‘You Play the Game to Win the Game’: Steve Lutz Previews the Charleston Classic

STILLWATER — This weekend, Steve Lutz’s Cowboys will see the best competition they’ve faced thus far, but Lutz said the goal hasn’t changed.

Oklahoma State is traveling to South Carolina for the Charleston Classic, joining a field of FAU, Miami, Drake, Seton Hall, VCU, Vanderbilt and Nevada. OSU opens the tournament with a game against FAU at 1:30 p.m. (Central) on Thursday. Lutz met with reporters in Stillwater on Monday, where he was asked what would qualify as a good trip.

“I approach every game the same way,” Lutz said. “We should win those games. I would want to return home with a championship and be 3-0. Now, will we do that? I can’t say that, but you play the game to win the game. I’m not wired to say I’m excited or I’m happy if we go 2-1 or 1-2. That’s not who they hired when they hired me.”

FAU is under first-year coach John Jakus, who was hired after Dusty May left the school for Michigan (May hired former OSU coach Mike Boynton as an assistant). The Owls are 3-2 this season with losses to UCF and Charleston. The Owls have a high-octane team, having averaged 96.6 points a game thus far this season. FAU ranks second nationally in made 3-pointers a game — averaging 13 3s a game. The Owls have hit a strong 44% of their 3-point attempts thus far. Like the Cowboys, the Owls play quickly. According to KenPom, FAU ranks 24th nationally in average offensive possession length, whereas the Cowboys rank 35th in the stat.

This will also be the biggest team the Cowboys have played this season with starters Matas Vokietaitis (7-foot, 245 pounds) and Baba Miller (6-foot-11, 215 pounds) being bigger than basically anyone Green Bay, St. Thomas or Southern Illinois threw at the Pokes.

“It should be a fun game, but they’ve got size and length, but they’re skilled,” Lutz said. “A couple guys on that roster, we obviously had looked at during the transfer portal last spring and the summer. He’s got a good team. He’s done a really good job with that team. I think it should be a fun game.”

Some nonconference events these days have set-in-stone schedules, but the Charleston Classic is still a true tournament. A win against FAU would see OSU play the winner of Miami and Drake on Friday. The tournament will wrap up on Sunday, where OSU will play someone from the other side of the bracket — Seton Hall, VCU, Vanderbilt or Nevada.

Here are some KenPom stats about each team in the field as of early Monday evening:

“You predict as best as you can,” said Lutz about how he handles scouting a tournament. “We, obviously, are focused on Florida Atlantic, and then Drake and Miami because you know you’re playing two of those three opponents. And then you break off some of the other staff on the teams that you feel like you could end up playing. The good thing about this tournament is you’re gonna get live scouts on Thursday and Friday. So, when you play Sunday on the other side of the bracket, whomever you play, you should be able to have a good grasp of those teams because you watched them play live.”