Five Thoughts on Oklahoma State’s 83-69 Loss to Colorado

BOX SCORE

This important stretch for the Cowboys’ NCAA Tournament hopes has turned into five straight losses.

Oklahoma State fell to Colorado 83-69 on Saturday to push the Pokes down to 16-11 this season and 4-10 in Big 12 play. Here are five thoughts on the game.

1. Another Slow Start

Similar to the Cowboys’ game in the midweek, OSU got down big early.

Ian Inman hit a 3 with just under 12 minutes to play in the first half to put Colorado up 25-8. That opening stretch saw Colorado shoot 10-for-14 from the field while the Cowboys were 3-for-9.

OSU had four turnovers by that point and finished the opening half with 10, which the Buffaloes turned into 13 points.

The Cowboys responded to that 25-8 score with a quick 9-0 run to pull within eight points. That run featured 3s from Ryan Crotty and Vyctorius Miller before Parsa Fallah converted an and-one.

OSU hung around that deficit for the remainder of the half up to the point where Miller hit a deep heave at the buzzer to cut Colorado’s lead to 42-34 going into the locker room.

2. Then the Pokes Took a Lead Before Going Cold Again

Despite being down as many as 17 in the first half, the Cowboys had a lead early in the second.

OSU started the second half immensely better than the first, with the Cowboys’ 16-5 start giving OSU a 48-47 lead less than five minutes into the half.

Parsa Fallah and the unrelated Colemans were responsible for almost all of it. Fallah started the half with a bucket before Christian Coleman and Isaiah Coleman scored eight straight points — five from Christian and three from Isaiah. After some Fallah free throws, Anthony Roy went coast to coast to give the Pokes their lead.

coast2coast for the lead 😤

📺: TNT | @tnblefty pic.twitter.com/sf5m3PZ4kd

— OSU Cowboy Basketball (@OSUMBB) February 21, 2026

But it’s as if all that battling back at altitude took its toll.

After Roy made that layup, OSU finished just 5-for-27 from the field over the final 16 minutes. The Buffaloes went on runs of 5-0, 8-0, 7-0 and 7-0 to rebuild its lead and coast to the W.

3. The 3-Point Line Hurt the Pokes on Both Sides of the Floor

This game featured the two worst 3-point defenses in the Big 12 in terms of percentage, but Colorado lived from the 3-point line while the Cowboys couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn.

CU went 11-for-27 from 3 on Saturday, which marks the ninth time this season OSU has allowed double-digit makes at atleast a 40% clip.

The Cowboys, on the other hand, went 5-for-23 from 3-point range.

When you think OSU 3-point shooting in 2026, you probably think Anthony Roy. He was 0-for-7 from long range. That’s his most attempts without a make in a game in his career.

4. Lutz Made a Lineup Change

Steve Lutz has long told media members to not worry about who starts games but rather who finishes. With that being said, after eight straight games with the same starters, Lutz bumped Isaiah Coleman into the starting lineup and Roy to the bench.

With the Cowboys’ slow starts, it makes sense to make a change, but that particular move didn’t work in that aspect on Saturday.

In terms of personnel, Lutz also had to work around some foul trouble. Kanye Clary and Parsa Fallah have probably been the two guys who have most consistently made the right plays this season, but both found themselves having to spend some extra time on the pine Saturday.

Clary picked up his second foul with 8:11 to play in the first half and sat the rest of the half. He then picked up foul No. 3 less than five minutes into the second half and had to sit again.

Clary finished playing 25 minutes (the second-fewest he’s played in conference play), scoring eight points to go with one assist.

Fallah didn’t have a foul in the first half but picked up three in the first 5:03 of the second. He also finished with 25 minutes, where he scored 14 points and brought in two rebounds.

This comes after a game where no one on the OSU bench played more than a dozen minutes. But Saturday three bench players eclipsed 15 minutes on the floor.

5. It’s Feeling Over

Again, it’s technically still possible for the Cowboys to make the NCAA Tournament, but if OSU entered the day with a 3% shot at making it, that’s probably down to 1%.

OSU has lost five games in a row now, and the Cowboys can no longer finish the regular season at .500 in Big 12 play.

The Cowboys have won one Big 12 road game all season and two of their final four contests will be on the road. And one of those home contests is against Houston.

It would almost certainly take some March magic.