Cowboys Fall to Washington State in Second Round of NIT

Oklahoma State dealt with offensive woes throughout the contest and the Cougars capitalized on the misses and turnovers.

Thursday, May 26th 2011, 12:17 pm

By: News On 6

Cowboys Fall to Washington State in Second Round of NIT

Originally Published: Mar 22, 2011 1:10 AM CDT

Gerald Goodridge
Oklahoma Sports Staff Writer

PULLMAN, Washington -- The Oklahoma State Cowboys had trouble getting their offense going Monday and, despite a first half comeback attempt, fell to the Washington State Cougars 74-64 in the second round of the NIT.

The loss ends the Cowboys’ season on the road, closing the season with their 10th road loss of the year.

OSU couldn’t get its offense in gear to open the game, coming up empty on its first four possessions, not getting on the board until nearly three minutes had elapsed.

Adding to the Cowboys’ plight Washington State scored on its first four possessions, jumping out to a 9-0 lead in the game’s first 90 seconds, including back-to-back three-pointers from Klay Thompson.

The Cowboys’ first basket came on a pair of Markel Brown free throws at 17:18 to cut the lead to 9-2. OSU recorded its first field goal nearly two minutes later, a Matt Pilgrim layup to make it an 11-4 deficit.

That layup was the first of a 17-6 run from Oklahoma State, nine from Matt Pilgrim, capped off by a Keiton Page three-pointer, to take a 19-17 lead at with 10:23 left in the first half.

That would be the last time the Cowboys held a lead.

Washington State closed the first half outscoring OSU 21-10, Brock Motum closing the half out with back-to-back layups to give the Cougars a 38-29 advantage heading into the locker room at halftime. A three-pointer from Page would cut the lead to six points 75 seconds into the half, but that was as close as the Cowboys would come in the second half.

Thompson led all scorers with 21 points while grabbing eight rebounds, with Motum adding 17 points in his time coming off of the bench.

Pilgrim came away with a double-double in his final game as a Cowboy, scoring 17 points and grabbing 13 boards, while grabbing four steals. Sophomore Reger Dowell recorded 12 points, while Page contributed 11 in the loss.