Five Thoughts on Oklahoma State’s Win over Arizona State

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STILLWATER — The Cowboys are 3-0 on Super Bowl Sunday.

Oklahoma State beat Arizona State 86-73 on Sunday afternoon. It was a game that Cowboys led for all but 1:25 of. Here are five thoughts on the game.

1. A Team Win

The Sun Devils were shorthanded in Stillwater, but they entered Sunday with six players scoring in double figures. And, OSU ended up being the team flexing its depth.

Six Cowboys scored in double figures, and it wasn’t the usual suspects. Chi Chi Avery, Abou Ousmane and Bryce Thompson all entered scoring at least 10 points a game, but those three were held to a combined 20 against Arizona State. Instead, it was Jamyron Keller (14), Arturo Dean (10), Robert Jennings II (10), Brandon Newman (10) and Patrick Suemnick (10) scoring the points for the Pokes.

Furthering the team basketball point, OSU had 16 assists on 28 made baskets. That ties for the most assists OSU has had in a Big 12 game.

“I was happy with the fact that all those other guys, that contributed and contributed well, they were all about the team tonight,” OSU coach Steve Lutz said. “They were all about winning tonight and they did a fantastic job.”

2. Player of the Game: Arturo Dean

Dean put up an efficient 10 points, but he is my player of the game because of his playmaking and defensive abilities.

He had six assists and no turnovers while drawing a tough matchup against Alston Mason. Mason scored a game-high 25 points, but it took him 20 shots to get there (he had to keep shooting because the Sun Devils were without three key cogs). It was fun watching the two go at it late. With Arizona State needing points, there was a good amount of Dean-Mason isolation. Mason took six of ASU’s final seven shots, hitting two.

As far as creating for others, the Cowboys’ pushing the pace can cause for some chaotic moments where everyone is running to the lane in transition. Dean’s quickness and lower center of gravity (listed at 5-foot-11) allows him to to navigate that chaos after often times find the right play to be made in it.

“He leaves it out on the floor each and every night,” Newman said. “He plays both sides of the ball. He competes his ass off. If we could all just take that part from his game, it would elevate our entire team.”

3. 3s Were Falling for Jamyron Keller

Jamyron Keller, only a sophomore, hasn’t been a consistent 3-point sniper to this point in his career, but Sunday was another example that he is capable of getting hot.

Keller scored 14 points against the Sun Devils, going 4-for-6 from long range. It was actually just the seventh time in Keller’s 48-game career that he made multiple 3s in a game and the fourth time he hit more than two. But the 3-point shot has unlocked Keller’s best scoring performances. I

Including Sunday’s game, any time Keller has scored 14 or more points in a game during his career, he has hit multiple 3s. It proves the age-old math that three is greater than two.

He got started early Sunday. He got a layup to fall before Dean found him with a crosscourt pass in transition for Keller’s first 3 of the afternoon.

Oh he open open 👌 pic.twitter.com/h7OMUjzVwx

— OSU Cowboy Basketball (@OSUMBB) February 9, 2025

A few minutes later, Keller capped off a 7-0 run when Dean, again, found him on the perimeter.

You just can’t leave him open https://t.co/vdiQXoILdi pic.twitter.com/c6C7h50suC

— OSU Cowboy Basketball (@OSUMBB) February 9, 2025

“I’ve said it all along, I think Jamyron is a very good player and should be a really good player for us for a long, long time here,” Lutz said. “I’m excited about him and glad he played well today.”

4. Suemnick Fills in Valiantly for Ousmane

Patrick Suemnick played more minutes Saturday than he has since the second game of the season, and the Pokes needed all of them.

Abou Ousmane was in foul trouble throughout the game. He picked up his second with 13:16 to play in the opening half and sat for the rest of the half. Then he picked up No. 3 less than a minute into the second half and went back to the bench. He ended up spending just 10 minutes on the floor against the Sun Devils, leading to Suemnick’s extended use as well as more center minutes for staring power forward Robert Jennings II. Suemnick and Jennings both scored 10 points each — the first time both have scored in double figures in the same game.

Suemnick was 3-for-6 from the field. One of his misses was a late 3 late in the shot clock. The other two were blocks by 7-footer Shawn Phillips in the first half. Suemnick just kept battling, though. He went on a 6-0 run by himself late in the second half that included an and-one that fouled Phillips out. That run really put the final nail in the coffin for the Sun Devils.

Suemnick finished +15 to go with his 10 points and four rebounds.

“I just want to win,” Suemnick said. “So when something like that happens and I know that there are big shoes to fill, I’m gonna go in there and give everything I got.”

5. Pokes Climb a Big 12 Rung

The Cowboys and Sun Devils entered Sunday’s game tied for 14th in the Big 12 standings at 3-8. The win pushes the Cowboys up into a tie for 12th with Cincinnati and UCF.

OSU’s final eight games of the regular season see the Cowboys play UCF twice (Feb. 19 in Stillwater and March 5 in Orlando) and Cincy once (in March 8 in Stillwater). So, those are opportunities to continue to climb. TCU, the Cowboys’ next opponent, also has a losing record in league play at 5-7. But in order to beat the Horned Frogs, the Cowboys would have to get their first Big 12 road win of the season.

“We gotta get a road win,” Lutz said. “Arizona State came in, they had won two on the road prior to coming here, so we’ve gotta figure out a way to go beat TCU. And if you do that, then you have an opportunity to probably have a — I don’t know what Tech’s gonna be — but top 15 team in the country coming to Gallagher-Iba with a little bit of momentum.

“You’d like to think that all the fans would come out and support it, and we can get back to that 13,611, right? And then win it. That’s where you start to show the Big 12 you’re gonna be a serious contender.”

Postgame News Conference