Oklahoma

As Oklahoma State basketball enters Big 12 play, what have we learned about the Cowboys?

Published

1 year ago

December 30, 2024

As Oklahoma State basketball enters Big 12 play, what have we learned about the Cowboys?

STILLWATER — Back before the season, new Oklahoma State coach Steve Lutz joked about the day the preliminary Big 12 men’s basketball schedule arrived in his email.

“Hey, I have a top-five team at home, then I go on the road for two, and I come back and there’s a top-10 team coming here,” Lutz said with an exasperated look. “But everybody in the league is saying that. That’s why we do this, right? Play in the best league in the country.”

Well, maybe the schedule doesn’t look quite as tough as it did in the preseason. Only five Big 12 teams are ranked in the top 25 — as opposed to November when five were ranked in the top 10.

But that doesn’t mean the conference is suddenly a pushover. It’s still in the conversation for the toughest conference in the country, though the Southeastern Conference may have the edge now.

Coming off an 8-3 non-conference schedule, the Cowboys enter Big 12 play with 15th-ranked Houston at 7 p.m. Monday at Gallagher-Iba Arena.

That’s followed by a Saturday trip to West Virginia, which is receiving votes in the latest poll.

Just how the Cowboys will fare in Lutz’s first trip through the league is hard to predict. But here’s a look at three things we learned about the Pokes during non-conference play:

Bryce Thompson found a new gear

As a fifth-year senior, OSU guard Bryce Thompson seemed to be well-established as a player who fit the offensive styles of the coaches he had played for — Mike Boynton at OSU and Bill Self for a year at Kansas.

It was unclear if Thompson would excel in the up-tempo pace of Lutz.

But through 11 games, Thompson not only has shown he can do it, he has thrived in it.

He’s shooting the best field goal percentage of his career, 42.0%, being more choosy with his 3-point selection, rebounding more and sharing the ball just as well, even though he’s not being asked to play point guard nearly as much.

“He’s a good basketball player,” Lutz said. “The way I look at the way we play is if you’re a good basketball player, you’re gonna be fine. Ultimately, we don’t run a million set plays. So if you know how to play basketball, we’re gonna put you in positions to be successful and I knew he’s a good player, so I never had any doubts there.”

To this point, Thompson leads the Cowboys in minutes played at just under 24 per game, is third in scoring and third in steals, which is a key development of his game as Lutz pushes the envelope of how his players defend.

Marchelus Avery needs to be focus

As important as Thompson’s presence on the court is, Marchelus Avery — you might’ve heard him referred to as Chi Chi — needs to be the offensive driving force of this team.

Avery knows it. Lutz knows it.

But getting it to happen has been a learning experience.

“We’ve just got him to be more disciplined,” Lutz said. “There’s a couple times out there tonight where we’re not trapping the ball and he’s just kind of running all over.

“And I love it that he has ambition and fire and he’s playing hard and he’s having fun. But we also have to be disciplined with what we’re doing. But we need him to score.”

A 6-foot-8 wing who transferred from Central Florida, Avery is the team’s leading scorer at 13.0 points per game, and he’s second in minutes played at 22.9 despite coming off the bench every game.

Among Cowboys attempting at least two 3-pointers per game, Avery is their best shooter at 39.2% (20 of 51) and leads the team in rebounding at 5.6 per game.

Frontcourt size will be a struggle

The most challenging area for Lutz in building his roster from the transfer portal last summer was finding capable big men.

The Cowboys have just two players on the roster taller than 6-8. One of them is 6-10 Serbian freshman Andrija Vukovic, who has dealt with injuries as well as the challenge of getting in the kind of shape required to play extended minutes in Lutz’s system.

Vukovic didn’t appear in a game until mid-December and has played just 18 minutes in three games overall. He has nine points and one rebound in that span, but saw increased usage against Oral Roberts in the Cowboys’ final non-conference game.

If he can continue to develop and play meaningful minutes, it’ll be an important boost to the guys who have shared the bulk of the work at the center position thus far.

Abou Ousmane, who is 6-10, and 6-7 Robert Jennings II have been asked to carry the load there, and both have their strong points. But in a conference with a string of talented big men, they’ll need all the help they can get.

