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Once again Oklahoma State looked competitive early and once again the Cowboys ran out of steam down the stretch. It's become the norm for a short-handed, injury-riddled team that failed to win its final regular season game.
It was a close affair for most of the game. Neither team led by more than five in the first half.
Leyton Hammonds started out hot, making his first five shots. He led all scorers with 20 points on 9-15 shooting (1-4 from three) and six rebounds. Hammonds was the only Cowboy who had anything going offensively.
Jeff Newberry finished his final game in Stillwater with seven points, going 2-6 from the field (1-2 from three) and three rebounds. Not exactly video game numbers, I know. But he did get to add another clip to the highlight reel.
OOP! THERE IT IS! ✈️ https://t.co/xD9zDfwKYA
— Cowboy Basketball (@OSUMBB) March 5, 2016
Newberry has performed admirably this season and seldom hung his head. He was thrust into the role of being the No. 1 option as a guy who would probably be a sixth man on a good team.
Chris Olivier broke the seal for the Cowboys scoring their first bucket of the game but failed to get any rhythm going. He ended the night with four points (2-7 from the field) and four rebounds in his final regular season game for OSU.
The Longhorns were led by Kerwin Roach Jr. with 15 points, including 2-3 three pointers, six rebounds, two assists and two steals. Isaiah Taylor also added 12 points for Texas.
The Cowboys had a decided edge in fouls and free throw attempts, being whistled for 13 fouls to Texas' 20 and attempted thirteen more free throws than the Longhorns. That's really good.
What's bad? The Cowboys only went 13-22 (59.1%) against the UT's 7-9 (77.8%).
Oklahoma State was down 52-50 with about four minutes left but would fail to score the rest of the way losing 62-50.
Some random thoughts from tonight.
- All five seniors got the start. This was the first career start for both Ford Stuen and Codey McElroy.
- Leyton Hammonds came out on fire, making his first five shots.
- OSU made it to the 6:33 mark of the first half before being whistled for a foul.... They committed four fouls in the next two minutes (two were by Mitchell Solomon).
- The Cowboys did a good job against UT's press for the most part, especially early on. They just were unable to make the Longhorns pay down the stretch.
- Mitchell Solomon has been a huge disappointment for the Cowboys. His stat line tonight: three points, four rebounds, four fouls and one block. After two years, he has failed to realize even a sliver of his perceived potential. Chalk him up as another one of Ford's highly touted recruits that have not panned out. He could still improve. If he has a new coach next year, his progress will serve as an interesting juxtaposition between Ford and his replacement, as far as development goes.
- Texas ended the game on a 16-2 run. Not enough horses on the roster for the Cowboys.
- If you thought the fans might come out and support the team on Senior Night, you were wrong.
Announced attendance tonight: 4,023. Smallest for an #OKState conference home game since 1986.
— Mark Cooper (@mark_cooperjr) March 5, 2016
It's finally over.
Whether you agree with it or not (I'm not sure who's still on that island) Travis Ford probably just coached his last game in Stillwater. It was a long season for Cowboys fans, players and Coach Ford himself.
- The Cowboys end the season 12-19 (3-15 in conference). That is the worst record in 30 years.
- That's the worst season since 86-87 (8-20), three years before Eddie Sutton came to Stillwater.
- The Cowboys still have the Big 12 tournament to look forward to next week. I can't imagine they're looking forward to it all that much.