Hoops Notebook: Lutz Talks Two-Foul Participation, Brantley-Dean Practice Battles and Court Stormings

STILLWATER — Steve Lutz and the Cowboys picked up a signature win on Tuesday night when they upset No. 9 Iowa State.

Oklahoma State is headed down to Waco this weekend for a game against Baylor, with the Pokes in search of their first Big 12 road win of the season. Lutz met with reporters Thursday to give updates on the team and preview the game. Here are three things that stood out from his news conference.

Two-Foul Participation

When a player on a Steve Lutz team gets two fouls in the first half, he sits down.

Oklahoma State has the lowest two-foul participation in the country (364th out of 364) with starters playing with two first-half fouls just 0.6% of the time. For further context, Baylor, a team the Cowboys will play Saturday, comes in at No. 4 nationally in that stat at 62.7%.

“I’ve always believed in just not playing with two fouls,” Lutz said. “And I know that the analytics say differently. I know that you’re probably better off playing them, but I was raised that way. So, I’ve always been that way. I’d rather have you in the second half when the game’s on the line. It’s just kind of my thing I guess.”

Lutz wasn’t kidding when he said he’s always been like that. All four of the teams he has been the head coach for have been in the 300s in the stat, but this 0.6% season is his most extreme example. In the early parts of the season Lutz mentioned that this team has a similar skill level from a depth point, and that might play into why it’s been so extreme this year.

“Having an abundance of good players allows you to have faith in everybody,” Lutz said. “I still think that deep down inside that those guys know that they’re going to come out with two fouls, that if they’re really team players and they’re about the right things, they’re gonna make sure they play good defense and they don’t foul.

“Now, with that being said, that hasn’t always been the case this year, but maybe it’s something I’ll reevaluate in the spring and the summer because obviously at the end of the year, you’re always reevaluating some of the different things you do within your program. But, I’ve read all the results and the stories and the analytics and all that say that it probably doesn’t make a lot of sense.”

Brantley-Dean Practice Battles

Arturo Dean and Khalil Brantley are two smaller, quick guards. Dean excels on the defensive end — evident by his seven steals in OSU’s win against Iowa State. Brantley probably has the best handle on the team — evident by him making a Cyclone fall over.

That begs the question, what do their battles in practice look lie?

“We picked up early in the year 94 feet every single game, and we’ve backed that off a little bit,” Lutz said. “But when they were picking each other up 94 feet, there were some days where it was heated. I think I told y’all this story the one day where Arturo’s running his mouth and talking about ‘I’m real,’ and this and that and the other. Well, they get to a timeout, and Arturo can’t get it past halfcourt because he pissed Khalil off. So, I turned it on him, ‘Where’s that real guy?’ Those are fun moments that we’ll always remember.

“But the battle between them, it’s good. It’s not always fun. It’s not always fun because there’s days where they don’t like going against each other and competing at that level, but the days where they do, it’s fun to watch. I think it’s helped both of them, especially moving up a level. When you move into the Power Five ranks, there’s definite differences, and that’s toughened both of them up.”

Lutz on Court Stormings

Steve Lutz has been on both sides of court stormings, and he said it’s a lot more fun when you’re on the team that won.

OSU students rushed the floor after the Cowboys’ Tuesday night win against the No. 9 Cyclones. Court stormings have been a hot-button topic of late, with fines being levied out and safety being a big talking point. Lutz said he understands the importance of keeping opposing players and officials safe, but he also noted how these types of situations are important to the college basketball experience.

“I know I probably should not say this — I think it’s great,” Lutz said. “It’s the reason we play the game is so you can have interaction with the fans, and you can create memories for a lifetime. With that being said, I do think that there needs to be precautions to protect the referees and the opposing team. There’s been issues where people haven’t done that across college athletics, and I don’t ever want to have anybody hurt. But, man again, I say it all the time, you listen to people around here talk about Gallagher-Iba being full, 13,611, great memories that my friends and I made. Well, these are part of those memories. These are part of those memories. So, I’m happy to No. 1 win and have the situation but more importantly have these kids get to enjoy it.”