Five Thoughts on Oklahoma State’s 95-81 Victory against Nicholls

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STILLWATER — The Cowboys are 6-0 and had an all-time performance for one of their point guards — no, this isn’t 2020.

Oklahoma State beat Nicholls 95-81 on Saturday afternoon in Gallagher-Iba Arena. Here are five thoughts from the game.

1. Jaylen Curry Took Over

UMass transfer point guard Jaylen Curry had a strong start to the season before missing two games with the flu. He seemed back at full strength Saturday.

Curry finished with 30 points, 10 assists, six rebounds and three steals. It marks the first 30-point, 10-assist game in OSU’s history.

He started to take over late in the first half.

After hitting a pair of free throws earlier, Curry made his first field goal with 5:46 left in the half after a steal. From that point on, Curry eight points, three assists and three steals as the Cowboys closed the half on a 21-11 run to go into the locker room up 47-32.

All three of Curry’s steals in that stretch resulted in him making a layup seconds after.

Two of his assists in that time resulted in Cowboy dunks. The first came on a fastbreak where Curry zipped an underhand pass to a running Christian Coleman who hammered down a Statue of Liberty.

Then a few minutes later, Curry drove from the left wing before dropping a pass to Andrija Vukovic once his man helped off.

some dunks 4 u@AndrijaVukovi19 | @cc_1era pic.twitter.com/oHTN2rzDkm

— OSU Cowboy Basketball (@OSUMBB) November 22, 2025

That stretch was really just the start of Curry’s day, as he then put up 20 in the second half, going 6-for-7 from the field, 2-for-2 from 3 and 6-for-6 from the foul line in the frame.

His quickness made it to where Curry was able to get to the rim at will, and though he might not be the tallest at 6-foot-1, he has an acrobatic ability to hang in the air and contort himself around taller defenders.

“It was just good looks,” Curry said. “My guys, they helped me get going, especially with me coming back from having the flu. They just kept me up, kept me being in a positive head space. It worked out today, so I just want to thank God for that.”

2. Some History

Curry’s points-assist double-double is the Cowboys’ second points-assist double-double in as many games.

Curry had 30 and 10 against the Colonels a game after Kayne Clary had 12 points and 11 assists against South Florida.

Two Cowboys haven’t had back-to-back points-assists double-doubles since 1986. Way back then, Todd Christian had 16 points and 10 assists against BYU-Hawaii (which apparently is a school) before Jay Davis had 10 points and 13 assists against New Mexico in the Cowboys’ next contest.

“There’s times I’d like to play (Curry and Clary) together,” Lutz said. “I did put them together for a few minutes this afternoon. But I mean, let’s put the best guards on the floor, and if those two guys are playing really, really well, I’d love to have them on the floor together.

“But because they make the game easier for their teammates, you can push the ball up the floor with ease. They’re not able to typically be pressed, and they’re both fantastic in terms of being able to get the ball to the basket and finish. They’re both good players, maybe a combination that we use some more going forward, and if we can get them both clicking on the same night, I think that’ll be a fun night watch.”

3. Get to the Choppa Basket

Around the time of the Curry takeover, it looked as if the Cowboys made a concerted effort to get to the rim.

The Cowboys attempted 10 3s and seven shots at the rim in the game’s opening 14 minutes. In the final six minutes of the first half, OSU shot a pair of threes and got to the rim nine times. OSU was up six after 14 minutes and was up 15 at the half after the Pokes started getting to the hole more.

It was still a fine day from 3, where OSU shot 8-for-20 (40%), but the Cowboys were much more efficient inside. OSU had 46 points in the paint, going 20-for-27 (74%) on layup attempts and 3-for-3 on dunks.

“To just be honest with you, I think that we settled for 3s early,” Lutz said. “We did make them. We started the game off with three or four made 3s, but we settled for 3s way too early. We knew that we had a distinct advantage on the interior, and we should’ve. In reality, I was hoping that our big guys would finish with 30 points and 20 rebounds. I was hoping that it would be that sort of game, but it did not evolve into that.

“So, yeah, the focus should’ve been the entire game to get the ball inside.”

4. Defense Had Some Suspect Moments

It never felt like the Cowboys were in danger of losing this game, but they didn’t dominate it to the level they could’ve thanks to a few stretches where the Pokes let off the gas on the defensive end.

OSU led by 24 with 7:09 to play. That lead got chipped down as low as 11 with 18 seconds left before Curry hit is “gimme 30” 3.

Lutz has been on his defense since before the season started, saying its the area the Cowboys need to see the most growth in.

It’s felt like when they’ve needed to flip the switch, the Cowboys have done it, but finding a way to get the switch permanently flipped would go a long way in this team going up a tier.

“Both an effort and a concentration thing,” Lutz said. “I don’t believe in coming in here and disparaging the players, by any means. I’ll never do that, but at the end of the day, you’ve gotta go out every single game and you’ve gotta try to dominate your opponent, especially on the defensive end. And we did not do that today.”

5. First Time Since Cade

The Cowboys are 6-0 for the first time since Cade Cunningham donned an OSU jersey.

OSU started 7-0 the season before that — the year the Big 12 Tournament got cut short because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

So, history would say the Cowboys either have a No. 1 pick on the roster or the world is ending — the stakes haven’t ever been higher.

Steve Lutz’s Postgame News Conference

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Opponent: Northwestern
Date: 9:30 p.m. Thursday
Location: Chicago
Stream: Peacock