OU Basketball: Oklahoma Wilts in Bedlam Blowout

STILLWATER — Careless basketball to start the second half cost Oklahoma on Wednesday night.

The Sooners made the trip to Gallagher-Iba Arena, but were unable to overcome turnovers and defensive lapses to top the Oklahoma State Cowboys.

Mike Boynton’s team rode the momentum across the finish line, beating Porter Moser’s Sooners 72-56 to notch the win in the season’s first Bedlam battle.

After OU (11-5 overall, 2-4 Big 12) held OSU to 24 points in the first half, the Cowboys needed just eight minutes after halftime to score 26 more points.

Avery Anderson III attacked the rim, drawing a foul from OU’s Sam Godwin, and the Cowboy guard converted the and-1 to cap off OSU’s 12-3 run to start the second half. The possession put Oklahoma State up three points, and the Sooners never recaptured the lead.

The Cowboys (10-8, 2-4) shot 54.8 percent from the field, including 6-of-10 from deep in the second half, scoring 48 points over the final 20 minutes.

“We couldn’t get stops,” Moser said after the game. “I think it’s the first game in awhile that some of us let our offense dictate our defense. In this league, you’ve got to have five guys connected on defense. I’ve got to give Oklahoma State a lot of credit.

As mad as I am right now, they were terrific. They were clicking on all cylinders… So yeah, I’m disappointed that it got away from us, without a question.”

Oklahoma’s backcourt wasn’t immune from the rough start, as freshman guard Milos Uzan and veteran Grant Sherfield combined to commit four turnovers in the first five minutes of the second half.

The defensive implosion erased Sherfield’s first half effort, where he scored 15 points on 5-of-7 shooting to keep the Gallagher-Iba crowd at bay.

A Jalen Hill layup cut the Cowboy lead down to five points with 5:53 remaining, but back-to-back buckets by Bryce Thompson and Kalib Boone extended the advantage back out to nine.

Boynton shed his orange blazer, tossing it into the bench and slapping the floor to ignite the OSU crowd.

Oklahoma State’s defense responded with a stop, stuffing Tanner Groves at the rim, winning back to the ball and fully asserting control of the contest.

Groves and Godwin combined to score six points on the night, as the Cowboys’ superior size won the day.

“You just saw the confidence come through, and they just went on a great run,” Moser said. “They completely dominated the second half.”

The Sooners have turned around poor defensive starts before this season.

Iowa State opened up a 22-5 lead to start the second half on Jan. 4 at the Lloyd Noble Center, but OU stormed back to tie the game up at halftime.

But Oklahoma’s defense failed to recover on Wednesday night, allowing the Cowboys to carry their momentum across the finish line.

“We came out and just couldn’t get a single stop,” Hill said. “That’s on me. I gotta be a better leader out there and pride ourselves in the first four minutes of the second half and just gather the team and make us play better.”

Sherfield was shutout in the second half, and Jacob Groves was Oklahoma’s only other scorer to reach double-digits, finishing with 10 points.

Oklahoma committed 13 turnovers to OSU’s seven, and the Cowboys converted nine offensive rebounds into 11 second-chance points.

The Sooners head home needing to regroup, as the Big 12 grind continues on Saturday.

Oklahoma will host the Baylor Bears at 3 p.m. on Saturday at the Lloyd Noble Center, and the game will be broadcast on ESPN2.

Regardless of how poorly the second half went in Stillwater, the Sooners will have to put the game behind them and bounce back quickly to avoid letting the tough conference schedule snowball on themselves.

“We’ve had losses. You bounce back. This team is high character,” Moser said. “… And that’s our only option. It’s your only option in this league is you can’t lose confidence. You’ve got to learn, get better, put it in the bank and you got to come back and fight and get the next one.

“You’ve got another elite team. So there’s no losing confidence.”

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