Five Thoughts on Oklahoma State’s 91-79 Victory against Kansas City

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STILLWATER — The Cowboys took the scenic route, but they got their 10th win Thursday night.

Oklahoma State beat Kansas City 91-79. Here are five thoughts on the game.

1. Defense Still Lacked Consistency

The Roos went on an 11-0 run in the second half to take a 60-59 lead. Those same Roos came into the night at No. 341 (of 365) in the NET.

OSU was down some key contributors (which we’ll get to), but after Lutz hammered home the importance of defense throughout what sounded like a tough week of practice, giving up an 11-0 run and a lead to a team in the 300s of the NET is not ideal.

“I talked to them civilly and told them this is embarrassing and that they need to be better,” Lutz said. “At some point as the coach, it can’t be me that wants it more than them. They’ve got to want it more than me, and that’s basically what I told them. ‘Guys, you’re gonna continue this course, and you’re gonna get embarrassed. You’re gonna be on SportsCenter because you lost to UMKC.’ And that’s nothing against UMKC. Marvin (Menzies) had his team ready to play. They played well.”

The Pokes put the Roos away with a 14-1 run shortly thereafter. The Cowboys honestly played fairly well defensively in the second half, holding Kansas City to 29% shooting in the final 20 minutes. A bigger problem in the second half was that OSU had nine turnovers which led to 13 Roo points.

The first half saw OSU shoot 61% from the field, but the Cowboys went into the locker room with just a four-point lead after UMKC went 7-for-14 from 3 in the half.

“I’m saying all this and we’re 10-1,” Lutz said. “I don’t want to be Scrooge here. I don’t want to be Scrooge, but guys, we have a long ways to go and we have a high ceiling. We have a high ceiling.”

2. Clary Goes Down Early, Adding to OSU’s Injury Woes

It’s a good thing this OSU squad is as deep as it is because the Cowboys have had an infestation of injury bugs during the early portion of this season.

Already without starters Parsa Fallah and Lefteris Mantzoukas because of injury Thursday night, starting point guard Kanye Clary went down after just a minute on the floor. It didn’t look great.

Clary had just made his second steal in as many defensive possessions when he dumped a fastbreak pass off to Christian Coleman for a dunk, but Clary ended the sequence on the ground, grabbing at his right leg. He needed help off the floor and didn’t put any weight on that leg. He didn’t return but was around the bench in the second half, walking gingerly.

“I know that he was walking on it in the locker room,” Lutz said. “He was limping a little, but typically if it’s something huge, they’d have him in a brace and on crutches immediately. Kanye’s a tough kid, so I’m sure that if he can go, he will.”

Fallah was a game-time decision with a back injury and ended up not playing.

Mantzoukas’ bumps weren’t as publicly known about going into the game.

“Lefty’s just battling some ailments, man,” Lutz said. “I’m sure he’ll be fine. He’s working through some things.”

3. Welcome to the Show, Ben Ahmed

Two seconds had ticked off the clock between the time Benjamin Ahmed checked into his first college game and when he scored his first college basket.

The four-star freshman instantly grabbed an offensive rebound and put it back up and in.

On OSU’s next trip down the floor, the Cowboys dumped it in to the 6-foot-10, 275-pound big man, and he spun past his defender, Euro-stepped past another and laid the ball in the hoop for his second bucket.

Sweet feet from @bigbe_nn 😱 pic.twitter.com/7uZKaNbYrg

— OSU Cowboy Basketball (@OSUMBB) December 19, 2025

He finished with six points and seven rebounds in seven minutes on the floor (his per 40 numbers are going to be crazy). Four of his rebounds were offensive and four of his six points came right after an offensive board.

Ahmed had been out after a preseason foot surgery. He was the No. 111 player in 247Sports’ rankings for the 2025 class and at one point was pledged to Miami. Ahmed is from Nigeria but played prep ball at Putnam Science Academy in Connecticut, where he left as the proud program’s all-time leading scorer and rebounder.

“I was nervous a little bit, but it was good,” Ahmed said. “This is what I’ve been waiting for. This is what I’ve been dreaming for, so I was excited to get out there.”

His minutes were obviously extra important without Fallah, but Andrija Vukovic also had his best college game. In his first start, Vukovic had a career-high 11 points on 5-for-5 shooting. He has a soft touch on his hook shot over his left shoulder.

4. Chris Coleman Double-Double

With Fallah’s absence, Lutz used some more small-ball looks like he did in Bedlam with Christian Coleman getting a little run at center.

With that and his regular duties, Coleman played a game-high 37 minutes and secured his second double-double of the season (with the other coming in the season-opener against ORU), finishing with 20 points points and 10 rebounds.

Coleman scored in the 20s five times at UAB last season, but this was his first 20-point outing as a Cowboy.

As a long 6-foot-8, Coleman can do so many things. He’s bouncy, is comfortable stepping into the 3 and is probably one of the Pokes’ better rim protectors because of that length and bounce.

“I said it to the guys before Bedlam: the good lord touched him,” Lutz said of Coleman. “He’s got a lot of natural ability. He’s got a chance to play for a long, long time and at a high level and make money. If he keeps this up, he’ll do those things.”

5. Officials Have Canceled Fun

For the second time this month, a Cowboy was given a technical the moment he glanced at someone he just dunked on.

Vyctorius Miller had the most impressive sequence of the game when he blocked a shot off the backboard at one end, ran down the floor and dunked on a Roo on the other end. After the jam, Miller looked the way of the defender who attempted to block his throwdown just for Miller to get a T.

The same thing happened to Coleman in the Grand Canyon game.

I’m all for a T for a stare that lingers a little while or a flex or something, but dunking on someone almost kills a team’s momentum in 2025 because it keeps ending with the other team getting free throws.

Steve Lutz’s Postgame News Conference