Five Thoughts on Oklahoma State’s Near Upset of No. 7 Houston

STILLWATER — Oklahoma State trailed a top 10 team by a single point after leading Houston for more than 27 minutes. 

Everything eventually unraveled in Oklahoma State’s 82-75 loss to seventh-ranked Cougars on Saturday. It’s the kind of win that might have put Oklahoma State back in the bubble conversation at the very least. 

Now the Cowboys (18-13, 6-12 Big 12) have serious work to do in the Big 12 Tournament if they want to get a glance from the committee. 

Here are five thoughts from the final game of the regular season.

The game turned on that tech, but turnovers doomed the Cowboys

For the second-consecutive day, an Oklahoma State basketball team found itself on the wrong side of a late, game-altering whistle.

The Cowboys led Houston by one point following a Benjamin Ahmed layup with 6:14 to go. The freshman then earned a technical foul after he appeared to be talking trash with a Houston player as he went back on defense.

“The official told me that the two of them were talking back and forth, you know, or my guy, Ben, was talking to the other player, McCarty, the entire way down the floor,” Oklahoma State coach Steve Lutz said. “I don’t know that the official heard what he said. He did not tell me that he knew what he said, but he felt that that warranted a technical foul.”

I have zero idea what was said by either player, but from a pure basketball standpoint, it sucked. Instead of watching two teams trade haymakers the electric crowd inside Gallagher-Iba Arena quieted a bit because let’s face it technical foul free throws are boring.

Of course, Houston made both, then added a 3-pointer to take a four-point lead with just under six to play. The visitors missed shots on three consecutive possessions down the stretch which allowed the Cowboys to draw back within one point with 1:50 to play, but Oklahoma State would have to play near perfectly to actually win. And as good as this team looked at times, near-perfect is not on the table.

Instead, Kanye Clary lost control of the basketball resulting in a turnover with 54 seconds left. A subsequent Houston 3-pointer which pushed the Cougars’ lead back to seven all but ended the game.

After limiting turnovers to three in the first half, OSU got a little frantic at times in the second half, turning the ball over eight times total, including three times during the final seven minutes starting with a charge call against Ahmed.

The Ben Ahmed rollercoaster ride is going up

Entering Saturday’s game, Ahmed averaged one foul every 6.5 minutes. It’s hard to get minutes that way, though Ahmed played 19.5 minutes at Cincinnati on Feb. 28 without earning one whistle so it’s not like he’s incapable. 

While the freshman’s youth has hurt him at times, he looked capable of holding his own against the Cougars. He finished the day with a career-high 11 points and grabbed four rebounds, including two on the offensive glass. The numbers don’t quite tell the full story, as he tipped a few wild rebounds to teammates and generally did a decent job fighting for space against the Cougars when the ball was in the air.

As for the fouls, the charge call looked like one of those foul calls which is technically right, but not exactly in line with the spirit of the game. Ahmed made some contact, nowhere near enough to crumple the Cougar who did, in fact, go down like he was tackled to the ground, and the timing of the play was close, as is the case with most of these calls.

Lutz diplomatically described the call as “another crucial call in a crucial moment.”

Unless Ahmed said something really offensive, then it’s an especially tough break to see him on the wrong end of both the technical foul and the charge. In a just world, maybe he gets one of those.

In his first 22.5 minutes on the court, officials hit Ahmed with only one foul call. That’s nearly three under his season average, against a top 10 team in a tightly contested basketball game.

That feels like growth, which is crucial with Parsa Fallah’s season-ending injury and the fact that Andrija Vukovic appears to be held together by willpower and scotch tape at times. He doubled over once for a while just seconds after walking off the court. He only played 14 minutes on Saturday, but it was still a gusty showing.

It’s hard to know for sure how much Ahmed’s role is influenced by Lutz’s growing trust or the head coach’s lack of options to replace him. Still, it seemed noteworthy that he didn’t sub Ahmed out following the charge call and technical foul which occurred in close proximity.

“I think that Ben is continuing to show us that the more repetition that he gets, the more game minutes that he logs, he’s continuing to adjust to the tempo, the speed, the physicality, and he’s handling it well,” Lutz said of Ahmed’s play after the fouls. “And you know, we just expect him to continue to get better. So I’m excited about his future.”

The NCAA Tournament remains a longshot, but didn’t have to be

ESPN’s Joe Lunardi ranked Cincinnati as the fourth team outside the NCAA field headed into the weekend.

Here’s a quick comparison of the Bearcats and the Cowboys:

OSU

Total wins: 18
Conference wins: 6
NET Ranking: 80
Quad 1 record: 2-10
Quad 2 record: 7-3
Wins against bubble (prior to Sat): -0.27 (52nd)

Cincy

Total wins: 17
Conference wins: 9
NET Ranking: 45
Quad 1 record: 3-11
Quad 2 record: 5-2
Wins against bubble (prior to Sat): -0.79 (56th)

Whether Lunardi had it right or not, Cincinnati was at least in the conversation. Add a win, and a quad 1 one at that, to Oklahoma State’s resume and those comparisons begin to look pretty identical.

The Cowboys should face either Colorado or Arizona State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Both games would count at Quad 2 opponents, so the Cowboys must win at least one game before getting a chance at a Quad 1 foe. 

It seems likely that one such victory is essential for any reality where the Cowboys are discussed by the committee.

I like the Cowboys more after that loss

I didn’t expect to leave this one with even more confidence in the Cowboys. 

Of course, I never imagined this team would lead the No. 7 team in the country for nearly 28 minutes. Heck, when OSU trailed by nine with 4.5 minutes to play following absolutely brutal foul calls, I didn’t expect anything but a double-digit Houston victory. I figured the Cougars would slow things down, play good defense and force OSU to send them to the free throw line a hundred times.

Instead, the Cowboys spent most of the game looking like the Cougars’ peers.

Houston has five losses this season. All five of those teams are ranked. The Cougars won Saturday by seven points, but only five other teams have lost to Houston by less than 10 points. One of those teams is ranked and another is receiving votes.

Finally, Oklahoma State outrebounded Houston 36-33 with 13 of those rebounds coming off the offensive glass.

“I don’t care if Parsa is here or not, anytime you beat Houston on the boards and you win the second-chance points battle with them (18-9), you’ve done something that is not an easy task,” Lutz said.

A Cowboy for life

The transfer portal era makes it tough to know if players really connect or even understand with a fanbase and program traditions. 

Senior Parsa Fallah made it clear he doesn’t fall into that camp when he bid goodbye minutes after suffering a season-ending ACL tear. On Saturday, he somehow elevated himself in the hearts of Cowboy fans when he walked out onto the court for pregame senior recognition.

Fallah removed his cowboy hat and kissed the white maple floor, sending the crowd, and my mentions into a frenzy.

Parsa Fallah says goodbye to the white maple here in GIA. pic.twitter.com/GRX8veTby0

— Tyler Waldrep (@tylerwaldrep) March 7, 2026

He also got a shout out from Houston coach Kelvin Sampson.

“I watched his press conference that touched me,” Sampson said. “I don’t know him, but you can tell he is a high character, high integrity young man. Everything he talked about, I love what he said about Steve. I love what he said about his team, and I love what he said about Oklahoma State fans. … Just impressed me as a player. He’s a good player. He’ll play somewhere after this once his knee heals up.”