Oklahoma State basketball: Cowboys can still win Big 12 championship

“I don't think we can spend too much time — I know we can't, we don't have time — to sit around and think too much about how we lost or how we won. Or put too much thought into the mental and physical stress that we've been through.”

Late Wednesday night, some of the strain showed, especially on team sparkplug Marcus Smart, who had both his shoulder and an ankle tended to through the course of the game.

“I'm a little bit banged up here and there,” Smart said, shrugging it off. “But it's not the first time I've been banged up. Probably won't be the last.

“I'll get in the training room. Ice. Get treated and get ready for Saturday.”

No time for pity parties around Gallagher-Iba Arena.

“We can't sit here and dwell on it,” Brown said. “We've got to move on. It's the Big 12.”

And there's still plenty to play for.

Big 12 positioning.

NCAA Tournament positioning.

Maybe even a Big 12 title.

Late in the postgame press conference, a reporter asked if the Cowboys might relish another shot at the Jayhawks at the Big 12 Tournament.

Almost in unison, the three players — Brown, Smart and Michael Cobbins — perked up with a resounding “yes.”

“I can't wait for it,” Smart said. “We're going to be ready for it. We'll go out there and play just as hard as we did.

“We definitely can't wait for another shot at them.”