Stillwater, Okla. ? Oklahoma State knew it couldn’t lose any more games if it wanted to keep its postseason dreams from falling completely apart.

In one amazing stretch, Terrel Harris did everything he could to make sure that wouldn’t happen.

Harris scored 16 of his career-high 22 points in the second half to help Oklahoma State build a commanding lead on its way to an 84-70 win against Kansas State on Tuesday night.

Harris matched his career-high with four three-pointers as Oklahoma State (20-9, 6-8 Big 12) snapped a four-game losing streak and took the first step toward salvaging any remaining NCAA Tournament hopes.

“We knew we had our backs against the wall,” Harris said. “We just got back to the old days when we were just hungry, trying to get in the top 10, trying to be No. 1 and trying to be the best. I think that really brought us back to life.”

JamesOn Curry snapped out of a two-game shooting slump and also scored 22, and Mario Boggan added 17 points for the Cowboys. It was only the second win in the past month for Oklahoma State, which had lost six of its previous seven games to plummet all the way from the top 10 out of the rankings.

Before the game, the Cowboys watched film of their better days – when they beat Pittsburgh in double overtime to start the season 12-1 – and noticed what they were doing then that they hadn’t been doing in their recent slide.

“Smiling. That’s all,” Curry said. “When you’re smiling, and having fun, that relaxes you.”

Cartier Martin scored 19 of his 25 points in the second half to lead Kansas State (20-10, 9-6), which has alternated wins and losses for its last eight games and is trying to secure its own NCAA Tournament bid.

“I still feel like we have a chance to get there,” Martin said. “We just have to take care of business on Saturday (against Oklahoma).”

Kansas State cut into a 16-point deficit with back-to-back three-pointers, but Harris took over the game from there. He scored nine straight points, beginning with an acrobatic, left-handed tip-in of Curry’s missed three-pointer.

He stole the ball and earned a pair of free throws after getting fouled on a fast-break dunk try, then hit a three-pointer from the right side and topped it all off with a right-handed jam off his own steal near midcourt to push Oklahoma State’s edge to 62-43.

“I think I played just a little harder than I usually have been,” Harris said. “I think I kind of got away from playing my defense like I usually do. I think that helped me a lot.”

Martin scored 11 of Kansas State’s next 13 points to begin closing the deficit, and the Wildcats got as close as 71-63 on David Hoskins’ layup with 3:49 to play.