Oklahoma State basketball: Cowboys crippled by foul woes

And the No. 22 Cowboys never seemed to be themselves, falling 73-67 at Kansas State.

“That really hurt us, because Philip's our one physical presence,” said OSU coach Travis Ford. “He can guard people one-on-one. And when Marcus got his third, it wasn't good. I thought it took our aggressiveness away a little, especially his, and that's what he excels on.

“I don't want to make any excuses, but that foul trouble took a little of our energy away and created a little hesitation.”

Maybe the game's start should have served a warning, as Murphy was called for his first four fouls two seconds in.

“I got in early foul trouble — since the tipoff,” Murphy said. “Just watching from the bench is always frustrating. As a freshman, I go through certain things that all freshmen go through. It's up to me to get through it.”

LOST AND FOUND: K-STATE'S MCGRUDER

Wildcats guard Rodney McGruder entered as his team's leading scorer (13.7 points per game) and a noted clutch player through the course of four seasons.

So he shouldn't have been a mystery for the Cowboys.

Maybe a 1-for-6 first half of shooting took him off the radar, but McGruder did his thing and more over the final 20 minutes, scoring 26 of his game-high 28 points.

“We lost him,” Smart said. “Our defensive matchups got lost. We switched a lot of screens and he just found open spots and knocked down some shots.”