Slow Start Takes Down Cowboys

The Cowboys played their 2nd game in a row inside the State of Utah on Tuesday night, and are probably ready to leave the “Beehive State”.

The Pokes got off to another slow start against BYU and didn’t match up extremely well with yet another Big 12 team with size. The Cougars made 15 of their first 25 shots in the first half and hit 42% of their 3-pointers. 

Meanwhile, at the half, OSU shot just 25% from the floor, was just 6-11 from the free throw line, and had as many turnovers as they had made buckets, 8. 

As a result, the Pokes found themselves down 20 at the break.

The deficit swelled to as many as 27 points in the first 20 minutes for BYU after a Davsion Baker free throw made the score 42-15. That was with 3:23 left in the half, then the Cowboys outscored the Cougars 11-4 to finish the half.

The Cowboys continued the momentum they created to end the first half and outscored BYU 22-11 in the first 6:37 seconds of the 2nd half. In total, from the time OSU trailed by 27, they went on a 33-9 run over a span of exactly 10 minutes of game clock.

So, the Cowboys showed they’re capable, and that they indeed have enough talent to compete. And that it comes down to running good offense, sharing the ball, playing good defense and rebounding. 

BYU put the game away shortly after the big run from OSU by extending their lead back to double-digits, and never looked back.

Coming back from deficits like OSU dug themselves takes an incredible amount of energy and 0 margin for error. So, keeping up that near-perfect margin between energy and execution isn’t a realistic ask, and it didn’t end up happening last night. 

OSU is now 9-6 overall on the season and is just 1-3 in Conference play. Next, the Pokes host the Buffaloes on Saturday at 2:00, in what is going to be the first return of Colorado since they left the Big 12.