Kansas Runs Past Oklahoma State In Lawrence

News9.com

LAWRENCE, Kansas – It's hard to tell which Oklahoma State team is going to show up when it takes on a ranked opponent.

There is the Cowboy team that beat No. 2 Missouri earlier in the year, and then there is the Cowboy team that struggled against No. 10 Kansas on Saturday.

OSU couldn't find the mark offensively and couldn't hang on the boards against the Jayhawks in an 81-66 loss.

Kansas outrebounded the Cowboys by an ugly 48-19 margin. OSU allowed Kansas center Jeff Withey to pull down 19 rebounds to go with his 18 points, and forward Thomas Robinson had 14 rebounds to go with a game-high 26 points.

Despite their usual share of highlight reel dunks, the Cowboys didn't have a whole lot to show off after the game.

OSU struggled scoring the ball, shooting just 33 percent to Kansas' nearly 50 percent.

Oklahoma State took an early 3-0 lead on a 3-pointer from Keiton Page. But just over a minute later, Withey hit a layup to put the Jayhawks up and they would never trail again.

At the 7:12 mark of the first, the Jayhawks double up on the Cowboys as a jumper from Travis Releford made it 34-17.

KU led by as many as 29 points several times in the game before OSU made it more respectable in the end.

An eventual layup from Le'Bryan Nash cut the lead back down to a dozen with less than seven minutes to play in the half.

Markel Brown led the Cowboys in scoring with 21 points. Keiton Page had 19 and Brian Williams and Nash also reached double digits with 11 each.

The loss drops Oklahoma State's overall record to back below .500 at 12-13, while putting their record in Big 12 play at 5-7. KU improved to 20-5 overall and 10-2 in Big 12.

Up next for OSU is a rematch with No. 4 Missouri, whom the Cowboys beat 79-72 at Gallagher-Iba Arena earlier in the year.

This one will be on the road, with tipoff set for 8 p.m. on Wednesday in Columbia.