Cowboys fall, yet vow to charge ahead

Phil Forte and Jawun Evans sat dejected in the postgame press conference Saturday.

Their coach, Brad Underwood, stood defiant.

Sure, a 90-85 loss to No. 1 Kansas leaves the Cowboys with back-toback losses for the first time since mid-January, just as Oklahoma State heads for the postseason, beginning with the Big 12 Tournament next week.

Just don’t suggest to Underwood that his team’s momentum has been snuffed. Not by a close mid-week loss at No. 24 Iowa State and Saturday’s joyride of a game against the Jayhawks at a sold-out Gallagher-Iba Arena.

“We didn’t lose anything,” Underwood said, responding to a question of lost momentum.

“We got beat by two really good teams in the Top 25 – one on the road, one’s No. 1 in the country.

“We’re not playing bad. There’s a difference between playing bad and losing. We’ve got to figure out some things to do a little bit better to win them. And we’ll get there, because we’ve been there. We’ve rebounded and we’ve guarded. I have no problem with the way we’re playing going in.”

The Cowboys, now 20-11 overall and 9-9 in the conference, play next in Kansas City, taking on Iowa State Thursday at the Big 12 Tournament. Win and they likely get Kansas.

So, the Cyclones and Jayhawks. Back-toback. Again. “Irony, isn’t Underwood said.

And, yes, the scenario gets his juices flowing.

“Oh, that’s the first thing I told Bill (Self), ‘Hope to see you on Friday,’” Underwood said. “You guys don’t know me very well yet, but I despise losing. And I’m never going to back down from a challenge.

“I respect the heck out of every opponent we play. And I know how hard winning is. But back me in a corner now, you’re going to find a fighter, now. And I’m going to get my guys to fight.”

The Cowboys fought from behind most of the game Saturday, leading only briefly early in the second half.

Still, they trailed by 12 in the first half and rallied;

it?” trailed by nine as late as the 5:38 mark of the second half, and battled back again, closing within one possession three times down the stretch – 81-78, 83-80, and 88-85 with :18.3 left.

The point guards put on a show, with Frank Mason III offering a superman rendition with 27 points, nine assists and eight rebounds. Evans was strong, too, producing 22 points and a career-high 15 assists.

And the supporting casts were in place, too. KU’s Josh Jackson was among five Jayhawks in double figures with 17 points and added a gamehigh nine rebounds. Jeffrey Carroll led the Cowboys with 27 points.

In the end, the nation’s No. 1 team had just a little bit more, especially on the boards, with Kansas owning a 42-30 bulge. This time. “Just because we fell short our last two games doesn’t change how I feel,” said Forte, who had his Senior Night sendoff soured. “These last two could have gone either way. I think we’re playing well, we’ve just got to tighten things up on the defensive end and I think we’ll be good from there.

“We’re very talented. We’ve got different ways we can beat teams. So I think when you go into the tournament, that’s kind of dangerous.”

No. 1 KANSAS 90, OKLAHOMA ST. 85