Did the Cowboys miss shots? Absolutely.

OSU, hitting only 21-of-50 field goal attempts and 14-of-28 free throw attempts, was beaten 83-65 by Washington in a Big 12/Pac-10 Hardwood Series game Thursday night at Bank of America Arena. The Cowboys were held to their fewest field goal attempts, fewest field goals and fewest points in Travis Ford’s eight games as head coach.

OSU fell to 5-3, losing to an unranked team for the first time this season. Washington improved to 4-3 (all four wins came at home) and avenged a 96-71 loss at Gallagher-Iba Arena last season.

Ford told his players their performance was unacceptable and, during a postgame radio interview, he apologized to any OSU fans who watched the game on television. He said the Cowboys could make valid excuses about travel and being shorthanded, but he said there is no excuse for execution.

“I didn’t like the way we played tonight and it’s my job to do something about it,” Ford said.

Ford, whose team trailed by as many as 22 points in the second half, said there is a difference between losing “and the way we lost tonight.”

“I’m very disappointed,” he said. “We’ve got 10 days to correct this (before the next game). It will be corrected.”

OSU played its first game without Thomas, a 6-foot-10 starting center who did not make the trip, and led only twice, the last time when James Anderson hit a 3-pointer for an 11-9 edge with 16 minutes remaining in the first half.

Sources close to the basketball team indicated that Thomas left the team Tuesday, the same day the Cowboys flew to Seattle.

Ford, asked Wednesday to clarify the situation, said through a sports information spokesman that he elected not to take Thomas on the trip.

Ford was asked in a pre-game radio interview about Thomas and said he wanted to talk only about players who wanted to be in Seattle. FSN play-by-play announcer Paul Sunderland indicated during the television broadcast that Ford said it was in the mutual interests of Thomas and the Cowboys “to be away from each other for awhile.” Sunderland also said Ford and Thomas will meet again when the coach returns to Stillwater.

Senior forward Anthony Brown started in Thomas’ place, making his fourth career start and first of this season. Minus Thomas, OSU didn’t have a starter taller than 6-foot-6 and faced a Washington squad that leads the nation in rebounding margin (plus-15.7). The Cowboys were outrebounded 41-27.

Huskies senior forward Jon Brockman was college basketball’s leading rebounder last season. He got 16 points and 11 rebounds at OSU’s expense. Freshman guard Isaiah Thomas led Washington with 20 points.

The timing of the game could have been better for OSU even without the Ibrahima Thomas ordeal. The Cowboys played three games in four days in Orlando last week, then jetted to the west coast one day after returning to campus. Also, fall semester finals are next week.

But, said Ford, “We don’t make excuses.”

OSU trailed by 14 points at halftime, then dug itself a bigger hole by making only one field goal in the first six minutes of the second half. Washington never allowed the Cowboys to get closer than 14 in the second half.

“We just didn’t have much leadership on the court,” Ford said. “Washington took us out of a lot of our offense. They were obviously the more aggressive basketball team tonight.... I don’t think we had that fire in our belly like Washington did.”

Obi Muonelo led OSU with 18 points and Keiton Page came off the bench to score 12.