Oklahoma State men's basketball: Three takeaways from Cowboys' loss at Baylor Bears
WACO, Texas — Baylor could not miss. Oklahoma State could not buy a basket.
So it went for the first 4 minutes and 33 seconds Saturday night.
Everything went right for the Bears, while everything was a disaster for the Cowboys. And that summed up the day.
OSU fell flat in a 74-58 loss in the Ferrell Center, dropping a third straight Big 12 game in seven days.
“Give (Baylor) credit but really poor performance tonight in just about every facet of the game,” OSU coach Mike Boynton said. “Far and away our worst performance collectively, and I don’t know that there’s really anything to point to that I would feel good about.
“Obviously, we have a lot of work to do to become the type of team that we’re capable of being.”
The Cowboys (9-8, 1-4) fell behind 13-0 early, recovered to get within two in a 5-minute span, but then fell apart once again, even unable to use a 20-minute delay due to a power outage to reset.
Baylor’s fast start really made the difference.
“A little bit of everything,” Boynton said about what went wrong early. “When you’re having scouting breakdowns against who you obviously highlight as you prepare, it doesn’t foster a whole lot of confidence moving forward.”
It was quite a different game than the one 364 days before in Waco. Then, the Cowboys upset then-No. 1 Baylor.
This time, Baylor was the aggressor and dominant force.
Baylor (12-6, 2-3) led by as much as 28 in the second half. Four different players scored in double figures.
OSU got an inspired performance from Avery Anderson III, who scored 11 points after struggling the past two games due to a swollen wrist. Caleb Asberry added 14 points, seven rebounds, two assists, two blocks and a steal off the bench.
Here are three takeaways from the loss:
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Baylor flips script on Oklahoma State
Entering the day, OSU had the second-best defense in the Big 12 and a top-10 defense nationally.
Baylor was the worst in the conference.
And somehow that all flipped.
The Cowboys — ranked last offensively in the conference — were a mess on both sides of the basketball.
They shot just 38.3% overall, making a dismal 7 of 33 from 3-point range. They were dominated on the glass, too. Baylor out-rebounded them 41-30.
“I feel like we took good shots for the most part,” Asberry said. “I just feel like as Big 12 players we gotta knock those downs. We were open a lot. I don’t feel like they messed us up.”
Baylor also shut down Kalib Boone, who entered the day red hot. The 6-foot-9 senior did not score until making a free throw with 3 minutes remaining and finished with just eight points. He only played 7 minutes in the opening half due to foul trouble.
To make things worse, OSU’s usually stellar defense was lost.
Baylor shot 46.3% overall and made 9 of 24 from 3-point range. The Bears hit contested shots, but primarily created space and did not miss. They also had success near the basket, scoring 26 points in the paint.
“I don’t feel like we made them uncomfortable enough,” Boynton said. “When they get the first few pretty easily, that puts a little bit more stress on you.
“But I don’t want to make this about our defense. They scored 74, which isn’t a terribly high number. Scoring 58, in the 50s will be difficult to find success in this league.”
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Lights go out in Ferrell Center
Insert a joke here about Baylor shooting the lights out.
But with 11 minutes remaining, the power literally went out in the Ferrell Center.
As Baylor’s Keyonte George attempted a free shot, the electricity completely shut off in the arena with the ball midair.
It forced a delay that lasted nearly 20 minutes as power slowly restored.
Each team went to the locker room during the outage.
Once play resumed, George was forced to re-shoot the foul shot and he missed. He made the one as the power went out.
But the broadcast was largely silent.
ESPN’s crew of Mark Neely and Chris Spatola were unable to call the game until 6:33 remained and they gained access to the network via a cell phone they passed between each other.
More:Kalib Boone is finding consistency for Oklahoma State basketball, but he's 'gotta be more'
Avery Anderson III comes to life
Anderson had an open look from the corner. And he finally got a 3-pointer to drop.
But it did not count.
A three-second violation wiped away what would have been his first trey since Dec. 20.
It’s been a rough stretch for OSU’s dynamic senior guard. He’s struggled. He’s dealt with a wrist injury.
Still, he battled Saturday and showed signs of life.
He scored 11 points, making 5 of 12 shots. He had two rebounds and three assists. He also committed just one turnover.
And he looked explosive.
It was a good sign on a miserable day.
“I felt pretty good,” Anderson said. “I just feel like I gotta do more, like Coach said. Be more of a vocal leader on the floor for my team.”
Jacob Unruh covers college sports for The Oklahoman. You can send your story ideas to him at junruh@oklahoman.com or on Twitter at @jacobunruh. Support his work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma State men's basketball loses to Baylor after power outage
