Five Thoughts on OSU’s 85-83 NIT Victory against SMU

BOX SCORE

There’s something about playing in the DFW-metroplex this season that has Cowboy basketball games ending in a Hail Mary, but the Pokes came out on the right end of Sunday’s contest.

Oklahoma State beat SMU 85-83 in the second round of the NIT. The Cowboys advance to play the winner of Arkansas State and North Texas, a game that tips off at 6 p.m. Sunday.

Robert Jennings split a pair of foul shots with three seconds to play, missing the first and hitting the second to make it 85-83. That gave SMU a shot at a buzzer-beating win. A little over a month ago, the Cowboys were in a similar situation in Fort Worth. That day, OSU was up two and the Horned Frogs heaved a ball down the floor at hit a turnaround 3 at the buzzer. SMU tried to replicate that, chunking the ball down court, but Brandon Newman won the jump ball and the clock ran out.

It was a gritty win for OSU. That Cowboys led by as many as 14 in the first half, but SMU had a guy who could not miss. Mustang guard Kario Oquendo scored 26 of his 31 points in the first half, where he was 9-for-9 from the field and 5-for-5 from deep.

SMU went on a 12-0 run over the course of about a minute and a half to tie the game at 31 with 5:26 to play. From there, it was a back-and-forth battle.

The Mustangs took an 81-79 lead with 1:32 to play before the Cowboys scored the next five points. OSU’s run started with a pair of clutch free throws from Abou Ousmane to tie it. He then hit a physical hook shot on OSU’s next possession to give OSU an 83-81 lead.

SMU had two offensive boards on its next possession before Turkish center Samet Yigitoglu was fouled and sent to the line. Yigitoglu is only a freshman and was super impressive in his battle with Ousmane on Sunday, but he suffers in an area where a lot of bigs do — at the foul line. He missed both, and Bryce Thompson skied in for the board and was fouled.

Thompson split his pair, giving OSU an 84-81 lead before the Cowboys elected to foul on SMU’s next possession to ensure the Mustangs didn’t get a 3-point shot off. Chuck Harris cut OSU’s lead to a point before Jennings split his pair and set up that final sequence.

Here are five thoughts on the game.

1. Another Big Day for Bryce Thompson

Through two NIT games, Thompson is averaging 23.5 points a game.

He dropped 24 on the Mustangs, scoring 17 of those in the first half. He made his first five shots with a pair of those being dunks.

BT with the fastbreak slam 💪

📺: ESPN2 | @B3thompson__ pic.twitter.com/obWUQawlxO

— OSU Cowboy Basketball (@OSUMBB) March 23, 2025

It’s the seventh time this season Thompson has scored at least 20 in a game.

Thompson has now scored 1,377 points in an OSU uniform, which is one away from tying for 20th in program history with Obi Muonelo (2006-10) and Bob Mattick (1951-54). Tulsa kid, playing his best basketball late in a four-year OSU career — it’s great.

2. First Road Win Since

Dec. 8, 2024 — that’s the last time the Cowboys won a game anywhere other than Gallagher-Iba Arena.

It was starting to feel like a curse. It’s OSU’s third true road win of the season joining Tulsa (Dec. 4.) and Seton Hall (Dec. 8). Those were back-to-back games, and if OSU wants to advance to the semifinals of the NIT, they’ll have to go back-to-back on the road again, as Arkansas State and North Texas are both seeded higher than the Pokes and would host the quarterfinal game.

3. Another Strong Performance from Abou Ousmane

Abou Ousmane has had some boom or bust performances this year with a difference in the two results often being foul trouble.

Well, Ousmane was able to navigate foul trouble Sunday while still playing well. He put up 18 points on nine shots while ripping down four boards and swatting four shots. He finished with four fouls.

There was a sequence late in the first half that looked like it might make things unravel. Ousmane caught the ball at the top of the key and was essentially being mugged by two Mustangs with no whistle. A whistle finally did come while Ousmane was pivoting trying to keep the ball away from the defenders, and Ousmane nailed one guy in the jaw with his elbow. Despite being the one being fouled, Ousmane was called for a tech because of the elbow. It gave SMU two free throws and the ball. The Mustangs made both free throws and hit a 3 to tie the game at 31 — gaining seven points in the span of a few seconds.

Ousmane went to the bench with what was his second foul, but he was able to reset and have a great second half. He scored 11 points in the second half, including four in the final 1:11.

4. Everyone Was Hitting 3s

These two teams combined to go 22-for-42 (52%) from 3 on Sunday afternoon.

There were 13 different players to attempt a 3 and 10 made at least one. Jamyron Keller and Brandon Newman were the Cowboys’ key contributors from deep.

Keller went 3-for-4 from long range. After shooting 26-for-92 (28%) from 3 in the regular season, Keller has gone 9-for-11 (82%) from deep in the Big 12 tournament and the NIT.

Newman was 4-for-7 from deep, as he joined Thompson and Ousmane in double figures with 12 points.

NEWWWWWWMAAAAAAANNNNNN 👌

📺: ESPN2 pic.twitter.com/mhEU2RMEWj

— OSU Cowboy Basketball (@OSUMBB) March 23, 2025

5. Back to .500

OSU has clawed back to .500 at 17-17 in the first year under Steve Lutz.

The Cowboys still have a shot at some hardware and with the potential for three games to play, they could still get to 20 wins. If OSU wins out, Lutz would be the sixth straight OSU coach to win at least 20 games in his first season — joining a line of Eddie Sutton, Sean Sutton, Travis Ford, Brad Underwood and Mike Boynton.