Cowboys find no rhythm in road loss

Kansas forward Cliff Alexander (2) swats a shot from Oklahoma State forward Le'Bryan Nash (2) during the first half, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2015 at Allen Fieldhouse.

Asked after Tuesday night’s 67-57, slugfest loss at Allen Fieldhouse what it was about his Oklahoma State Cowboys and the Kansas University men’s basketball team that occasionally causes emotions to boil over, OSU coach Travis Ford was at a loss for words.

“I have no idea. I don’t know what it is,” Ford said. “That’s a good question. We’ve played a lot of good games against each other.”

Good question or not, Tuesday’s game was another one of those action-packed, high-intensity showdowns that we’ve come to expect from the Jayhawks (14-2 overall, 3-0 Big 12) and Cowboys (12-4, 2-2), Marcus Smart or no Marcus Smart.

The 10-point KU victory, which started like an MMA match and finished like a game of free-throw line H-O-R-S-E, included three technical fouls, one player fouling out and 71 free throw attempts.

• Box score

All of those whistles led to all kinds of stoppages in play, and players and coaches on both sides said the lack of flow made for some ugly basketball.

“It was just a lot of stop-and-go,” said OSU senior Michael Cobbins, who fouled out with six points in 20 minutes. “And with basketball, you don’t really like that. It is hard to get into a rhythm when things are just stop and go, stop and go, stop and go.”

Added Ford, whose team trailed by just four at halftime and was still within striking distance as late as the 1:27 mark: “I’m not overly happy with the way we played. Kansas had a lot to do with that.”

It was after that comment that Ford, oh-so-slightly, shed some light onto why these games between Kansas and Oklahoma State tend to run a little hot.

“We didn’t play smart at times,” he said. “We had guys let little things affect them too much.”

The same could be said for a couple of Kansas players, as well, but rather than let the mental lapses hurt their play, the Jayhawks used it to fuel them. Trailing 16-15 when a double technical foul was called on KU forward Jamari Traylor and OSU forward Le’Bryan Nash, the Jayhawks ripped off nine points in a row to take what little control of the game there was to be had. With that cushion in place, Kansas put the game away by sinking 17 of 22 second-half trips to the free throw line, and 32 of 46 free throws overall.

“We have to do a better job defending without fouling,” Ford said. “The way the game was played was tough for our basketball team. It was like an uphill battle. We had a couple of opportunities that we just didn’t take advantage of…. It was just that type of game.”