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The Oklahoma State Cowboys are on a six-game losing streak that has them currently sitting dead last in the Big 12 at 0-6. This is a bitter pill to swallow for Cowboys fans a year after letting Travis Ford go because of a disappointing season for Oklahoma State last year. It is tough to see that the team is slipping even further backwards to begin this season.
Prior to the start of Big 12 play, Oklahoma State had a good run. In non-conference the Cowboys went 10-2. They were blown out by North Carolina, but they had wins against traditionally tough teams like Connecticut and Georgetown. It was a good enough start to the season that this Big 12 performance has been pretty shocking.
The Cowboys started out their conference slate by suffering a 92-75 blowout loss on their home floor against West Virginia. The next two games were the key to the losing streak though. Losing to a tough team like the Mountaineers isn’t bad even if it is by a bunch, but losing by three at Texas and by four at Baylor in back-to-back contests really hurt.
Even in games where they lost big to good teams like Kansas State and Kansas, Oklahoma State was able to keep it close for much of those contests. They faltered in big moments in crunch time during those games, and that has been their fault for much of this losing streak. They can hang with any team in the land until the last eight minutes of a game as they demonstrated on the road in Allen Fieldhouse against the mighty Jayhawks.
However, once the final eight minutes of a game begin, it is like the Cowboys’ coach has turned into Cinderella’s pumpkin. Good play goes out the window and dumb decisions dominate.
During the last three games of this Cowboys losing streak, Oklahoma State has put up at least 80 points in every contest. The problem is that they’ve also given up an average of 93 points per game over that span. Until the Cowboys decide they want to start playing some defense, they will be susceptible to any decent team that knows how to score and how to tighten up on the defensive end occasionally.
The good news for Oklahoma State is that they get a relatively easy stretch over their next four games. They have a game at Texas Tech, home against TCU, home against Arkansas and at Oklahoma. They have a chance to win all four games if they play well. Even if they can manage to win at least a few of them like they should, the Cowboys should be able to stop the bleeding and end this rough losing streak.