Cowboys Host No. 16 BYU Hunting First Quad 1 Win

Oklahoma State vs No. 16 BYU

🕰️ 8 p.m., Feb. 4
📍 Gallagher-Iba Arena
📺 FS1

By the time Saturday’s game at Utah had ended, Steve Lutz’s focus had shifted ahead. 

Not a thought was given toward the magnitude toward Oklahoma State ending a calamitous 15-game Big 12 road losing streak after win against the Utes. Nor the reality of the Cowboys’ clinching their first road win of the season.

Instead, Lutz, OSU’s second-year coach, was already thinking about his team’s next game. How the opportunity for it to clinch its first Quad 1 win. And perhaps most importantly, the glaring reality that the Cowboys lack that through 21 games this season. 

When OSU hosts No. 16 BYU in Gallagher-Iba Arena on Wednesday at 8 p.m., that feat won’t come easy. Lutz acknowledged that on Monday during his weekly press conference.

“We’ll have our work cut out for us,” he said. “I think they’re really talented, obviously. I think they’ve got a great basketball team. One that can advance deep into the NCAA Tournament. “

The Cougars (17-4, 5-3 Big 12) boast one of the top offenses in college basketball, averaging 85.2 points per contest. That high-caliber scoring ability has often tamed opponents by the opening tip-off, seasoning BYU to compete in track meet-caliber games, which come at large in the Big 12. 

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Such efficiency stems from the triple threat of freshman forward AJ Dubansya, guard Robert Wright III and forward Richie Saunders. Each are averaging at least 17 points per game, with Dubansya, a projected top-three selection in the upcoming NBA Draft, leading the way with 19.4 per game.

Can the Cowboys (15-6, 3-5 Big 12) keep the pace with such a flashy, expeditious offense? Lutz and his players think so. For one specific reason — they play in the Big 12.

“I think every team in the Big 12 that we play, they have a lot of great players,” Cowboys’ center Parsa Fallah said. “BYU has a lot of talented players. We’re just trying to take it one step at a time, just locking in on the (scouting report). Because when you’re got players like (BYU) has, I don’t think that it’s a one-on-one. Like, I don’t think that it’s a one-person job.

“We face players like that every night, so it gets to a point (where) we know what it takes to win.

After all, OSU dons one of college basketball’s elite offenses, too. The Cowboys average roughly 86 points per game — the third-most in the Big 12 — and have four players averaging 10 points per game or better.

The defense has been a liability for most of the season. Yet, progress has been apparent for the past few contests. 

For the first time since nonconference play, the Cowboys have held opponents to less than 70 points twice in a three-game stretch. It came too little, too late Jan. 24 in a home loss to Iowa State. Yet, simultaneously, OSU vastly outplayed the Cyclones in the second half, outscoring them 50-33.

That, Lutz said, is the mark of a good team. Come Wednesday, such progression will need to carry over for any chance at OSU clinching its inaugural Quad 1 victory this season. Especially with the NCAA Tournament Selection Show swiftly approaching.

“That’s the mark of a good team — can you get better as the year goes on?” Lutz said. “Now you have an opportunity to have a really good basketball team come to your home gym, where you’ve been pretty good, on your home floor. And now you’ve got an opportunity to go and get yourself a Quad 1 win, and another top-25 win, and that’s got to be our focus. That’s got to be our only focus.”

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