Recap: Oklahoma State Drops Season Finale at BYU 85-71

The Cowboys put up a late fight, but it wasn’t quite enough.

Oklahoma State fell to No. 20 BYU 85-71 on Saturday night in Provo. The Cowboys kept it close through the first half and fought back through a run in the second to keep the Pokes at bay.

Javon Small led all scorers with a career-high 34 points on 10-of-19 shooting, going 5-of-9 from 3 and making nine of 10 from the charity stripe. Unfortunately, no other Cowboys scored in double digits. Brandon Garrison and Eric Dailey Jr. each scored nine points. Jamyron Keller led the Pokes with six rebounds and two assists.

The Cowboys kept it close in the first, falling behind by as much as nine before a late rally saw them close the gap to 32-29 heading into the break. But the Cougars came out firing. The Cowboys started the second half 1-for-8 while the Cougars started it 7-for-8. The Pokes did their best to overcome that slump, but BYU extended its lead to 10 within the first two minutes, and then led by over 20 midway through the final frame. BYU was up as much as 25 in the final half of play.

Oklahoma State rattled off a 9-0 run, part of a 14-2 stint over just over two minutes, to slice the Cowboys’ deficit from 25-13 in the first couple of minutes in the second half, but they fell behind from there despite Small’s impressive performance.

OSU lost the battle of the benches, scoring just 13 points off the pine compared to BYU’s 44 (of the Cougars’ 85 total points).

Next Up

The Cowboys end the 2023-24 regular season 12-19 and 4-14 in Big 12 play. They’ll head to Kansas City for the Big 12 Championship, which tips off Tuesday.