Recap: Cowboys Snap Cyclones’ Unbeaten Home Streak, Top No. 11 Iowa State 64-56

It was a physical, defensive battle that came down to which team remained the more poised, and the Cowboys wouldn’t have it any other way.

Oklahoma State defeated No. 11 Iowa State 64-56, to win their third-straight game in Hilton Coliseum (for the first time in program history) and handed the Cyclones their first home loss of the season.

It was an evenly-matched first half. The Cowboys shot 39% to the Cyclones’ 35%. Both teams shot 4-of-12 from deep. Each team grabbed 18 rebounds. The difference came down to the Cowboys’ 10 turnovers to the Cyclones’ three, and even more daunting were the 12 points ISU scored off of those turnovers

Neither team led by more than four until the final four minutes of the first half when Iowa State pushed its lead to six, the difference at halftime.

The Cowboys dealt with foul trouble that started early. Kalib Boone picked up two quick fouls at the end of the first half, followed quickly by Bryce Thompson’s second foul. Boone and Woody Newton each picked up foul No. 3 shortly after the intermission. Somehow no Cowboys fouled out, but foul trouble and free throws played an impact down the stretch.

The Cyclones came out of the locker room firing, but the Cowboys were able to answer each shot. Iowa State pushed its lead to seven for all of 18 seconds before the Cowboys answered and then tied it five minutes into the second. It was a one-possession game from the 17:03 mark until OSU took a five-point lead with 4:38 left to play.

John-Micheal Wright is built for end-of-game situations. After his buzzer-beater putback gave OSU the win against Texas Tech on Wednesday, he had his fingerprints all over the Cowboys’ finish, including clutch 3-pointers, heady defensive plays and facilitating for his teammates.

Wright led all scorers with 19 points on 6-of-10 shooting and was 3-for-6 from deep. Bryce Thompson followed up his 21-point performance in the win over Texas Tech with 12 points on 12 shots. Kalib Boone added eight and eight boards.

Caleb Asberry scored 10 points, grabbed five rebounds and dished three assists.

But what won’t show up in the box score is how Asberry crawled inside Caleb Grill’s head, or how he’ll haunt the Cyclone faithful for some time.

Wright fouled Grill, the Iowa State sharpshooter, on a 3-point attempt with less than two minutes remaining and the Cowboys up just three. The 83% free-throw shooter missed his second two tries. Asberry and Grill had been going at it all game and the two continued their dialogue as Grill missed each shot. When Asberry secured the miss, Grill bulldozed him to pick up his fourth foul. Asberry again reminded his counterpart where he had taken up habitation — or something to that effect — on the way to take his free throws. That led to more chirping and resulted in double technicals which disqualified Grill. Meanwhile, Asberry casually strolled to the line, made both of his free throws and then made a couple more a few moments later to give the Cowboys distance and help seal the win.

Speaking of free throws, these are the worst two free-throw shooting teams in the Big 12 and as each team started piling up personal fouls in the second half, it looked like it might come down to a battle at the charity stripe. It did, but the Cowboys While OSU had 14 fouls to ISU’s 16, the two Cyclones fouled out. Asberry was the closest Cowboy with four fouls.

But the free-throw shooting sunk the Cyclones at home. They went just 9-of-19 from the stripe while the Cowboys went 14-of-20. Iowa State went just 4-of-15 from the free-throw line in the final 10 minutes, playing from behind for a good chunk of that.

With the win, Oklahoma State moves to 16-9. After starting just 1-4 in league play, OSU is now 7-5 against Big 12 teams and is padding quite the March resume. Next up, the Cowboys will get a chance to continue their streak as heartbreakers when they host Kansas at 8 p.m. Tuesday, on Valentine’s Day.