Oklahoma State coach Steve Lutz has been preaching defense all season, and the Cowboys finally seemed to have listened last week when they held UCF and Iowa State below their season averages.
That all went out the window in a 94-79 loss to Baylor Tuesday.
Oklahoma State (13-4, 1-3 Big 12) will try to get back on track Saturday when it hosts Kansas State (9-8, 0-4) in Stillwater, Okla.
The loss to Baylor left the Cowboys, who had high hopes during nonconference play, behind the 8-ball in the Big 12 race.
“At the end of the day, if you allow someone to come on your floor and score 94 points, you better look in the mirror,” Lutz said.
The Cowboys gave up 57 points in the first half and trailed by 18. They cut it to 10 in the second half, but could not get within striking distance of the Bears.
“You can’t play the game of basketball, especially in the No. 1 league in the country, like it is an AAU game,” Lutz said. “You have to play with intent. We did that a little better in the second half.
“In college basketball, you can’t start winning until you stop losing. You can’t do things that make you lose. Not defending the 3 makes you lose. Turning the ball over eight times in the first half makes you lose. Getting offensive rebounds and not making them pay. Those are losing qualities. You have to flip that.”
Anthony Roy continues to lead the Cowboys in scoring with 17.6 points, along with 4.2 rebounds per game. Parsa Fallah is scoring 15.1 and pulling down a team-high 6.5 rebounds.
The Wildcats are coming off an 82-73 loss to UCF that kept them winless in the conference.
“This calling of coaching is not for the faint of heart, especially in this league,” Kansas State coach Jerome Tang said. “In the first eight minutes, we had eight turnovers and a couple of shots that might as well have been turnovers and they were able to get out in transition. When you dig yourself a hole, it is just hard.”
P.J. Haggerty leads the Wildcats with 22.9 points and 4.6 assists per game.
Abdi Bashir Jr., a 44.3% 3-point shooter, had 12 points against UCF on 4-of-13 shooting from distance. His aim has been hot and cold this month, following an 0-for-5 performance at No. 1 Arizona with a 6-for-12 day behind the arc when Kansas State faced Arizona State three days later.
–Field Level Media
