Momentum stopped
In the Cowboys first game since their stunning upset over Kansas in Allen Fieldhouse, OSU was flat in Tuesday night’s home loss against Baylor.
STILLWATER — Oklahoma State coach Mike Boynton flung his whiteboard against the maple of Eddie Sutton Court. He turned to each Cowboy and addressed them, demanding more. It was not the request he expected to make days after OSU’s best performance of the season.
Boynton’s message came too late in a 67-56 loss to Baylor on Tuesday night in Gallagher-Iba Arena.
In its first game since an upset over Kansas at Allen Fieldhouse, OSU failed to carry momentum forward, seemingly depending on that success to lead to another.
“We played like Saturday’s game’s gonna matter today,” Boynton said, “like it was gonna carry some weight tonight and help us.”
Boynton’s animated timeout came after a 16-0 Baylor run that carried through halftime.
The Cowboys (1410 overall, 4-7 Big 12) responded to their coach’s motivation with eight straight points.
Boynton fistpumped his way toward his players after one of their few stretches of success Tuesday night, but the Cowboys proved unable to overcome the Bears’ lengthy run.
Only a few days before, OSU seemingly had an answer for each of Kansas’ strikes.
“Our attention to detail changed,” senior forward Mitchell Solomon said. “We didn’t make plays that we made at Kansas tonight, both on the offensive end and the defensive end, and I think that showed.”
Tuesday’s performance was comparable to the one that preceded the Kansas game, a 79-66 dud against TCU.
Boynton differentiated the Cowboys’ flawed losses.
“I think last week was more effort-related,” Boynton said.
“I thought we played hard tonight. We didn’t have the focus or execution, and there’s a difference. You can play hard and lose in this league. Last week, we didn’t play hard. When you don’t play hard, you’ve got no chance. We played hard. We just didn’t play well.”
Behind Solomon and Kendall Smith, the Cowboys continued to rally after their run ended. The seniors combined for 12 of OSU’s next 14 points, but Baylor (14-10, 4-7) kept the Cowboys at a distance, not allowing them closer than five points.
“We’re on an incredible high on Saturday after a pretty low valley last week, and then put ourselves in the same position where we are fighting back uphill,” Boynton said. “We just have to find a sense of consistency.”
OSU missed an opportunity to pick up backto-back Big 12 victories for the first time this season. Instead, the Cowboys succumbed to Baylor for the second time, now responsible for half of the Bears’ conference victories. Tuesday’s game also marked Baylor’s first road victory.
The Cowboys earned theirs against Kansas. They’ll try to garner another Saturday, when they visit 19th-ranked West Virginia. Like last week, OSU has ample time to prepare for a ranked opponent on the road.
“We’re capable,” Boynton said. “When we learn that we have to create our own energy every single night, we have to have this same focus no matter the opponent, no matter the venue, because every game is different, and every atmosphere’s a little bit different, when we figure that out, then we’ll take a step forward.”