Recap: Oklahoma State Falls to Kansas 87-76, Ends Five-Game Win Streak

GIA was electric, the Cowboys fought hard and got some big-time performances from Kalib Boone and Bryce Thompson, but it was not quite enough to overcome a flurry of well-timed Kansas 3-pointers and the Jayhawks’ dominance in transition.

Oklahoma State fell to No. 5 Kansas 87-76 in Gallagher-Iba Arena. The loss snaps a five-game winning streak by the Cowboys.

Back to the crowd. It was, at times, vintage GIA rowdy, fueled by a couple of big performances. Boone and Thompson got about whatever they wanted in the first half, combining for 30 of the Cowboys’ 37 points at intermission.

OSU was intent on getting Boone going early. With OSU’s improved shooting from the perimeter, KU chose not to double-team him — a strategy Bill Self employed for much of the Big 12 opener in Lawrence — and he made them pay. Boone scored 16 points on 10 shots in the first half. He led all scorers with a career-high 27 points and nine rebounds.

Speaking of outside shooting, Thompson knocked down a standing 3-pointer on his second attempt and the bucket just kept getting bigger for him. Thompson scored 14 in the first half, though he was held to only three points in the second and didn’t make a field goal.

Thompson and Boone were the only Cowboys to attempt a shot until John-Michael Wright nailed a 3 to put OSU up 19-16 at the 12:06 mark of the first half. Wright’s six points and a single made free throw by Tyreek Smith were the only points not scored by Boone and Thompson at the half.

The Cowboys led for 12:51 of the first half, but they got a little out of control late in the first. A quick turnover and several rushed possessions led to a 6-0 Kansas run that gave the Jayhawks their first lead in over seven minutes of game time. Unfortunately for OSU, that would become a trend. The Cowboys committed five turnovers over the last four minutes of the half and the Jayhawks capitalized.

The Jayhawks made back-to-back 3-pointers to end the half, including a late one at the buzzer by Gradey Dick that shouldn’t have been. John-Michael Wright hauled in a defensive rebound with nine seconds to left and charged down the floor on a fastbreak. But instead of holding for the final shot of the half, he forced a layup into double coverage. That led to the corner 3 by Dick to give KU the 39-37 lead going into the break.

Dick picked up where he left off in the second. After making his first deep ball with one second remaining in the first, he knocked down a couple of quick 3s at the start of the second to help push KU’s lead to 11, and the Cowboys were playing from behind the rest of the way. Dick finished with 26 points and went 4-for-9 from 3.

OSU went for over three minutes without a bucket before Wright nailed consecutive 3-pointers to pull the Cowboys back within five. But the Cowboys kept making mistakes and the Jayhawks kept making them pay. OSU committed 15 turnovers that led to 16 KU points, and OSU got crushed in transition 20-5. A lot of those fastbreak points were open 3s.

OSU’s bigs did a good job of getting KU’s in foul trouble, but they couldn’t pay it off at the line down the stretch. At one point in the second half, OSU was 12-of-15 from the free-throw line before the Cowboys went 2-of-7 at the stripe down the stretch. That’s not a good way to play from behind, especially when the Jayhawks made well-timed 3 after well-timed 3.

With the loss, Oklahoma State moves to 16-10 and 7-6 in Big 12 play, breaking what was the league’s longest win streak. Next up, OSU heads to Fort Worth to face No. 22 TCU, just two weeks after the Cowboys upset the Horned Frogs in Stillwater.