An elite defensive team, Oklahoma State has been unable to stop opponents in two-game skid

FORT WORTH, Texas — Oklahoma State coach Mike Boynton worked hard to point out how well TCU played on Saturday.

Mike Miles Jr. was back for the first time in weeks since he suffered a knee injury. Eddie Lampkin Jr. was back in the lineup.

At nearly full strength, the 22nd-ranked Horned Frogs clicked in every facet.

“I don’t want to make this about us,” Boynton said. “This was about TCU playing really good basketball.”

But on a day the Cowboys were smacked 100-75 by TCU, a troubling trend continued.

OSU’s defense — its hallmark — was nowhere to be found for a second straight game.

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As the Cowboys head to West Virginia at 6 p.m. Monday, they’re in a must-win scenario just a week after riding high with five straight victories that centered on outstanding defensive play.

Losses to Kansas and TCU last week paint a troubling picture.

The Cowboys allowed 93.5 points per game in the losses, compared to 65.3 points per game when OSU won six out of seven, including the five-game streak.

TCU’s 100 points scored was a first against OSU by any team in 172 games, dating back to a Bedlam loss to Trae Young-led OU in 2018.

“Defense is what we do,” OSU senior John-Michael Wright said Saturday. “That’s our bread and butter. We know if we want to win and go far, where we want to go, that’s the thing that’s going to take us there.

“We’ll pinpoint that. We’ll get that taken care of. We understand that’s what we need to fix and we’re going to get it done.”

Kansas exploded to shoot 54% overall, including an impressive 65.5% in the second half, pulling away from the Cowboys.

TCU did it all in an entirely different way.

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It converted turnovers into 21 points. It shot 68.4% overall, including 71% in the second half, finding little resistance from the Cowboys.

It was far and away OSU’s worst defensive performance of the year.

“A lot of it was just turnovers early, some fouls obviously hurt in the first half,” Boynton said. “We had to play with some different lineups. But again, I don’t want to make this about us. This was about TCU playing really good basketball.

“Again, their backs were against the wall to a certain degree. And they played like it.”

Now, the Cowboys are in the same scenario going to Morgantown, West Virginia.

The two losses dropped them back onto the bubble in ESPN Bracketology. They tumbled to No. 37 in the NCAA NET Rankings.

The Mountaineers have lost three straight games, also slipping in tournament projections.

OSU needs a win in a big way with Kansas State, Baylor and surging Texas Tech remaining on the schedule.

“This league is unforgiving,” Boynton said. “I think everybody this time of year plays with a sense of desperation because there’s an opportunity to put yourself in a better position for whatever it is that you’re doing moving forward.

“What we’ve got to do is we gotta understand that we play against the best competition in the country every day. It’s a grind to go through this league.”

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But to survive, the Cowboys must get back to their dynamic defensive ways. That play allowed them to stay in games, even if the offense was struggling.

Wright said everything is fixable.

“We just have to get back to our grit and toughness,” Wright said. “We just have to come out with a lot more fire and expectations that the other team is here to knock our heads off. I don't think we did a good job of that today as a team.”

There is not much time for a reset.

But the Cowboys know they have to find a quick solution. Or all of the strong work they did to begin February could crumble.

“We found some success doing things a certain way and we’ve got to get back to that,” Boynton said. “In the last two games, we found ourselves on a not-successful side because of things obviously the other team did. But there are some things we can control to be better.”

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma State basketball defense struggles in losses to Kansas, TCU