STILLWATER, Okla. — The Bearkats' money was no good when it came to buying baskets in a 65-51 loss to Oklahoma State at the Gallagher-Iba Arena on Tuesday night.
Sam Houston (7-2) shot just 35 percent from the floor, making 17 of 49 attempts. The Bearkats played well defensively until the second half as the Cowboys (6-3) opened the game up late.
Qua Grant led SHSU with 15 points and
Donte Powers added 10.
Kian Scroggins just missed double figures with nine points.
The Bearkats were right there for the majority of the first half. After falling behind early, Powers converted a four-point play when he was fouled on a 3-pointer to tie the game at 8.
The teams traded baskets after that until
Cameron Huefner knocked down a 3 to give Sam Houston its biggest lead of the first half at 13-10 midway through the first half.
The Bearkats went cold after that. The Cowboys, despite shooting under 40 percent, closed the half with a 22-7 run to go into the break on top 32-20.
Sam Houston had some open looks but could not get anything to fall. The Kats shot just 30 percent in the first 20 minutes.
The second half started out better. Sam Houston opened with a 7-0 run thanks to baskets by
Javion May and Grant and a free throw by Powers to trim the lead to 32-27.
The Kats went cold again, and Oklahoma State used an 18-8 run to pull away at 50-35 with under eight minutes left in the game.
SHSU has a break before hitting the road again to face ULM on Dec. 14 and Texas State on Dec. 17.
