Five Thoughts on Oklahoma State’s 92-83 Victory Against Colorado

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The show goes on.

Oklahoma State beat Colorado 92-83 late Tuesday night to advance to the second round of the Big 12 Tournament. The Cowboys will play TCU at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Here are five thoughts on Tuesday’s game.

1. OSU Won This Game on the Boards

After outrebounding a Kelvin Sampson team on Saturday, the Cowboys made mince meat of the Buffs on the glass in KC.

OSU outrebounded Colorado 44-34. That Cowboy total included 15 offensive boards which the Cowboys turned into 17 second-chance points.

Tuesday marked the fourth time this year the Cowboys have had at least 40 rebounds in a game this season, with the 44 boards ranking third behind only OSU’s 48 against Oral Roberts and 47 against Prairie View A&M. Their other 40-rebound performance was 41 against Texas A&M Corpus Christi.

2. Christian Coleman Was Active

Christian Coleman was the catalyst to the Cowboys’ success on the glass, and when he plays like he did Tuesday night, he’s nearly unstoppable.

Coleman finished with a 17-point, 14-rebound double-double, his fourth double-double of the season and his second against a Big 12 team.

OSU is now 9-1 in games where Coleman has at least 10 points and five rebounds. Funnily enough, the only loss in such games came against Colorado in Boulder.

He made a play in the second half where he took to the floor for a loose ball that secured an offensive rebound and led to three Vyctorius Miller free throws to push the Pokes to a 71-62 lead.

When Coleman is flying around, more often than not, the Pokes are winning.

“Chris makes a big difference,” Kanye Clary said. “He’s versatile, can guard one through five, can switch and play hard. When he’s motored up, I don’t really think there’s nobody who can stop him. He’s the only person who can stop himself, and tonight he went out there and showed how impactful he is.”

3. Roy’s Takeover Gave the Pokes the Cushion They Needed

Anthony Roy was the Cowboys’ second-leading scorer in the first half, and boy did he turn it on in the second.

Roy had 17 second-half points, part of his game-high 24.

After OSU took a 41-40 lead into the locker room, the Cowboys scored the first seven points of the second half, and six of those points came from Roy.

He had a tough and-one layup that seemed to get him going before he hit his first 3 of the night. That burst pushed OSU’s lead to eight, and the Buffaloes struggled to get much closer than that for the rest of the evening.

COUNT IT @tnblefty 👇 pic.twitter.com/nueRVxkX2x

— OSU Cowboy Basketball (@OSUMBB) March 11, 2026

Known for his 3-point shooting, Roy was at his best Tuesday when he was going downhill and getting to the rim. He finished through contact a ton, sometimes getting the foul calls and sometimes not. But each take to the tin seemed to increase his confidence in getting downhill.

He made all 10 free throws he took within the actual game, with his only miss coming before the game officially started, as CU got a tech for turning in their lineup late.

“Just stay aggressive,” Roy said. “Shots not falling, just find a way to get that ball in the basket. I think getting downhill and getting fouled worked and was really successful for me. …

“I feel like when I play physical, it just makes it harder for defenders to guard me. They don’t know whether I’m gonna drive or shoot, and I just gotta keep at it.”

4. A Promising Day for the Young Bigs (While It Lasted)

Already down Parsa Fallah, the Cowboys were also without Andrija Vukovic Tuesday, as he continues to try to tough it out through a torn meniscus.

That led to freshmen Benjamin Ahmed and Mehki Ragland handling much of the center duties for the Pokes. Although their numbers won’t jump off the page, you can see their improvement.

Both guys did struggle with foul trouble, leading to Coleman playing center down the stretch.

Ahmed made his fourth career start and finished with seven points and six boards in 21 minutes. The Cowboys were +10 with him on the floor.

He seems to be getting more comfortable with the ball in his hands, and he’s always getting his hands on rebounds, more often than not grabbing them but at the very least causing a bit of chaos.

Ragland played a career-high 8:25 seconds and had multiple makes in a game for the first time since Nov. 12. He finished with four points, a rebound and a nice assist, finding a cutter off a short roll.

Heating up @mekhiraglandd 🔥 pic.twitter.com/hE2QGn4jRE

— OSU Cowboy Basketball (@OSUMBB) March 11, 2026

Ragland has 21 DNPs this season, and he wasn’t for sure he was going to play Tuesday until Vukovic was unable to go, so credit to the freshman big for rising to the moment and giving the Cowboys some solid minutes.

5. OSU Lives to Fight Another Day

The Cowboys still have plenty of work to do to get back into the NCAA Tournament picture, but Tuesday was a good first step.

OSU is playing perhaps as well as it has all season of late, starting with that overtime win at UCF before hanging tough with Houston in GIA and avenging an ugly loss to the Buffs from less than a month ago.

Next the Pokes will get a TCU squad that has been a thorn in OSU’s side all season. OSU collapsed late against the Horned Frogs in Fort Worth, falling 68-65 before TCU beat OSU 95-92 in overtime in Stillwater.

So, the game feels winnable, but it should also be noted that TCU’s bigs had a lot of success against the Pokes. And now OSU is without Fallah and has a hobbled Vukovic. So, it’ll be a prove-it day for those young bigs as the Cowboys continue to fight for their tournament hopes.

“Survive and advance,” said Roy when asked about the mindset of the team. “Do whatever it takes to win.”