Jan. 3—Roughly 48 hours following a loss to Kansas in the first Big 12 Conference game of the season, the Oklahoma State men’s basketball team founds itself in a similar, unwelcome situation.

The Cowboys allowed the Jayhawks to claw their way back from a 15-point deficit at halftime in an eventual loss. The Pokes allowed West Virginia to bounce back, too, as the Mountaineers led with five minutes to play on Tuesday night after once trailing by 13.

OSU flipped the script on its lategame misfortunes against Kansas, though, rallying down the stretch to defeat West Virginia 67-60 in Gallagher-Iba Arena and nab their first conference win of the year.

“Certainly thankful to get out of there with a win. That’s what you have to do in this conference,” Cowboys coach Mike Boynton said. “It was a battle. These are hard games — every one of ‘em. At the end of the day, you find a way to win, and you move on.”

With one of their brightest stars sidelined, the Cowboys (9-5, 1-1 Big 12) needed someone to step up. and while multiple people did, senior forward Kalib Boone was perhaps the most notable.

OSU star big man Moussa Cisse exited the floor and went to the bench midway through the first half. He had made life difficult for West Virginia forward Tre Mitchell in the post up to that point, essentially turning him into a nonfactor for the Mountaineers (10-4, 0-2 Big 12).

Cisse only played three minutes the rest of the night, later returning — and gingerly running up and down the floor — before heading back to the bench with what Boynton said was a knee injury after the game. But Boone, who starts at the four, stepped up and delivered 10 points and six rebounds in 27 minutes of action.

“I’ve been trying to get him to understand: If we’re gonna get where we wanna go, we need the best version of him,” Boynton said of Boone, who has shown inconsistency throughout his career. “We just gotta get it more from him, and he’s gotta understand how valuable he is.”

“I don’t think (Boone) understands his value to this team,” Cowboys senior guard John-Michael Wright said. “He’s really one of our glue guys. When K.B. is going, when he’s amped and fired up, we as a team just come together.”

The Cowboys had four different players score in double figures, including Bryce Thompson (15), Avery Anderson (13), John-Michael Wright (11) and Boone. It was emblematic of how Boynton expects this team to win.

There likely isn’t, he said, anyone on the team who’s going to score 20-plus points a game. It’s a team effort, Boynton said, and that’s why the Cowboys were able to pull out one of their grittiest wins yet.

It took all of them to rally after giving up a double-digit lead for the second time in three days.

Boynton called a much-needed timeout with just under five minutes to play. Boone had just made one of his five buckets to pull the Pokes within a point of the Mountaineers, but Boynton had a message.

“We gotta decide if we really wanna be a good team,” Boynton said in the timeout. “If we really wanna be a team that’s significant in February, March, you find a way to get the job done.”

And they did, regaining the lead a minute later and never allowing the Mountaineers to do the same. The Cowboys outscored West Virginia 11-3 following Boynton’s timeout.

It was a run, and eventual triumph, that helped OSU pick up a win in the toughest conference in college basketball — a victory that could be the difference between watching the NCAA Tournament from home and playing in it when March rolls around.

The Cowboys will be back in action at 11 a.m. Saturday, when they return to GIA and host No. 6 Texas. It’ll mark OSU’s second top-10 opponent in a week’s span.