Wright’s 22 points not enough as Cowboys fall to UCF

STILLWATER — Foul trouble proved fatal for the Oklahoma State men’s basketball team in a 77-71 loss to Central Florida on Wednesday night at Gallagher-Iba Arena.

John-Michael Wright finished with 22 points on five 3-point baskets for OSU (12-16 overall, 4-11 in Big 12 play), which led 36-24 with 4:25 to play in the first half but couldn’t hang on.

Eric Dailey Jr. added 15 points to go with 13 from Javon Small while big man Brandon Garrison grabbed a team-high six rebounds.

All three players finished the night on the bench with five fouls.

The Cowboys committed 28 personals to UCF’s 26. That combined count (54) was the most in an OSU game since Jan. 21, 2017 at Texas Tech (56).

Likewise, the 66 total freethrow attempts were the most in a Big 12 contest involving OSU since Dec. 29, 2017 (68).

OSU made 24-of-30 (.800) from the foul line to UCF’s (27of-36, .750). The Knights (1512, 6-9) were slightly better from the field (42.3 percent to 40.4 percent) and from 3-point range (6-of-16 compared to 5-of-20).

The difference came on the glass with UCF’s deeper front court better equipped to handle what became a war of attrition.

The Knights won the secondhalf rebounding battle, 25-10 and outscored the smaller Cowboys 11-0 on second chances.

Darius Johnson led the way for UCF with 15 points and Shemarri Allen added 14 on 10of-12 free-throw shooting.

Wright provided an early spark with 15 first-half points, including four 3-pointers in the first six minutes of the game. The 22-point outing was his best in two seasons at OSU. He’s the sixth Cowboy to top 20 in a game this season.

Dailey scored the last four points in an 8-0 OSU run that spotted the Cowboys to a comfortable 36-24 lead near the four-minute mark of the first half.

Around that time, Small was whistled for his third foul and spent the next 10 minutes of game time watching from the bench.

By halftime, a total of six Cowboys and five Knights had all racked up at least two fouls.

UCF scored the first seven points of the second half to erase was had been a 42-38 halftime deficit.

Wright’s fifth 3-pointer of the night briefly tied the game at 45, but Allen’s three-point play with 17 minutes to go put the Knights in front for good. They led by as many as eight points down the stretch.

Small reenergized the Cowboys late, scoring all seven points in 7-0 OSU run that cut the deficit to 64-63 with just less than six minutes to play.

UCF missed seven of its last eight field goal attempts to finish the game but drained 11of-14 free throws to hang on.

OSU is on the road Saturday afternoon at Texas for a 1 p.m. contest, then returns home Tuesday to celebrate Senior Night against Texas Tech at 7 p.m. at Gallagher-Iba Arena.