Recap: Cowboys Thwart Kansas Comeback, Win 75-70

The Cowboys blew another big lead, but the Cowboys looked willing to die to not lose in spite of it.

Oklahoma State beat Kansas 75-70 on Tuesday night in Gallagher-Iba Arena, but that win came after the Pokes lost a 16-point lead.

The Jayhawks went on a 21-2 run in the second half an took their first lead of since midway through the first half with 3:08 to play.

The Jayhawks led 70-67 with 1:20 to go. The Cowboys hadn’t scored in more than five minutes when, of all things, Isaac Likekele hit a 3-pointer to tie the game.

The Cowboys then gave up life and limb to make sure what happened against TCU and West Virginia didn’t happen again. A few mad scrambles with bodies sliding all over Eddie Sutton Court saw the Pokes regain the lead, as Cade Cunningham turned on slow motion and saved a ball from going out of bounds that quickly ended in a Rondel Walker and-one. It gave OSU a 73-70 lead.

Walker hit the deck again in KU’s next possession where he was able to get a steal on the ground and call a timeout with fewer than 20 seconds to play.

KU fouled Bryce Williams who missed the front end of a one-and-one. Ochai Agbaji, who made four 3s in the game, got up two 3-point attempts but missed both. The second rebound went off a pair of Cowboys, giving the Jayhawks one more shot with 4.2 to play. But, as he did against Texas Tech, Bryce Williams sealed the game with a steal off the inbounds pass which he turned into a self-oop and a slam.

Cunningham torched the Jayhawks in the first half in a game that probably had a lot of NBA eyes on it. Cunningham dropped 14 first-half points on only seven shots. He hit three 3-pointers and had five rebounds and three assists.

Cunningham had a lot of highlights, but perhaps his best first-half clip was this half-court, left-handed bounce pass that set up an Avery Anderson and-one.

OSU put together a 10-0 run in the first half and lead by as many as 16 in the frame. The Cowboys took a 46-35 lead into the break thanks to Cunningham, Anderson and Williams all scoring in double figures.

Cunningham finished with 18 points, seven rebounds, three assists and two blocks. Williams added 17 points.

Walker was a bucket away from a double-double, as he finished with eight points and a career-high 10 rebounds.

Up Next

The Cowboys have a week of emotion-filled games, as OSU hosts Bedlam rival Oklahoma at 7 p.m. Saturday on ESPN2. The Sooners slammed TCU 82-46 on Tuesday.