Cowboy Basketball Provides Optimism Despite Losing Season

Oklahoma State finished below .500, but it should be encouraged by its season.

The Cowboys entered the first season of the Steve Lutz era without many expectations. Following a 12-20 campaign in Mike Boynton’s final run, OSU basketball had little optimism.

Along with Boynton’s firing, OSU had various key departures, ranging from leading scorer Javon Small to star freshman Brandon Garrison. With so many players on their way out, Lutz had to rebuild through the portal and was even behind the curve on that front, considering the Cowboys didn’t hire him until April.

Still, Lutz prevailed and put together a roster filled with veteran players who had made a name for themselves, mostly at mid-majors. There might not have been expectations of an NCAA Tournament run, but the Cowboys expected to at least show signs of improvement from the season prior and did so immediately in nonconference play.

After struggling to get over .500 until the final games of the nonconference slate last season, the Cowboys lost only three games before Big 12 play. Still, OSU didn’t show much in nonconference play to give any reason to believe it could truly compete in the Big 12. 

After being picked to finish 14th in the conference, the Cowboys managed to go 7-13 in Big 12 play for a 12th-place finish. Although OSU failed to win a conference road game, its 7-3 mark in Stillwater against Big 12 competition breathed some life into the program.

Those performances helped OSU sit at 15-17 following the conference tournament. While that isn’t exactly up to the standard of Cowboy basketball, it was still a step in the right direction. It was also enough to earn OSU a spot in the NIT.

The Cowboys’ goal should never be to simply make the NIT, but their ability to play extra high-intensity basketball was a blessing after these two regular seasons. OSU thrived under pressure in the NIT, beating Wichita State at home and earning a win at SMU, which was its first road win in over three months.

Of course, OSU’s run ended on Tuesday night against North Texas, but simply having the run itself shows that the Cowboys might have something special brewing in Stillwater.