Instant Recap: Oklahoma State Defeats Kansas State 79-66, Earns First Big 12 Win

The Cowboys flipped the script from their first two Big 12 tries and got into the win column.

Oklahoma State defeated Kansas State 79-66 for the Cowboys’ first conference win of the year thanks to a dominant first half, their best shooting night in three weeks and, mostly, by getting back to playing to their strengths.

In their first two Big 12 games, losses to Houston and West Virginia, the Cowboys were sunk in the first half when they gave up runs of 17-1 and 22-1, respectively. On Tuesday, it was the Pokes that went on a big first half run. OSU scored the last 15 points of the first half, holding K-State scoreless over the final 4:13 before break.

Steal ➡️ buzzer beater 😎@KhalilBrantley pic.twitter.com/mriJbS0JGG

— OSU Cowboy Basketball (@OSUMBB) January 8, 2025

Abou Ousmane was a big reason for the Cowboys’ big first half. He was two points shy of his season high before halftime. The Cowboys have experienced a dearth of easy buckets so far in Big 12 play, but Ousmane made all of his look easy early. He started 6-for-6 and scored 17 points on 11 shots in 14 first-half minutes. “Chi Chi” Avery also snapped out of shooting slump, scoring seven points on 3-of-4 shooting in the opening frame.

OSU shot 50% from the field and 44% from 3 in the first half. The improvement in shooting was nice to see for Cowboys fans, but the question is whether it was due to a lesser defense than OSU’s first two Big 12 opponents, or the Pokes’ finally landing a few. It’s probably a bit of both.

The Cowboys kept their foot on the gas coming out of the locker room, pushing their lead to 20 by the 16-minute mark.

JAMYRON KELLER PUTBACK OMG pic.twitter.com/u7SBjz0BLS

— OSU Cowboy Basketball (@OSUMBB) January 8, 2025

But the Wildcats didn’t quit. K-State rattled off its own 7-0 run to make things interesting. When they pulled within 52-41 with just under 13 to go, it necessitated a timeout from Steve Lutz. But out of that timeout, Bryce Thompson made a tough late-shot clock 3 and then immediately deflected a ball on the other end. Brandon Newman made a 3 a few moments later.

The Wildcats had slowed the Cowboys with a heavy dose of zone, but those two deep balls kickstarted a 9-0 run, did a lot to keep K-State honest and put the Pokes back up by 20 with 10 minutes to go. The Wildcats were able to pull within 12 once, but that late surge was enough to keep them at arm’s length and afford the Cowboys’ their first Big 12 win of the Lutz era.

After being taken out of their game against Houston and WVU, the Cowboys got back to their style of play. In those first two conference games combined, OSU scored just 19 points off of 31 forced turnovers and managed just 17 total fastbreak points. Against K-State on Tuesday, the Pokes won the turnover battle 19-12, had a 31-14 advantage on points off those turnovers and had 14 fastbreak points to the Wildcats’ four.

OSU finished the night shooting 47% from the field and 43% from 3-point range. It was their best outing from deep since defeating Miami back on Nov. 22.

Chi Chi from Perkins! (That’s a long distance three)@Ballout_chii pic.twitter.com/sH7DXeZt2A

— OSU Cowboy Basketball (@OSUMBB) January 8, 2025

Three Cowboy scored in double digits and a fourth got this close but hit a career milestone. Ousmane poured in a career-high 27 points on 11-of-15 shooting. He also grabbed five boards. Avery finished with 13 on nine shots, including three made 3-pointers. Thompson added 10 on just six field goal attempts before leaving the game midway through the second half due to an apparent ankle injury.

Newman pitched in nine points and four rebounds. He made two of his three attempts from beyond the arc and three of four from the charity stripe. That final made free throw pushed him to 1,000 points for his career.

A change in the lineup saw Arturo Dean get his first start as a Cowboy. He went scoreless and logged three assists to two turnovers and had a steal, but the Cowboys’ offense was much more effective on Tuesday. Whether that be Dean’s impact, the lack of facing an elite defense, better OSU shooting or some mixture of all of the above is something Steve Lutz and staff will certainly look at this week.

With the win, the Cowboys move to 9-5 and 1-2 in league play. Next up, they head to Salt Lake City to face Utah at 6 p.m. Saturday. The Utes fell to No. 3 Iowa State 82-59 Tuesday night, moving to 8-6 and 0-3 in Big 12 play.