Cowboys Go Cold Against Longhorns

Oklahoma State had its chances Monday night against 12th-ranked Texas to show the nation that the Cowboys could once again be a force in the Big 12. But the Cowboys could not hit the shots when it mattered most – missing five shots in a row and turning the ball over three times in an eight-minute stretch of the second half – as the Longhorns held on for a 63-61 victory at Gallagher-Iba Arena.

The loss was the Cowboys’ third in a row and saw their record fall to 10-8 overall and 1-3 in the Big 12. Texas, which had jumped from 19th to 12th in the Associated Press Top 25 poll earlier in the day, improves to 15-3 overall and 2-1 in conference play.

The Cowboys had rallied from a 10-point halftime deficit behind some deadly three-point shooting in the first few minutes of the second second half to take the lead in front of a national television audience (ESPN) and 10,691 fans inside Gallagher-Iba Arena.

Oklahoma State, which entered the game shooting just 44.1 from the field, made five shots in a row - including three-pointers by Marcus Dove, Terrel Harris, James Anderson and Byron Eaton - to open the second half with a 20-7 run for a 51-48 lead.

Eaton’s three-pointer with 8:30 remaining in the game gave OSU a 54-51 lead, but the Cowboys would not score another point for more than six minutes (on a pair of Eaton free throws with 2:16 left) and didn’t get another field goal until Dove’s basket with 23.8 seconds left.

Not many teams are going to defeat the 12th-ranked team in the nation by missing shots and turning the ball over the last five minutes of a close game. The Cowboys also had their chances from the free-throw line with the game on the line in the second half but both James Anderson (73.7 percent) and Obi Muonelo (53.8 percent) missed the front end of one-and-one opportunities.

“In the last five minutes of a close game you can’t make those type of mistakes,” Cowboy head coach Sean Sutton said. “You can’t have two shot-clock violations, and can’t turn the ball over by stepping on the baseline and expect to win.”

Anderson led the Cowboys with 17 points but was just 7-of-18 shooting from the field and 0-of-2 from the free-throw line. Eaton contributed 14 points and eight rebounds, while Marcus Dove finished with 11 points and nine rebounds.

Texas was led by point guard A.J. Augustin with 26 points, including the Longhorns’ final 10 points of the game. He made 9 of 10 free throws, including four in a row in the game’s final 21.2 seconds to sew up the win.

The Cowboys shot just 38.2 percent from the field, but the Longhorns were not much better (41.2 percent). Both teams made 21 field goals, but Texas made 15 of 20 free throws while OSU made just 11 of 14 from the foul line.

The Cowboys will look to end their first three-game losing streak of the season when they host the 18th-ranked Texas A&M Aggies (15-3) on Saturday afternoon at Gallagher-Iba Arena.