Early Oklahoma State run dooms Runnin' Utes in 81-72 loss on the road


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STILLWATER, Okla. — Fouls and turnovers were the theme of Saturday afternoon's game for Utah and Oklahoma State.

Oklahoma State quickly jumped out to a 9-1 lead to open the game — maximizing on Utah turnovers and a soft perimeter defense — and never relinquished the lead as the Cowboys went on to win 81-72 in a wire-to-wire performance.

The two teams split the series, with the home team winning each game this season.

While Utah (12-9, 4-6 Big 12) attempted several times to cut into Oklahoma State's lead, the Cowboys had an answer for every Utes run. An 8-0 run in the first half by Utah was then cut short by several turnovers, and was then compounded by several fouls to send the home team to the free-throw line.

And Oklahoma State (11-10, 3-7 Big 12) had no problem responding from the line, shooting 14-of-16 from the charity stripe in the first half.

Ezra Ausar worked to cut into the deficit to start the second half, scoring the team's first 5 points; but like every time before it, Oklahoma State had an answer and eventually built up a game-high 15-point lead with 12:32 left to play.

Ausar refused to quite, though, and provided much of Utah's offense in the second half — he scored 16 of his 18 points in the second half — to rally the visiting team to a 67-59 deficit with 3:53 left to play.

Gabe Madsen picked up where Ausar left off and hit two late 3-pointers, including one with 1:15 left to play, to cut Oklahoma State's lead to 7. It was too little, too late, though, and the Cowboys had no trouble maintaining the lead down the stretch.

Utah did better to limit mistakes in the second half, only turning over the ball three times in the final 20 minutes. But the team couldn't convert at a high rate on the offensive side of the ball, shooting at one point 23.5% from the field and 0% from 3-point range (on eight attempts).

Utah finished the game shooting 40% from the field, 25% from 3-point range and 70% from the free-throw line.

Gabe Madsen hit his fourth 3-pointer with 1:15 left to play to cut the deficit to 7, and the senior guard finished with 15 points, two rebounds and two assists. Mike Sharavjamts contributed 11 points, including a perfect 8-of-8 from the free-throw line, and five rebounds and five assists.

Bryce Thompson, who was key to the Cowboys' early run that included three quick 3-pointers, led the Cowboys in scoring with 20 points — including a perfect 4-of-4 from deep — and seven rebounds before fouling out of the game.

Marchelus Avery added 17 points for an Oklahoma State team that shot 49% from the field and 40% from 3-point range.

This story will be updated.

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Josh is the sports director at KSL.com and beat writer covering University of Utah athletics — primarily football, men’s and women's basketball and gymnastics. He is also an Associated Press Top 25 voter for college football.

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