Discipline the Word of the Week for Cowboy Basketball

STILLWATER — There are some things the Cowboys’ defense has done well through two games, but new coach Steve Lutz has been critical of his Cowboys on that side of the ball thus far.

The good: Through two games, Oklahoma State is third among Big 12 schools in turnover margin at +8.00 a game. The Pokes have forced their first two opponents into 39 turnovers, and 23 of those have been steals.

The bad: the Cowboys rank 15th in the 16-team league in opponent field goal percentage, as Green Bay and St. Thomas have combined to shoot 44.2% against the Cowboys. OSU is last in the league in opponent 3-point percentage.

The balance is staying aggressive defensively while also being able to stay in front of the ball. There were many references from Lutz and his players at Tuesday’s media availability of the words discipline and consistency.

“There’s times where our defense is really, really good,” Lutz said. “And then there’s some times where we just — I don’t want to say absent minded — but we just don’t perform. We just don’t do it. And then there’s those times where we get behind, and so now we go help and then we forget to help the helper. It just steamrolls. I think we’ve got a ton of growth in that area.

“It’s not to say they don’t try. They just have to be consistent with their discipline. Our word of the week this week is discipline. If we’ll be disciplined on the offensive and defensive end for 40 minutes, I think we’ll have a good shot at being a good team. If we’re not, then we’re just gonna be average.”

Lutz was particularly upset with how his team defended in the second half against St. Thomas on Sunday. St. Thomas outscored the Cowboys 48-47 in the half while shooting 52% from the field and 48% from 3. That came after a first half in which the Cowboys held the Tommies to 23 points on 28% shooting from the field. Lutz said Tuesday that his team has done a good job at getting some nice leads but that it is now about taking those leads to the next level and finishing teams off. St. Thomas was down as many as 17 points in the second half Sunday but finished just nine points down.

Lutz said the Cowboys watch “a ton” of film on Monday and that some of the defensive discipline wasn’t acceptable.

“Another thing that Coach Lutz has emphasized in our video is discipline,” forward Robert Jennings said. “There’s possessions where we can go and get six, seven stops in a row and then give up four or five. It’s just a matter of us being disciplined and doing the same thing for 40 minutes. If we can string together a 40-minute game on the defense end and the offensive end, that’s when we’ll know that we’re getting closer to where we need to be. So, discipline has been a big emphasis for us.”

Other Notes from Tuesday’s Media Availability

• Lutz said he expects to have center Abou Ousmane available for Thursday’s game against Southern Illinois. After putting up 16 points and ripping down eight rebounds against Green Bay, Ousmane missed the Cowboys’ game against St. Thomas because of a violation of team rules.

• Bryce Thompson has averaged 16.5 points a game in the Cowboys’ first two contests while shooting a ridiculous 63% on his eight 3-point attempts. Connor Dow said he thinks Thompson looks more confident this season.

• With the new coaching staff and only three returning players, Dow also noted that it feels “totally different” than last season.

• The Cowboys play Southern Illinois on Thursday night, which nationally won’t be viewed upon as a crazy tough game for the Pokes, but the Salukis have beaten the Cowboys the past two seasons by three combined points. Like at OSU, Southern Illinois is under a new staff after the program parted ways with Bryan Mullins last offseason and brought in Scott Nagy. SIU is 1-1 on the year, falling to College of Charleston before beating Missouri S&T.

OSU vs. Southern Illinois

Time: 7 p.m. Thursday
Location: Gallagher-Iba Arena
Watch: ESPN+