Slapdash first half dooms Cowboys in 84-71 loss to No. 9 Iowa State
OSU drops to 2-5 in Big 12 after trailing by 30 at halftime against Cyclones in emotionally charged matchup
Steve Lutz walked into his postgame press conference with a somber facial expression.
There, the second-year Oklahoma State coach put a spotlight on the importance of the game. Toward its significance and sentimental value for the OSU and Stillwater community.
On Saturday, OSU hosted No. 9 Iowa State in its annual Remember the Ten game. The Cowboys lost 84-71, putting a damper on the overall mood in Gallagher-Iba Arena. But for Lutz, that didn’t matter. Honoring the 10 lives lost during the Jan. 27, 2001 plane crash did. And he made sure to highlight the merit in Saturday’s contest when addressing reporters postgame.
“We have to make sure that we understand the big picture here — as competitors, we want to win every game," Lutz said. “But today was the Remember the 10 game. And that’s the most important thing. We lost 10 members of our (OSU) family 25 years ago, and they’ll never be forgotten.”
For most of the second half, OSU outplayed No. 9 Iowa State. But oh, that first half.
The Cowboys (14-6, 2-5 Big 12) trailed by double digits at the first media timeout. At the 13-minute mark, Iowa State had already jumped out to a 23-4 advantage. And by halftime, that deficit ballooned to 30, matching OSU’s largest such deficit in program history.
#OkState coach Steve Lutz’s opening statement following his team’s 84-71 loss to No. 9 Iowa State. pic.twitter.com/Du81rDJihy
— Daniel Allen (@bydanielallen25) January 24, 2026
The commonality? Defensive inefficiency.
Iowa State’s star trio of Milan Momcilovic, Tamin Lipsey and Joshua Jefferson combined for 62 of its 84 points, jolting OSU into a rut it couldn’t overcome.
“We’ve gotta do better on our defensive end,” OSU point guard Jaylen Curry said. “We can’t just rely on the offense, we’ve got to get better on defense.
“Our point guards obviously can score in bunches, but we can’t win games by hoping the offense wins it for us.”
Defense, however, wasn’t the lone issue for the Cowboys.
Slow starts have been a recurrent theme for the Cowboys since conference play commenced. Through its seven Big 12 games, OSU has been outscored 74-46 over the first 4 minutes of each. OSU spotted the Horned Frogs 9 first-four-minute points in its loss at TCU on Tuesday. On Saturday, Iowa State had already logged 14.
“As a competitor, you have to come out when the jump ball goes up, and you have to get yourself ready to play,” Lutz said. “As a unit, you have to be ready to play. It can’t be two of the five that start, or three of the five, or four of the five — it has to be five of the five. So we’ve gotta be better about making sure that we’re ready to play.”
Lutz plugged in freshman shooting guard Ryan Crotty, who hadn’t appeared over OSU’s past two games. He provided a spark, shooting 3-for-6 for a season-high 9 points, all of which came from 3s. Point guard Kanye Clary and Curry also totaled 19 apiece, complementing Crotty’s sharpshooting as the Cowboys gradually established momentum.
Once the offense ignited, OSU made a late run. With 1:41 remaining in the game, the Cyclones’ (18-2, 5-2 Big 12) lead was cut to 10, courtesy of a step-back 3 from Clary. But it was too little too late.
Despite outscoring ISU 50-33 in the second half, the Cowboys still lost by double digits, in the end, shedding light on their harrowing first-half outing.
“The second half we just had some fight,” Crotty said. “We were locked in defensively, understood our assignments and we were able to put points on the board — turn defense into offense.”
The Cyclones shot 62.1% from the floor in the first half, in contrast to a 36.4% clip in the second. Lutz credited ISU’s drop in offensive efficiency to his team’s defensive effort in the second half. But such efforts can only go so far if the slow starts prolong.
Now comes a bye week. The Cowboys have seven days until their next game, which comes on the road against Utah on Jan. 31 at 5 p.m. And given their recent struggles, it couldn’t come at a better time.
The Remember the Ten game has come and gone. Despite the grim outcome, the memory of the 10 lives lost lives on.
But so do OSU’s chances at clinching its first NCAA Tournament berth in five years.
A multitude of Quad 1 opportunities await the Cowboys down the road. Fortunately, plenty more linger along the horizon.
Still, Lutz said, none will come easy. Throughout the season, Lutz has placed emphasis on the load of talent within the Big 12, often referring to it as the “best league in the country.” And with good reason.
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Now, the importance lies within Lutz’s team not allowing its current skid to deflate its season. Otherwise, a season that once held so much promise after a 12-1 start will have been all for nothing. And OSU fans will be left plunged into the same offseason cycle, hoping for next season to be different.
“This league is such a grind,” Lutz said. “If you’re struggling mentally and if you’re struggling physically, obviously we’ll use this (bye) week to get better there. But we’ve got to just get better in terms of our overall team direction.
“There are zero nights off in this league, and I don’t know if people quite understand that. Your margin for error is so slim that you have to be ready from the opening tip, and you have to compete. You have to give your best when your best is needed. And every night, our best is going to be needed in this league if we’re going to make an NCAA Tournament appearance.”
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