Feb. 1—With temperatures well below freezing, it was a cold night outside the Lloyd Noble Center.

Inside, it was a cold night for the Sooners’ offense in a 71-61 loss to Oklahoma State on Wednesday night.

The writing seemed to be on the wall in the opening minutes.

The Sooners missed their first six shots from the floor and eight of their first nine, which helped the Cowboys jump out to an early 10-2 lead. The offensive struggles continued through the first half, as the Sooners entered halftime with only 28 points on 7-of-23 shooting. The Cowboys, in turn, held a 14-point lead while shooting 47 percent.

It was those offensive struggles that prevented the Sooners from making a real run in the second half.

The Sooners ended the game shooting 35 percent, their second-worst shooting performance of the season, and made only 16 baskets, their fewest in a game since their season-opening loss to Sam Houston.

It was a disappointing offensive performance for the Sooners, particularly after they scored 93 points on 58 percent shooting in last Saturday’s win over then-No. 2 Alabama.

“I think we were getting some good shots,” OU forward Jalen Hill said. “They just weren’t falling. We just let them get too (many) easy buckets and they kept the crowd out of it the whole game. We just couldn’t get it within a reasonable margin.”

A big reason for the Sooners’ lack of offensive output was Grant Sherfield and Hill’s struggles.

Hill scored a career-high 26 points in the last outing against Alabama, and his 13 points-per-game average during conference play ranks second on the team. But he never got going against the Cowboys, missing all six of his shot attempts and finishing with just five points.

The Cowboys particularly keyed on Sherfield, who had scored a seasonhigh 30 points against the Crimson Tide. Sherfield finished with just 14 points on just 4-of-12 shooting against the Cowboys.

“I think they were up in him,” Moser said. “They were switching everything. Very physical with him with the ball, didn’t let him get open at all. I think just (with) their speed, they did a really good job of switching, being physical on everything. I thought from the jump they denied him a couple of times early, set the tone. But they did a nice job.”

Just as much as the Sooners struggled offensively, they struggled on the other end, too.

It was clear the Cowboys had a huge advantage in the paint from the opening tip, and that was mostly due to Kalib Boone and Moussa Cisse. The two big men combined for 36 points on 16-of-20 shooting and nine rebounds.

They also combined for six offensive rebounds, which matched the Sooners’ output as a team.

“Those two, Cesse and Boone, they really affected us on trying to make decisions with the way they rolled, scored in the post and hit the pocket shots,” Moser said.

44 of the Cowboys points (62 percent) came in the paint, while the Sooners scored just 22. The Cowboys also outscored the Sooners 13-2 on secondchance points, and the Sooners committed 13 turnovers to the Cowboys’ seven.

It was a step back for the Sooners, who appeared to have momentum heading into the game. Instead, the Sooners (12-10, 2-7 Big 12) dropped their fourth consecutive conference game in front of a near-capacity home crowd and allowed the Cowboys to sweep the Bedlam regular-season series.

“Very, very disappointed,” Moser said. “You come out and you look around and that’s the first time I’ve seen a full house like this. It was even more crowded than Alabama, so I just want to say thank you to them. We’re going to keep fighting. We’re going to build this thing.”

Up next: The Sooners will to end their conference skid on Saturday at West Virginia. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.