Oklahoma State's Upset Bid at No. 5 Houston Falls Short
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Oklahoma State battled hard but couldn’t escape Houston with a win.
OSU lost 72-63 to No. 5 Houston on Tuesday night at the Fertitta Center in Houston. After keeping the game close and having a chance in the final minutes, OSU just didn’t have enough to pull off the unthinkable.
After taking only a six-point deficit into halftime, the Cowboys’ hole grew in the opening stages of the second half. Coming out of halftime, Houston rattled off an 8-0 run in the first four minutes to extend its lead to 47-33. Houston used an extended 13-2 run out of halftime to earn its largest lead of the night at 17, but OSU refused to go away quietly.
A 7-0 run immediately after pulled the Cowboys back to within 10 points, but they struggled to break that threshold. After a few minutes of back-and-forth action, Marchelus Avery’s 3-pointer cut the OSU deficit to nine just before the teams hit the under-4 media timeout.
Like the Cowboys’ first matchup against the Cougars, they threw the first punch and had an early lead. Just over eight minutes into the game, the Cowboys held an 18-9 lead and looked to be in the running for an upset against one of the top teams in the country.
While OSU let go of the rope early and dramatically in the Big 12 opener in Stillwater, this matchup in Houston featured a different finish to the first half. Although OSU’s lead soon evaporated, its chances of winning were still intact at halftime.
Over the final 11:18 of the first half, OSU was outscored 30-15 but only trailed by six at the half after Arturo Dean hit a much-needed 3-pointer just before the halftime buzzer. A 7-0 run and a 6-0 run from the Cougars in the final minutes of the half still put them in a great position to win.
Although the Cowboys stayed close throughout the night, they simply didn’t have enough to compete with Houston’s firepower. While it just goes down as another loss for the Cowboys, battling with a national title contender on the road is a positive sign as the Big 12 schedule rages on.
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Ivan is a sports media student at Oklahoma State University. He has covered OSU athletics since 2022 and also covers the OKC Thunder for Inside The Thunder and Thunderous Intentions.