Stillwater, Okla. ? Oklahoma State’s players don’t want to become known as the Comeback Cowboys.
Two late rallies at home are plenty, but they’ll take the wins any way they can get them at this point.
Freshman Le’Bryan Nash scored 21 points, Keiton Page added 15 and Oklahoma State recovered after squandering a 10-point halftime lead to beat Tulsa 59-56 on Wednesday night.
“We just wanted to win,” Nash said. “They’re a rival, so we had to get ’em.”
The Cowboys (4-2) needed to rally in the final minutes for a second straight home game, but this time it wasn’t nearly as dramatic as the 11-point deficit they overcame in the final 2½ minutes en route to an overtime win against Texas-San Antonio on Nov. 16.
Nash scored six straight points to wipe away most of a seven-point deficit in the final 6 minutes. Page’s 3-pointer from the top of the key put Oklahoma State ahead 54-53 with 2:23 remaining, and the Cowboys held on from there.
“We don’t want that to keep happening,” Page said. “Trust me.”
Jordan Clarkson led Tulsa (4-4) with 18 points and Steven Idlet scored 13, but he missed a potential tying layup at the rim in the final 10 seconds.
Scottie Haralson then had a shot to send it to overtime after Reger Dowell missed two free throws, but his 3-pointer from the left wing clanged off the rim at the buzzer.
“You’re glad that they’ve shown that (resiliency), but it’s going to catch up to you eventually,” Oklahoma State coach Travis Ford said. “You can’t live like that all the time. … We’ve learned a lot in a very young season that we can refer back to, build on, whatever, but that can’t be our identity.
“If we keep doing it, great, as long as we’re winning. But on the road, that won’t work.”
Clarkson, Idlet and Haralson put the Golden Hurricane in position to avoid their eighth straight loss in Stillwater and win at Gallagher-Iba Arena for the first time since 1985, but the Cowboys found a way to rally after a ragged start to the second half.
Oklahoma State started out 2 for 10 from the field and committed eight turnovers in the first 12 minutes after halftime, allowing Tulsa to surge ahead.
“Truth be told, we are a good defensive team. We really are,” Tulsa coach Doug Wojick said. “Our numbers are really, really good. Our offensive numbers are not really good, so it evens itself out.”
Idlet scored the first five points of the second half, and he combined with Clarkson and Haralson to outscore Oklahoma State 24-8 to open the second half.
Joe Richard’s two-handed dunk with just under 6 minutes left bumped Tulsa’s lead to 50-43.
Nash responded with a jumper on the left side of the lane, then slammed home a right-handed dunk in transition to help the Cowboys start climbing back into it.
“That’s the little boost we needed at that time,” Page said.
Philip Jurick followed Page’s go-ahead 3-pointer with a tip-in on his second attempt to push Oklahoma State’s lead to 56-53.
Tulsa had a chance to tie it at 57 after Dowell missed one of two free throws with 32 seconds left, but Idlet couldn’t convert after catching a lob at the rim.
The Golden Hurricane’s four losses this season have all been by five points or less — twice on the road and twice at neutral sites. Tulsa will play its next five games at home.
“It’d be different if we were laying down and not competing and not fighting,” Wojcik said. “We continue to do a great job on the glass. We’ve just got to shoot it better and we’ve got to take care of it better.”