Cowboys Struggle on Both Ends Without Likeleke, Fall to Minnesota 86-66

Oklahoma State drops its third game without Likeleke, this time 86-66 to Minnesota in Tulsa.

Pat Kinnison - Oklahoma State Maven

Fresh off a huge win against Houston on the road, Oklahoma State struggles in both halves as they fall to Minnesota by 20 at the BOK Center in Tulsa, 86-66.

With the loss, Oklahoma State drops to 8-3 on the season.

"We haven't had the best practices lately," said head coach Mike Boynton on the Cowboy Radio Network. "We have a Christmas break mindset. We have to learn that we're going to play how we practice consistently and we didn't practice consistently well. Give Minnesota credit though, they play well. They outplayed us and we have to get better. This is unacceptable. I told our guys we didn't honor those uniforms today, we didn't do right by the players and coaches who came before us and for that, we owe an atonement when we get back from this break."

I’m sure this sounds like a broke record, but it was a first half of runs as the Pokes were without point guard Isaac Likekele for the fourth-straight game. Seven minutes into the first half, it was Minnesota on a 7-0 run. Dee Mitchell, who got his second-consecutive start of the season, stopped that run with a tough shot in the paint to bring the score to 16-10.

The Cowboys then went on a 6-0 run of their own just a few minutes later, but Minnesota responded by holding OSU to nearly three scoreless minutes while they went on a 9-0 run to go up 36-25.

Senior captain Lindy Waters ended the Pokes scoreless streak with two free throws, but OSU would score only four more points in the half compared to 10 by Minnesota going into halftime trailing 46-31.

It would be Waters who led the way for the Cowboys in the first half as he posted 17 points on a blistering 6-of-8 shooting from the floor, 2-of-3 from beyond the 3-point line and 3-of-4 from the free throw line. He’d go cold in the second half, but freshman point guard Avery Anderson went off as he finished with a career-high 16 points on 6-of-10 shooting.

"Avery's been getting better," said coach Boynton on the Cowboy Radio Network. "It's a process for those guys and that doesn't mean that he's going to be uphill from here every game, he's still going to have some moments where he struggles. Our job as staff is to try to continue to make sure he's learning, whether he's playing well or not playing well, the process has to be the same. He has to continue to work on his game, he's got to continue to watch film, he's got to continue to figure out 'What can I learn from the last game, what did I do well that I can continue to build on and what did I do poorly,' and there were some things that he could've corrected tonight. But I'm certainly proud of his effort and his fight all the way to the end."

Foul trouble down low plagued the Pokes for the third time in four games as Yor Anei picked up two fouls in the first 10 minutes of the game. He finished the first half with just two points, one rebound, as well as one turnover. Anei went from having one of the best scoring games of his career, 18-points against Houston, to one of his worst has he finished with just two points on 1-of-6 shooting and just one rebound.

With Anei’s struggles, the Cowboys also struggled on the glass. They were out-rebounded 35-27.

"I hate to say it, but [Minnesota] just played harder than we did," said coach Boynton on the Cowboy Radio Network. "It sucks. I don't know if there's anything worse as a coach to feel like your team got somewhat outplayed. They played with more desire and hunger and more passion and it's my job to get that corrected."

Minnesota sophomore guard Gabe Kalscheur was on fire in the first half as he scored a season-high 24 points on 8-of-10 shooting from the field, 5-of-6 from 3-point range and 3-of-3 from the free throw line.

Kalscheur would finish the day scoring a career-high 34-points on 11-of-14 shooting from the field, 7-of-9 from the 3-point line and 7-of-9 from the free throw line.

Minnesota came out in the second half and didn’t miss a step as within three minutes, they had jumped out to a 20-point lead, 54-34. Minnesota would tack on four more points as they went on a 10-0 run, but two made free throws from Thomas Dziagwa following a technical foul Daniel Oturu would end that run.

With four and a half minutes left, the Cowboys went on a 7-0 run to bring the score to 75-57, but Kalscheur hit a big three to bring the Pokes’ run to an end. With just over three minutes left in the half, the Pokes went on a 6-0 run and cut Minnesota’s lead down to 14-points, but that was as close as OSU would get as the Golden Gophers were able to sink two free throws ending the Pokes’ run and taking the score to 82-66.

The Cowboys’ next time out will be against on Sunday, Dec, 29 against SE Louisiana. Tipoff is slated for 1:30 p.m. and will be broadcasted on ESPN+.