OSU loses sixth straight Big 12 game

Oklahoma State had no answer.

Iowa State's Rasir Bolton was draining 3-pointers from all over. Star point guard Tyrese Haliburton was wreaking havoc as a shooter, passer and rebounder. And Solomon Young — of all people — was unstoppable.

The Cowboys tried a zone defense. They tried am an defense. They tried anything coach Mike Boynton could draw up.

There was no answer to contain Young, a bench player who had yet to score more than six points in Big 12 play. He was suddenly a 6-foot-8, 242-pound steamroller having a career night.

“He kicked everybody' s butt,” Boynton said on the radio broadcast.

Three days after finding some confidence, the Cowboys again had no answer to their Big 12 woes. This time, it came in the form of defensive struggles in an 89-82 loss at Iowa State on Tuesday.

The Cowboys ( 9- 9, 0- 6 Big 12) have lost six straight conference games, matching the same start in the 201617 season. That OSU squad recovered and made the NCAA Tournament.

That won't be as easy to repeat.

“We got good kids ,” Boynton said .“They want to respond. They mostly do respond. The challenge is we

need to start better and not put ourselves in a situation where we have to come back all the time, because that puts an awful lot of pressure on you.”

Young scored a career-high 27 points — including making 13 of 15 foul shots — and he grabbed nine rebounds. He also had two blocks and two assists.

He was one of three Cyclones players to score 20 or more points, a first since February 2017. Bolton finished with 21 points, making four 3-pointers. Haliburton — a possible NBA firstround draft selection — had 20 points, six rebounds and six assists.

The trio solved OSU's usually stout defense.

Iowa State (9-9, 2-4) shot better than 50% overall. It made 11 of 24 3-pointers. And despite committing 19 turnovers that led to 32 Cowboys points, the Cyclones still led by as much as 15 in the second half.

OSU still never backed down.

The Cowboys closed the gap to five with 46 seconds remaining. It was similar to a run that erased an 11-point deficit in the first half. But this one was too late.

“We have to play that way from the jump ball, especially in Big 12 play,” Boynton said. “It's very hard to come back. We certainly aren't playing with the level of confidence that will tell you that we're capable of doing that right now.”

The loss overshadowed the Cowboys' offense. Once unable to score 82 combined points in two games, OSU has six players score in double figures — with Lindy Waters III and Thomas Dziagwa scoring 14 apiece — and made 10 of 25 3-pointers.

But they still had a lot of one-shot possessions. Iowa State gathered 32 of its 39 rebounds on the defensive end.

Perhaps, there is a reprieve Saturday. The Cowboys play in the Big 12/SEC Challenge at Texas A&M, a welcome break from the Big 12 gauntlet.

“We need anything, any kind of thing that we can grasp and hold onto that will change the psyche of our team,” Boynton said. “I think I got a group of guys that want to win. I'm not sure that they really believe that they can, and that's showing up in critical moments right now.

“Maybe a different type of team from a different league, guys we don't have familiarity with will give us a chance to find our own identity again.”