Oklahoma State Falls Flat in Second Half, Drops Regular Season Finale to BYU
Oklahoma State was competitive early, but the wheels fell off after the first 20 minutes.
OSU lost 85-71 at BYU on Saturday in Provo to mark its fifth straight loss. After playing solid basketball in the first half, OSU couldn’t hang with No. 20 BYU any longer.
The Cougars’ first run out of halftime helped them gain some separation, but their second run all but put the game out of reach. With a 10-0 run, the Cougars extended their lead to 25 midway through the second half to officially start the celebration on senior night.
After a promising end to the first half, the Cowboys came out of the halftime break flat, with the Cougars making a quick 13-0 run. Spencer Johnson started the run with a 3-pointer on the half’s first possession.
OSU held BYU to only 4-of-19 from 3-point range on the way to 32 points in the first half. But four makes from beyond the arc in the first five minutes out of halftime broke the game open for BYU.
OSU scored 93 points in the first matchup against BYU in Stillwater, but Saturday was a much different story. In Provo, OSU shot only 28.6% from beyond the arc.
Although the Cowboys’ good start could not be sustained, they made a statement to end the first half. Eric Dailey Jr.’s monster dunk over Noah Waterman helped them go into halftime trailing by only three.
Our live reaction to E Day’s dunk (wait til the end) 🤠 pic.twitter.com/zxBy17jGvz
— OSU Cowboy Basketball (@OSUMBB) March 10, 2024
Javon Small nailed a 3-pointer for the first points of the game. It was his only field goal of the first half, but he finished the game with a career-high 34 points on 10-of-19 shooting on a night when OSU struggled to find its rhythm offensively.
After BYU went scoreless for four minutes, Aly Khalifa’s 3-pointer got his team on the board. Although Khalifa was helpful for BYU in the first half, Jaxson Robinson’s boost off the bench led the team.
Robinson scored 10 points in the first half, including two makes from beyond the arc.
Although OSU lost, it might have been best for a Big 12 Tournament run. If OSU can advance to the second round, it will match up with BYU and avoid playing Kansas, a team that OSU has not been competitive against this season.
The Cowboys will tip off the Big 12 Tournament on Tuesday with a matchup against UCF.
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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.