Jan. 18—STILLWATER — Oklahoma coach Porter Moser summarized the lesson from his team’s 72-56 loss to Oklahoma State.

“They completely dominated the second half.”

That’s exactly what the Cowboys did on Wednesday.

The Sooners played well on both ends in the opening 20 minutes and entered halftime at Gallagher-Iba Arena with a 30-24 lead. The Cowboys struggled on both ends of the floor, making just 10-of-32 shots on offense.

But everything changed when OSU’s Woody Newton hit a 3-pointer to open the second half. The Cowboys used that momentum to spark a 15-5 run, and eventually took a three-point lead less than two minutes into the half.

The Sooners simply never recovered in what was a tale of two halves.

While the Cowboys outplayed the Sooners on both ends, OU forward Jacob Groves didn’t mince words about his team’s performance.

“I don’t think it had anything to do with them,” Groves said. “It was just all of us. That team you guys saw in the second half, and that we saw, was nothing close to what we’ve been all year. Just a ton of breakdowns mentally. Out-physicaled. Out-rebounded. Outtoughed. Everything. It was just horrible basketball. So, we’ve just got to find a way to put that one in the bank. We’ve got a big one coming up.”

Here’s three takeaways from the Sooners’ 16-point defeat in Stillwater: 1. Cowboys shoot lights out in the second half It was a complete turnaround for the Cowboys’ offense in the second half.

In the first half, they scored just 24 points on 31 percent shooting. In the second half, the Cowboys scored 48 points while shooting 17-of-31 (55 percent) and 6-of-10 from the 3-point line.

The Sooners shot 41 percent from the field in both halves, but the difference proved to be the Cowboys’ shooting.

“We couldn’t get stops,” Moser said. “I think it’s the first game in awhile that some of us let our offense dictate our defense. In this league, you’ve got to have five guys connected on defense. I’ve got to give Oklahoma State a lot of credit. As mad as I am right now, they were terrific. They were clicking on all cylinders. They were rolling, they were shooting, they were going downhill, playing with tremendous confidence and effort.

“So you’ve got to give them a lot of credit. They played outstanding on both ends in that second half.”

2. Sherfield clamped by Cowboys defense after hot first half Oklahoma’s leading scorer looked more than ready for the moment to open the game.

He was the key reason the Sooners held a halftime lead. He scored 15 first-half points — half of the Sooners’ team total — on 5-of-9 shooting.

The Cowboys made sure that wasn’t the case in the second half.

Sherfield didn’t score a single point in the final 20 minutes, missing all five of his shot attempts while committing two turnovers.

He finished his night with 15 points (5/12 shooting), two rebounds, four assists and four turnovers.

Miloz Uzan finished with eight points and four rebounds. Groves added 10 points.

3. Second-chance points, turnovers again hurt SoonersO klahoma State finished with a modest 37-32 rebounding advantage.

But it was their advantage on the offensive glass that doomed the Sooners. The Cowboys snagged nine offensive rebounds, which they turned into 11 secondchance points.

The Sooners had three offensive rebounds and zero second-chance points.

Turnovers didn’t help either. The Sooners turned the ball over 14 times, which led to 14 OSU points. Meanwhile, the Sooners scored just six points on seven OSU turnovers.

Up next: The Sooners (117, 2-4 Big 12) will look to bounce back against No. 21 Baylor (13-5, 33 Big 12) at 3 p.m. Saturday at Lloyd Noble Center.