STILLWATER — When Oklahoma State freshman Connor Dow sailed to the rim for a one-handed dunk midway through the first half Tuesday night, it felt like the Cowboys had weathered the worst of the storm.

As it turned out, the squall had not even yet begun.

The Cowboys missed their first 10 shots, but trailed Texas Tech by just seven points after Dow’s steal-and-slam.

But soon after, Texas Tech began the run that essentially erased all hope of a happy senior sendoff at Gallagher-Iba Arena, handing the Cowboys a 75-58 loss in the final home game of the season.

Texas Tech’s Pop Isaacs had seven points to spark a 20-4 run for which the Cowboys (12-18, 4-13 Big 12) had no answer. Needing to establish its outside offense, OSU made just 1 of its first 14 3-pointers and hit 6 of 28 for the game.

“Hate it, mostly for our seniors, to lose the way we lost tonight,” OSU coach Mike Boynton said. “(Texas Tech is) a good defensive team, has been all year.

“The combination of us not making 3s, and then having to try to drive it against a team that collapses very aggressively was a bad recipe.”

OSU was led by freshman Eric Dailey Jr. with 12 points to go with 11 from John-Michael Wright, one of six seniors playing his final game at GIA.

“It’s a grateful feeling to be able to finish our collegiate careers here at GIA, a great building with a lot of history made here,” Wright said. “Just didn’t play the game we wish we would’ve played.

“We just didn’t play tough, didn’t play with any urgency, wasn’t physical. They out-manned us and that’s really about it.”

As if the missed shots weren’t enough, the Cowboys frequently gave the ball away without even getting a look at the basket.

OSU had 10 turnovers in the first half, many of which were unforced. A dribble off the foot. A pass wide of its mark —  or worse, directly to a Red Raider.

It was a level of carelessness that is rare for these Cowboys, who entered the game averaging just 12.8 turnovers per game. They reached that mark before the first TV timeout of the second half.

“After this game, it’s frustrated, very frustrated. Embarrassed,” Hicklen said of the team’s emotions. “But we still got season to play. Still games left, still a chance to finish strong in the (Big 12) Tournament.”

The offense eventually found some rhythm, shooting 53.8% from the floor in the second half and finishing the game with 17 turnovers.

Texas Tech (21-9, 10-7) was led by Isaacs with 19 points, while Darrion Williams added 18 with nine rebounds.

Here are three takeaways from the Cowboy defeat:

Bedlam hangover still lingering?

The Cowboys’ momentum of late February seems light years ago now, but in reality, it’s been less than two weeks since this team had won two in a row and four of seven during a difficult stretch of its schedule.

Then OU’s Javian McCollum hit a game-winning 3-pointer, and the effects of that knife to the heart seem to still be lingering.

In the Bedlam aftermath, the Cowboys blew a double-digit first-half lead in a loss to Central Florida, then fell apart late at Texas prior to Tuesday’s frustrations.

“I think that game, honestly, took a lot of fire out of us,” Wright said of Bedlam. “Not that when we lost we were like, ‘To hell with the rest of the season.’ It wasn’t nothing like that. We had a two-game winning streak. We had been trying to get some momentum all season and we finally get it. And then to lose in the Bedlam game on a last-second shot, it was a dagger for us.

“It’s just a toughness edge that we’re missing.”

The always excuse-averse Boynton wasn’t fully ready to buy into the lasting effects of a Bedlam hangover, though he acknowledged the pain of such a loss could linger.

“I don’t try to play medical doctor, but I also try not to play that part either, the psychology,” he said. “There’s a real thing to the devastation of being right there to win a game when you’ve got a little bit of momentum, and playing your rival, all that stuff. There’s probably a real element there.

“But this is big-boy stuff. You gotta be able to turn the page, pick yourself up and go figure out the next one. We obviously haven’t done that.”

A special 61 seconds

Boynton inserted senior walk-ons Carson Sager and Weston Church with 1:54 left in the game, making sure to get all five available seniors (Brooks Manzer was unavailable because of health issues) got in the game.

The duo combined on a rebound, which went off Sager’s hand on its way to Church. After 61 seconds of action, Boynton pulled both, giving them the same moment to be recognized as he had done with the three scholarship seniors — Wright, Hicklen and Mike Marsh.

Wright made three 3-pointers in his final home game and Hicklen hit one as well, finishing with six points. Marsh did not attempt a shot in his nearly six minutes on the floor.

“It’s just great for Coach to do that at the end of the game,” Hicklen said. “Take you out, have the fans give you a standing ovation. We’re grateful for that.”

More: Senior Night will be sendoff for unique group of Oklahoma State basketball players

Big 12 seeding battle

The Cowboys conclude the regular season at BYU at 8 p.m. Saturday, then will head directly to Kansas City, Missouri, for the Big 12 Tournament.

While the Cowboys’ seeding remains uncertain, they will be in one of the play-in games set for next Tuesday at the T-Mobile Center.

Currently in last place in the Big 12 standings by a half-game, OSU will be either the No. 13 or No. 14 seed in the field.

As the 13 seed, OSU would face the No. 12 seed at 11:30 a.m. Tuesday. As the 14 seed, it would play the No. 11 seed at 2 p.m. Tuesday.

In addition to OSU’s final result of the season, the Cowboys’ seeding will be dictated by how West Virginia (9-20, 4-12) finishes its remaining games, against TCU and at Cincinnati.

“Not a whole lot of time left to squeeze whatever we can out of the rest of this season, but our job is to get back up tomorrow and figure out a way to continue to help these kids,” Boynton said. “That’s what I’m committed to making sure happens.”

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma State basketball loses to Texas Tech on Cowboys' Senior Night