Recap: Oklahoma State Falls to No. 7 Texas 61-47 in Big 12 Tournament Quarterfinals

Despite a late surge to make a would-be blowout interesting, Oklahoma State’s run in Kansas City has come to an end.

Oklahoma State fell to No. 7 Texas 61-47 in the Big 12 Tournament Quarterfinals. The Cowboys will head back to Stillwater to await their fate on Selection Sunday.

Facing elimination and badly needing buckets, the Cowboys turned in their worst shooting night in over a decade. OSU went just 14-of-52 from the field. The Cowboys’ 26.9% is the lowest since at least 2009-10. (Sports Reference doesn’t seem to go back any further.)

That enough would explain a loss to a Top 10 team, though the Cowboys played good enough defense to keep it from becoming a blowout, and showed enough fight late to make it interesting.

Texas took eleven more shots in the first half than OSU, and the shots the Cowboys were taking weren’t falling. OSU missed eight straight shots in the middle of the first half, but that drought didn’t really hurt the Cowboys all that much. When that slump started it was tied 5-5; when it ended it was tied at 15-all.

The Cowboys shot 33% in the first half compared to the Longhorns’ 41%, but they kept it close for a good chunk of the opening period thanks to a 15-8 free-throw disparity, but that wouldn’t last. OSU went an abysmal 7-of-31 from the field in the second half of an elimination game.

The Cowboys started 0-for-5 from 3 and didn’t make their first deep shot until Caleb Asberry drilled one with 45 seconds left in the first. OSU shot 3-for-21 (14%) from deep on the night. Texas went 6-of-19 from 3 (32%).

For the second straight game, OSU was held to just 26 points in the first half, only this time they faced a nine-point deficit at the break. Texas came in 16-0 when leading at halftime, and they didn’t seem keen on bucking that trend.

UT pushed its lead to 14, starting the second half 8-0 keeping the Cowboys from scoring for the first six and a half minutes of the period. OSU missed its first 10 shots of the second and found itself down as much as 18 midway through the frame.

Still, the Cowboys stayed somewhat in it — or at least the scoreboard was closer than it felt — thanks to their trademark stingy defense. OSU held the Big 12’s highest-scoring and best-shooting team to just 61 points on 37% shooting (19 points and 10% below their average). Unfortunately, OSU turned in that historically bad night from the field.

The Cowboys showed some fight late after being backed into a corner and it started with Kalib Boone. After being held scoreless in the first half, Boone poured in 11 in the last 13-plus minutes of the game and grabbed 11 rebounds. After being visibly frustrated and leaving OSU’s huddle during a timeout earlier in the half, Boone provided the spark that made things interesting late.

It Got Interesting Late

Boone grabbed a defensive rebound and dunked it on the other end and then Boone’s steal led to a Caleb Asberry dunk to pull within 52-42 with 3:47 left. On the ensuing possession, Quion Williams got whistled for a foul on Marcus Carr. Carr made two of them.

A couple plays later Asberry was pretty obviously fouled on a 3-point shot, but it wasn’t called. The Cowboys got themselves into too deep a hole, but OSU’s best free-throw shooter would have had the opportunity to cut it to six with 2:47 to go. It proved to be too little, too late for the Cowboys.

Asberry led the Cowboys with 16 and grabbed four rebounds. Boone had his double-double, and Mousse Cisse scored five points and grabbed six boards. Five Longhorns scored in double digits, led by Sir’Jabari Rice’s 15 and eight rebounds.

With the loss, Oklahoma State exits the conference tournament with an 18-15 record, a regular season conference record of 8-10 and apparently a decent shot of making the tournament. ESPN bracket guru Joe Lunardi said the Cowboys were in after their win over Oklahoma on Wednesday, but they’ll have to wait for Sunday to see for sure.