Can the Cowboys' Last-Minute Surge Overcome the Sooners' Dominance in Paint?
In a closely contested battle at Gallagher-Iba Arena, the Oklahoma State Cowboys faced off against their rivals, the Sooners. The game ended with a nail-biting score of 84-82 in favor of the visitors. The Oklahoma State Cowboys now hold a record of 0-1, while the Sooners stand at 1-0.
The home crowd witnessed an intense showdown that saw eight ties and seven lead changes throughout. The Cowboys put up an impressive fight with a two-point field goal percentage of 68 percent and an overall field goal percentage of 57 percent. They managed to score half their points inside the paint, matching their opponents with a total of 54 points in this area.
Despite trailing by two points at halftime with a scoreline showing them ahead at 38-30, Oklahoma State rallied back to force overtime but ultimately fell short by just two points. Their efforts were bolstered by five steals and two blocks on defense while also providing fans with some fast-paced action resulting in six fast break points.
On offense, Oklahoma State's teamwork shone through as they tallied up 16 assists on their way to scoring 82 total points for the game. However, they struggled slightly from beyond the arc, converting only five out of seventeen three-point attempts which equates to a three-point shooting percentage rounded off to about 29 percent.
The team's resilience was tested as they committed nine turnovers but managed to keep it close thanks to their assist-to-turnover ratio standing strong at approximately 1.78. In terms of rebounds, they grabbed nine offensive boards contributing to eleven second-chance points but were narrowly outdone by the Sooners who had sixteen offensive rebounds leading to twenty-one second-chance points.
The visiting team capitalized on every opportunity given by Oklahoma State's nine turnovers scoring eight points off these mistakes. They shot efficiently from inside making twenty-eight out of forty-five attempts which is approximately sixty-two percent from two-point range and maintained fifty-one percent shooting overall from the field.
As both teams exhausted all but one timeout each during this intense matchup, it was clear that every possession counted in this conference game attended by eleven thousand three hundred seventy spectators who witnessed every moment live from Gallagher-Iba Arena.
Looking ahead for Oklahoma State Cowboys fans is another chance for victory when they host UCF Knights at Gallagher-Iba Arena located in Stillwater on February twenty-eighth at seven o'clock PM Central Time Zone broadcasted over ESPN+.