Oklahoma State ended the 2021-22 season with a win, defeating Texas Tech 52-51 and moving to 15-15 on the year and 8-10 in conference play. And the Pokes did it in typical Cowboy fashion. There was stingy, hard-nosed defense, a hard-fought comeback and (of course) some late drama.

After falling back by double digits with less than 10 minutes to go in their season, the Cowboys tightened the clamps down on defense and outscored the No. 12 team in the nation 13-2 over the final 9:36.

The Cowboys and Red Raiders were supposed to bookend the Big 12 slate but the conference opener in Lubbock had to be rescheduled due to Covid. When the two teams met two weeks later, the Cowboys were almost run out of United Supermarkets Arena, losing 78-57. But this one was never more than a six-point game either way until the midway point of the second half.

After dirtying it up in Ames and combining for 38 turnovers with Iowa State, the Cowboys started off in similar ugly fashion. The two teams committed 20 turnovers collectively in the first half on Saturday. Each team finished with 15 turnovers.

The Cowboys were able to keep it within two possession until Bryson Williams and Kevin Obanor poured in back-to-back deep balls — capping a 7-0 run — to put the Red Raiders up by 10 midway through the second. They were the top two scorers in the game. Obanor scored 16 and grabbed 10 rebounds while Williams added 13 points before fouling out with 50 seconds to go.

The Cowboys clamped down on D, holding Tech scoreless for over nine minutes, but were only able to tie it and not until the play that saw Tech’s leading scorer disqualified.

OSU crawled back into it without even making a shot from the field. The Cowboys found themselves down eight with eight minutes left in their season. Avery Anderson splitting a pair of free throws made sure they were down seven with seven minutes to go. Moussa Cisse knocked down a pair of charity shots to make it 46-44 and then Bryce Thompson broke loose for a rim rocker to make it a 3-point game with just under six minutes left.

OSU missed seven-straight shots themselves after pulling within three before Rondel Walker scooped up a rebound on a missed Bryce Williams 3 and laid it in. The foul he picked up, sent him to the line to tie it and sent Tech’s Bryson Williams to the bench with five fouls. Davion Warren’s tip-in put Tech up by two with 28 seconds to go and then Bryce Thompson made his first of five 3-point attempts with 19 seconds left to give the Pokes a 52-51 lead.

Because these games cannot end without some drama, the officials had to go to the monitors with 2.5 seconds to go after Avery Anderson tipped the ball away from Adonis Arms. It was upheld as Tech ball and the clock adjusted. On the in-bound attempt, Cisse tipped it out of bounds, causing the monitors to be spun around again to fix the clock. Tech finally got to throw the ball in and Terrence Shannon Jr. got a face full of former Red Raider Tyreek Smith. Smith swatted at the ball (and caught a little arm), but they aren’t calling that with zeros on the clock. Cisse hauled in the miss and then launched it toward the rafters in celebration.

The Cowboys won with stellar defense and by beating up the league’s top paint scoring team under the rim. OSU out-rebounded Tech 41-37 and outscored the Red Raiders in the paint 26-22.

Rondel Walker was perfect from the field until the 11-minute mark in the second half. He made his first three shots, all from deep, and finished with a team-high 12 points, on just seven shots, and six rebounds. Bryce Thompson scored 11, including what was ultimately the game-winner.

As usual, Moussa Cisse gobbled up plenty of rebounds and swatted away plenty of shots. He finished with four points, 10 boards and five blocked shots.

On his Senior Day, Likekele made his second 3-pointer of the season to pull the Cowboys within 8-7 and stop an 8-0 run just over five minutes in and only scored again with his early second-half layup, but he added four rebounds and an assist in what may be his very last game at OSU. There has been no announcement as to whether he’ll take advantage of his additional Covid year.

Thanks to a postseason ban slapped on the them by the NCAA following a years’ dated FBI investigation, the Cowboys are done for the 2021-22 season. The win not only sends the Cowboys off on a good note, pushes back to .500 at 15-15 and makes for just their second win streak since the start of Big 12 play.

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