Five Thoughts on Oklahoma State’s 79-66 Victory against Kansas State

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STILLWATER — After two games of being the nail, the Cowboys were the hammer on Tuesday night.

Oklahoma State beat Kansas State 79-66, leading by as many as 21 in the second half. The win boosts OSU up to 9-5 on the year and 1-2 in Big 12 play. Here are five thoughts on the first win of the Steve Lutz era.

1. A Win

The Cowboys are on the proverbial Big 12 board.

After two rough outings (against good teams), this one felt important because it was one the Cowboys were capable of winning. KenPom isn’t everything, but it predicted this game to finish 74-73 in OSU’s favor. The Pokes blew past that projection.

The win resets some perspective and lightens the thought of OSU’s 46-19 first-half deficit in Morgantown. Although the Big 12 is still loaded and that isn’t changing, all of a sudden some of these upcoming games feel a bit more winnable for the Cowboys. OSU plays at Utah on Saturday. The Utes ranked 88th in the NET going into the night before getting blown out by Iowa State. At BYU next Tuesday will be tough, but Colorado ranks just 84th in the NET. The Cowboys host the Buffaloes Jan. 18. Looking down the barrel of 0-3, 3-3 feels possible with how well OSU played on Tuesday.

It’s not that this one result takes OSU into Final Four contention, but it certainly feels a lot better seeing that the Cowboys are capable of playing like this against Big 12 competition.

“This is a great conference,” OSU center Abou Ousmane said. “You go down three games, you never know how your season can go. In a sense, it was almost like a make-or-break game, the way I took it. I feel like we needed to win this, so we can keep progressing in the right way.”

2. Points Off Turnovers

The Cowboys played better Tuesday in myriad ways, but most importantly, the Pokes got back to their identity under Steve Lutz: forcing a ton of turnovers and scoring off those turnovers.

Kansas State had 19 turnovers, tying a season-high, and OSU converted those turnovers into 31 points. It’s the third time this season, the Cowboys have scored at least 30 points off turnovers, joining Southern Illinois (30) and Tulsa (32).

“Any time that you can get that many points off turnovers and then get it going in transition, that’s gonna help you,” Lutz said. “We’ve not been great in converting our turnovers into points, and tonight we were much better there.”

3. Abou Ousmane Feasted

Abou Ousmane scored 17 points on 73% shooting — in the first half.

He was so dominant, K-State changed its defensive strategy entirely in the second half and started playing a big man who hadn’t gotten any minutes since Dec. 21. Then Ousmane went ahead and scored 10 in the second half.

K-State was comfortable leaving David N’Guessan (brother of former Cowboy Lucas N’Guessan) alone on Ousmane in the first half, but the 25-pound difference between the two (Ousmane at 245 to N’Guessan’s 220) was evident. He’d just back N’Guessan down and hit a hook shot over him with no help coming.

The second half saw K-State play a zone after the first half went so poorly, and the Wildcats did it with Ugonna Onyenso in the middle. Oyenso played 18 minutes, all of which came in the second half. He hadn’t played since K-State’s loss to Wichita State on Dec. 21. Oyenso hasn’t played double-digit minutes in a game since the Wildcats’ game against Mississippi Valley State on Nov. 19.

Ousmane wrecked the game. He finished with 27 points on 11-for-15 shooting to go with five rebounds and two blocks.

“Honestly a little excited, knowing I have a matchup and they’re not double-teaming or anything,” Ousmane said. “I’m able to play one on one. And honestly, I’m just looking to win at the end of the day, it’s like, whatever I can do to win. Today was my calling to score, and I did a pretty good job of that, I think.”

4. 3s Were Falling

The Cowboys have shown to be capable of hitting 3s at different times this season, but it hasn’t been consistent.

OSU went 9-for-21 (43%) from 3 on Tuesday. Those nine makes were the most the Pokes have had in a game since hitting 10 against Seton Hall on Dec. 8. It’s the first time OSU has shot 40% or better from 3 since shooting 46% against Miami on Nov. 22.

The 3s falling were extra important because K-State switched to that zone in the second half. Lutz said postgame that the Wildcats played just 12 possessions of zone all season coming into the night. One of the best ways to beat a zone is by hitting 3s, and the Pokes went 5-for-12 from deep in that second half. Brandon Newman and Chi Chi Avery each hit a pair in the half. Newman surpassed 1,000 career points with his nine points against K-State.

5. Three Fun Highlights

About once a month I explain to my wife how LeBron James’ chase-down block against Andre Iguodala in Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals defined an era of basketball. She’s never that interested, but Bryce Thompson did his best to recreate the play Tuesday night.

Late in the first half, Max Jones had a breakaway layup attempt, but Thompson skied in with both hands up and pinned the ball off the backboard before the two went tumbling out of bounds.

❌DENIED❌ pic.twitter.com/a81YfxVj21

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

Thompson finished with 10 points — his first time in double figures in Big 12 play. He was 2-for-3 from 3-point range with his last make coming with a hand in his face as the shot clock expired. Thompson exited with about 10 minutes to play after appearing to roll his ankle on the sideline. Lutz said after the game that if need be, Thompson would have been able to come back in.

Khalil Brantley also had a highlight play to close the first half.

With the Cowboys already on an 18-2 run, Brantley stole an optimistic inbound pass and hit a jumper as time expired. It sent OSU into the locker room with a 43-24 lead.

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

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

Last (but far from least), Jamyron Keller defied physics.

Arturo Dean missed a jumper, but Keller, at 6-foot-3, skied between the 6-9 N’Guessan and the 7-0 Onyenso for a thunderous put-back jam.

JAMYRON KELLER PUTBACK OMG pic.twitter.com/u7SBjz0BLS

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

Postgame News Conference