Oklahoma State 73, Texas A&M 62

Oklahoma State beat us in every single facet of this game.

We couldn’t keep them out of the paint, we couldn’t close them out on the perimeter, and we couldn’t generate any offense of our own.

To quote Buzz Williams at the postgame mic, “It was a dud.”

Box Score

First Half

Surprise, surprise. The first eight minutes were not the problem. Texas A&M Basketball continues to play a little better coming out of the gate, this time building a 16-12 lead at the under eight media break.

We then proceeded to make four field goals over the final twelve minutes of the period.

We’ve survived shooting slumps like this before, but we’ve done it on the strength of our defense. That defense was not present on Saturday, as Oklahoma State seemingly created good shots on every single offensive possession.

Thankfully, they missed a few open looks and allowed us to stay within shouting distance.

Halftime Score: Oklahoma State 34, Texas A&M 26

Second Half

It’s pretty easy to describe what happened after halftime: We changed nothing defensively, and Oklahoma State couldn’t miss. That’s generally a poor combination, and it allowed the Cowboys to extend the lead to 61-40 with seven minutes remaining.

At this point, we finally showed some life.

Some extended pressure and (gasp!) a couple of made threes closed the gap to eleven, and Reed Arena got legitimately loud for the first time all afternoon... before OSU carved through our pressure and hit a dagger three to quiet the crowd and immediately restore order.

When the dust settled, the Cowboys had an effective FG% of 63.3%, which is an absurdly high number and our worst defensive effort of the season

Final Score: Oklahoma State 73, Texas A&M 62

Quotes

Overall Thoughts

Let’s hope this was a one-off, because defensive efforts like that are going to get us manhandled in the upcoming portion of the SEC schedule.

Time to hit the road.

BTHO Tennessee