Boynton moves to 9-5 against Oklahoma and is now 18-7 in the month of March during his tenure at OSU.

Next up, the Cowboys will play 2-seed Texas on Thursday at 6 p.m.

Coming into this one, ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi tabbed OSU as the first team out and was quoted multiple times by the ESPN crew as stating a win against the Sooners meant the Cowboys were in. Whether or not that is the case, a win against No. 7 Texas on Thursday night would do their resume wonders.