The Horned Frogs, now at full strength, did what they do best and the Cowboys did what they do worst. Add a huge return from the Big 12’s Preseason Player of the Year, and you’ve got a recipe for a rough day for OSU.
Oklahoma State fell to No. 22 TCU 100-75, behind an impressive return by Horned Frogs star Mike Miles Jr. TCU’s 100 points was a season-high against OSU and it’s the biggest deficit the Cowboys have lost by.
Rarely does a game come down to one determining factor, but the Cowboys’ turnovers, and what the Horned Frogs did with them, went a long way toward spelling doom for OSU.
OSU kept it close for the first 13 or so minutes of the opening half, but the Horned Frogs did what they do best (force turnovers) and the Cowboys did what they do worst (commit TOs).
TCU came in ranked second in the Big 12, and 24th nationally, forcing 16.2 turnovers per game. The Cowboys tied for last in TOs committed, and their 17 giveaways in Fort Worth won’t help them much in that regard.
The game was lost in the middle of the first. OSU went without a field goal from the 11:13 mark to 3:43. Meanwhile, TCU used a 10-0 run to go up 32-21 at 4:34 in the first. You just can’t afford to go seven and a half minutes without making a bucket, especially against a team like TCU, especially on the road.
OSU’s 11 turnovers in the first half led to 14 TCU points. That storyline culminated in a steal by Souleymane Doumbia that led to an Emanuel Miller 3 to push TCU’s lead to 20 with 25 seconds remaining in the first. OSU went to the locker room down 47-27.
The second half didn’t start much better for the Pokes. TCU used a 7-0 run to push the lead to 27 in the first three minutes. The Cowboys weren’t able to get within 20 until there was just over six minutes left and only got as close as 17 before the Horned Frogs went on another turnover-fueled 7-0 run to make the blowout official.
Miles suffered a knee injury three weeks prior to the day and this was his first action. He didn’t look rusty at all. Miles scored all 15 of his points in the first half. But he was one of six (!) Horned Frogs to score in double digits.
Bryce Thompson led the Cowboys with 18 points on 6-of-15 shooting and added four assists and for rebounds. Thompson was just 2-of-8 in the first half but settled in in the second, albeit after the Cowboys were in a deep hole.
John-Michael Wright added 15 points and three assists. Caleb Asberry scored 12 on just five shots. Kalib Boone, who was hampered by foul trouble early, managed just three points in 10 minutes on the floor.
All in all, TCU scored 21 points off OSU turnovers and out-rebounded the Cowboys 33-21. TCU came in leading the nation at 20 fastbreak points per game. The Frogs outscored OSU 23-17 in transition points, many off of OSU turnovers.
To make matters worse, TCU was uncharacteristically hot from beyond the arc. The Horned Frogs came in ranked as the fifth-worst 3-point shooting team in the nation at 28%. They tied their Big 12 season-best knocking down 8-of-15 from 3 while the Cowboys went 10-for-30, playing from behind for almost 36 minutes of game time.
With the loss, Oklahoma State moves to 16-11 and 7-7 in Big 12 play. After a five-game winning streak to get them into the bracket conversation, the Cowboys have started a different kind of streak, following up their loss to Kansas on Tuesday with this blowout defeat.
The Cowboys are still probably safely in the NCAA Tournament field, as things sit now. But with just four games to go, the Cowboys will need to have a short memory. They face West Virginia in Morgantown on Monday at 6 p.m.
