Monday, December 7, 2020
Fort Worth Failure Season of dissapointment continues after loss to TCU
Chris Becker On Saturday, TCU handed Oklahoma State its third loss of the season, which eliminated the Cowboys from the Big 12 Championship conversation. The Cowboys had chances to win, but could not capitalize on offense after the defense caused five turnovers. The disappointments didn’t stop there. Tylan Wallace missed the entire fourth quarter with a knee issue, which gutted the passing game of the Cowboys. Wallace had seven catches prior to exiting the game. The next closest receiver was Dillon Stoner, who had three. “My guess is Tylan’s not out there and it takes away — the safeties can load the box then,” offensive coordinator Kasey Dunn said. “We took some shots down the field. At the end of the day the shots down the field
were the difference. We hit ours, we win. They hit theirs, they win. We just didn’t hit enough chunk plays like they did.” After averaging over five yards per carry in the first half, Dezmon Jackson ended the game averaging only 4.1 yards per carry. He ran the ball 29 carries for 118 yards and a touchdown in his second start. “I think they adjusted well on TCU’s defense, by loading the box, so they made it pretty difficult for us to run the ball how we wanted,” Jackson said. “Those guys, I really give credit to them, they had a nice defense and they gave us real trouble in the second half.” The Cowboys’ goal all season had been to make it Arlington for the Big 12 Championship game. With the loss, that goal is no longer an option, but the Cowboys still have to play next week in Waco, Texas, against Baylor to finish off the season. “We just got to come in every week and keep pushing forward,” linebacker Malcolm Rodriguez said. sports.ed@ocolly.com
Cade Cunningham steps up again, leads Cowboys to victory over Oakland half.
Dean Ruhl
Sharon Ellman TCU vs Oklahoma State football at Amon Carter Stadium in Fort Worth, Texas on December 5, 2020. (Photo/Sharon Ellman)
Welcome to the latest episode of “The Cade Cunningham Show.” Like he has done already several times this season, Cade Cunningham decides when he wants to take over, and on the basketball court, what Cunningham wants, Cunningham receives. With 4:31 left in the second half, an errant Oakland pass at the edge of the midcourt logo quickly found it’s way into the hands of Cunningham, whose long strides found him all alone, allowing him to cock back his arm and windmill the ball into the basket with authority. The slam highlighted an 18-point performance by Cunningham and all but sealed the victory for the Cowboys, who held on to defeat the Oakland Golden Grizzlies 84-71 in Saturday night’s contest at Gallagher-IBA Arena. With the win, the Cowboys improve its record to 4-0, and the Golden Grizzlies fall to 0-6. “I knew it was about that time to get aggressive,” Cunningham said. “Once that time came I just had to attack.” Despite the double-digit win, the Cowboys got off to a sluggish start against the Golden Grizzlies in the first half, trailing for almost 15 minutes and only regaining the lead with under a minute left before half. Cunningham remained quiet during the first, scoring only six points, but Isaac Likekele was able to make a home for himself in the paint during the first half, scoring all 12 of his points below the basket, leading the team at the
“That’s the key to beating zones,” Likekele said. “You want to get it inside. That’s what it’s about getting paint touches.” The Golden Grizzlies were able to keep pace with the Cowboys thanks in large part to junior Rashad Williams, who shot 4-11 from three and led his team with 12 points at the half. Williams was even more dominant in the second half, dropping six more 3-point shots to finish the night with 10, a Gallagher-Iba record for a visiting team. He ended the evening with 32 points and three rebounds. “(Williams) gave me one 3-pointer in the corner while I was all over him,” Likekele said. “That goal was just looking 5-feet wide to him.” The second half started just how the first ended, with both teams trading buckets, and while Oakland had several chances to build up a lead on the free-throw line, they continued to miss, ending the night shooting 46% from the charity stripe. At this point, Cunningham decided it was time. Along with leading the team in points, Cunningham also filled the role of distributor tonight, finishing the night with eight assists, the most he’s had this season. His most impressive assist came in the form of an alleyoop to Kalib Boone with seven minutes left that several as the momentum changer and helped Oklahoma State start to pull away from a game that had been close to that point. “His greatest strength is he elevates the level of play with the guys with him,” coach Mike Boynton said. “He’s just got to fine tune some things on the defensive end, and that will take him to a whole different level for our team.” sports.ed@ocolly.com