Instant Recap: Oklahoma State Defeats Tulsa 76-55 on the Road

Early in the season, the Cowboys have started to reclaim a defense-first mindset. They leaned into that in Tulsa, and it paid off.

Oklahoma State defeated Tulsa 76-55 on the road behind some stingy defense, a big advantage in the transition game and 15 points from Bryce Thompson in his hometown. The Cowboys improve to 5-2 on the season.

The Cowboys and Golden Hurricane traded blows for most of the first half before OSU was able to clamp down. Tipped passes turned into transition opportunities and before you knew, it the Pokes were able to put together a few runs. It was an 9-0 run in the latter part of the first half that first gave OSU some breathing room with a 24-17 lead. Then the Cowboys scored the final eight points of the first half to go take a 39-26 lead into intermission.

Tulsa only got as close as within 10 points early in the second before OSU began to build on its lead. The Cowboys pushed it to 18 by the 8:06 mark and led by as much as 26 before Steve Lutz emptied his bench.

OSU spread the scoring out, with four Cowboys scoring in double digits. Abou Ousmane scored 13 points and grabbed seven boards and Marchelus “Chi Chi” Avery and Brandon Neman each pitched in 11. Ahead of the pack was the veteran.

BT with the and 1 💪 @B3thompson__ pic.twitter.com/JyyDfCvzTV

— OSU Cowboy Basketball (@OSUMBB) December 5, 2024

Thompson scored 15 points on 5-of-11 shooting, making all five of his free throw attempts. He also dished out four assists and added four steals. Those steals are something first-year head coach Steve Lutz preaches to his team.

“It’s definitely an emphasis that he harps on in practice,” Thompson said after the game “Being off the line, being in the gaps, just making plays. I feel like I was in the right place a lot of the time and then I was able to get my teammates the ball.”

Playing to Their Strengths

It wasn’t just Thompson that had sticky fingers in Tulsa. After reaching at least 10 steals in each of their first four games, the Cowboys totaled 10 in their last two outings. They got back into the double digits on Wednesday, logging a season-high 16 steals and forcing a season-high 22 turnovers. They scored 32 points off turnovers, a 20-point advantage in that statistic.

And those opportunities led to easy shots the other way.

Connecting like Bluetooth 🤝 pic.twitter.com/zSHOVw6CMf

— OSU Cowboy Basketball (@OSUMBB) December 5, 2024

OSU shot 49% from the field (also a season high). The Cowboys came in ranked 121st in 3-point shooting percentage, but against Tulsa they attempted a season-low eight deep shots. The Pokes outscored the Hurricane 48-20 in the paint. They also held Tulsa to just 36% from the field.

So, it looks like OSU may have cracked the code to winning games. Double up your foe in paint points and points of turnovers and you don’t even need to think about a 3.

Next up, the Cowboys head to Newark, New Jersey to take on Seton Hall Sunday at 11 a.m. CST.