Oklahoma State Drops Second Straight Game in Loss to UCF
Oklahoma State’s good start was all for not.
OSU lost to UCF 77-71 at Gallagher-Iba Arena on Wednesday. After losing to Oklahoma at the buzzer on Saturday, OSU looked poised to bounce back but fell apart in the second half.
The Cowboys struggled with the Knights’ press all night, and their offense was particularly rough in the second half. Although they had an opportunity to win late, poor execution doomed the Cowboys.
By the under-eight timeout, UCF built its lead to eight. OSU responded with a 7-0 run to quickly get back in the game.
After trailing the entire first half, Darius Johnson’s mid-range jumper gave UCF its first lead less than two minutes into the second half. Although OSU had blown its lead, a monster dunk by Quion Williams ignited the small crowd.
An altercation late in the first half led to double technicals, including one on Javon Small for his third foul. Although Small did not play again until after halftime, OSU found success but also struggled.
OSU extended its lead to as much as 12 in the first half before UCF got into a rhythm.
The Knights offense began to hit from beyond the arc toward the end of the half and made a small run to close the gap. A flagrant foul on Brandon Garrison helped the Knights further.
By forcing nine UCF turnovers in the first half, OSU’s offense was able to get easy buckets in transition and still held a 42-38 halftime lead.
John-Michael Wright got out to a blistering hot start against the Knights. He scored 13 points in the first six minutes to help the Cowboys take an early lead.
Jamyron Keller got a steal and found Williams for an alley-oop. Williams’ slam put OSU up six with about eight minutes left in the first half.
OSU will play again Saturday when it travels to Austin for a matchup with Texas.
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Ivan is a sports media student at Oklahoma State University. He has covered OSU athletics since 2022 and also covers the OKC Thunder for Inside The Thunder and Thunderous Intentions.