Oklahoma State vs. Houston

TIPOFF: 7 p.m. Monday at Gallagher-Iba Arena, Stillwater (ESPN+)

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Oklahoma

The Spring adds immersive walkthrough to annual Encounter Hope gala in Sand Springs, Oklahoma

Published

8 hours ago

March 4, 2026

Press Room

The Spring adds immersive walkthrough to annual Encounter Hope gala in Sand Springs, Oklahoma

TULSA, OKLA. (KTUL) — A Tulsa-based nonprofit is adding an immersive, walkthrough experience to its annual fundraising gala, aiming to give attendees a closer look at what survivors of domestic violence and human trafficking face — and how support services can help.

The Spring, which provides services to people impacted by domestic violence and human trafficking, will feature the walkthrough as part of Encounter Hope, its annual gala set for April 9 at the Arvest Convention Center.

The experience is designed to guide guests through the story of an abuse survivor across four stages of interaction with The Spring: the inciting incident, the crisis call, time at the emergency crisis shelter, and moving into safety.

“The idea is really to put you in the shoes of the people that we serve every day,” Allison Wells,

The Spring’s events and environments coordinator, said. “It’s easy to throw out stats about violence and trafficking in Oklahoma, throw out our service numbers each year, but these are really peoples’ lives. We want to put our attendees in the mindset of one person, one story. What would you do if you were facing this?”

After the walkthrough, attendees will have the opportunity to assemble move-in kits for The Spring’s shelter guests and write personal notes of encouragement.

The program portion of the evening will include a panel discussion hosted by Karen Larsen, an Emmy Award-winning journalist who anchored Tulsa’s Channel 2 for almost 30 years.

“Tulsa is an incredibly charitable city, and we know that these kinds of gala events aren’t rare here,” Leslie Clingenpeel, The Spring’s CEO, said. “Our goal is to go beyond the model of these fundraising-only type events. More than anything, we want people to understand what we do, to know that we’re here, to know what our frontline advocates are doing every single day. Domestic violence and trafficking are hard to look away from once you’re aware of them. We want to build that awareness to the people of this city.”

Individual tickets and table packages are available for purchase.

Attendees are encouraged to register before April 1 because space is limited.

More details and purchasing information are available at www.thespringok.org/encounterhope.

The Spring is a Tulsa-based nonprofit offering services to those affected by domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, and human trafficking.

The organization provides emergency crisis shelter, transitional living, and non-residential services.

More information is available at www.thespringok.org.

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Oklahoma

Oklahoma State outlasts UCF in overtime, Houston next

Published

21 hours ago

March 4, 2026

Press Room

Oklahoma State outlasts UCF in overtime, Houston next

ORLANDO, Fla. –

The Oklahoma State Cowboys men’s basketball bounced back in a big way Tuesday night.

Anthony Roy scored 27 points and Kanye Clary added 23, including seven in overtime, as Oklahoma State defeated the UCF Knights men’s basketball 111-104 in Orlando.

The Cowboys controlled the extra period, finishing overtime on an 11-4 run and outscoring UCF 17-10.

Clary played a major role in closing it out. He hit a key 3-pointer and went 4-for-4 from the free throw line in overtime to help seal the win.

The victory moves Oklahoma State to 18-12 overall and 6-11 in the Big 12, and gives the Cowboys two wins in their last three games after snapping a five-game losing streak. UCF, now 20-9 (9-8 Big 12), has dropped two straight.

Roy and Clary led a balanced offensive effort. Jaylen Curry and Christian Coleman each added 16 points, while the Cowboys shot 49% from the field (35-of-72) and 80% from the free throw line (32-of-40).

Themus Fulks led UCF with 22 points, while Riley Kugel added 18.

Late-game drama forces overtime

The final seconds of regulation were chaotic.

With 24 seconds remaining, Isaiah Coleman threw down a dunk to give Oklahoma State a 94-91 lead.

But UCF answered quickly when Chris Johnson hit a 3-pointer with 11 seconds left, tying the game at 94-94.

Oklahoma State had a chance to win it at the buzzer, but Jaylen Curry missed a shot, and John Bol blocked Roy’s attempt, sending the game to overtime.

Cowboys respond after tough loss

The Cowboys showed resilience after Saturday’s lopsided loss to Cincinnati.

The team traveled directly to Orlando following that defeat and was pushed through two intense practices by head coach Steve Lutz and the coaching staff.

The response was clear.

Led by Roy’s scoring and Clary’s clutch overtime performance, Oklahoma State delivered a gritty win and swept the season series against UCF

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