Oklahoma State’s hot start is showing no signs of slowing down.
On Tuesday night, the Cowboys hosted Sam Houston in another nonconference battle inside Gallagher-Iba Arena. While the Bearcats put up a fight, the Cowboys eventually powered through for a 93-83 win, moving to 8-0 for the first time in nearly two decades.
Although things weren’t always pretty for the Pokes, they managed to pull away in the final minutes as they have a few times this season. Despite trailing by eight at halftime, the Cowboys consistently fought through the second half and used a 10-0 run a few minutes into the half to take a lead that they held for the rest of the night.
While OSU held a lead from that point on, it was never an insurmountable one for Sam Houston, which stayed within single digits for almost the entire second half. While it’s clear that OSU’s defense is still a bit of a work in progress, giving up 83 points on its home floor, the offense is clicking in a way that has never been seen in Stillwater.
Behind Steve Lutz’s fast-paced system, the Cowboys’ 93-point outburst on Tuesday marked the eighth straight game with at least 85 points for OSU, the longest streak in program history. While that streak will come to an end at some point as the defenses OSU plays begin to get tougher, there’s no doubt that OSU’s offense should be a strong point throughout the year.
Another advantage for the Cowboys in that department is how balanced the scoring attack can be. On any given night, a number of Cowboys could burst onto the scene to carry some of the offensive load, as evidenced most recently by Parsa Fallah leading OSU with 24 points while Anthony Roy poured in 20 of his own.
Assuming the Cowboys can continue to get contributions from a variety of players as they did on Tuesday, there shouldn’t be much stopping OSU from getting back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2021. Sure, a lot can happen between now and March, and conference play could easily mess things up for the Cowboys, but the firm foundation set by OSU in the early weeks of the season is incredibly encouraging.
While OSU has been waiting quite some time for Cowboy basketball to be back, it appears that wait is finally over, and Lutz is ready to take the program to the next level.