Cowboys Need to Refocus After Heartbreaking Loss at TCU

Oklahoma State had a crushing loss in its most recent game, but it needs to have a short memory.

The Cowboys fell at TCU on Wednesday 73-72 thanks to a last-second 3-pointer from the Horned Frogs. Before throwing the ball the length of the floor and nailing a deep shot off of a deflection, TCU’s hopes of winning looked quite slim, with OSU outplaying the home team in the final minutes.

However, the Cowboys had just enough mistakes to leave TCU without a conference road win. Falling to 0-7 away from Stillwater in conference play, the Cowboys have only three more chances to get a win on the road this season.

Before heading out on the road again, the Cowboys will get a couple of games on their home floor, and their first matchup could be their best chance at a signature win. OSU will host No. 12 Texas Tech on Saturday as it looks for its first ranked win this season.

The Red Raiders are one of the five teams OSU gets to play multiple times this season, with a January matchup in Lubbock going to the home team. While the Cowboys couldn’t beat a then-unranked Texas Tech squad, they kept the game competitive and had an opportunity to steal a win in the second half.

However, OSU had dug too large of a hole to overcome. Still, OSU’s first game against Texas Tech should give it some optimism ahead of the matchup in Gallagher-Iba Arena.

The Cowboys have excelled in Gallagher-Iba Arena this season, going 9-2 overall, with a 4-2 mark in conference play. Their only losses at home came to a couple of teams at the top of the Big 12 standings in Arizona and Houston.

Although the Cowboys have struggled to win games on the road, the TCU loss was a different feeling from their other road troubles this season. In their only true heartbreaker this season, the Cowboys’ momentum from the past couple of weeks seemingly left immediately.

How OSU comes out against Texas Tech could say a lot about the state of the program and the job Steve Lutz is doing in year one.

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