The Good, Bad and Ugly of Houston’s Comeback Win at Oklahoma State

The No. 7 Houston Cougars needed to complete another second-half comeback for the second straight game, this time against the Oklahoma State Cowboys on the road in Stillwater for a tough 82-75 win in the regular season finale.

The Cougars wrap up the regular season with a final mark of 26-5 and end the Big 12 regular season with a 14-4 conference record.

This was not an easy game against a competitive Cowboys team on their senior day, and every road game in the Big 12 is a battle. On a day that seemed rough to watch at times, Houston still shot 51% overall as well as 43% from three.

Here’s the good, bad, and ugly.

Good: McCarty and the Second Half

Mar 7, 2026; Stillwater, Oklahoma, USA; Houston Cougars forward Chase McCarty (24) shoots the ball during the second half against the Oklahoma State Cowboys at Gallagher-Iba Arena. Mandatory Credit: William Purnell-Imagn Images | William Purnell-Imagn Images

Redshirt freshman forward Chase McCarty ended up being the player of the game for Houston. It was the best game of McCarty’s career as he poured on 20 points off the bench and was on fire from three. He went 6/9 from beyond the arc.

Four of those were in the second half, including a couple of crucial ones down the stretch. Houston went up 80-73 on his last 3-pointer that put the game away. McCarty played 22 minutes and this was the first 20-point game of his career. He played more minutes than starter Chris Cenac Jr.

McCarty gave Houston its best option from downtown, and he made full use of his opportunities. He was the main reason why Houston went 12/28 from three as he made half of them. The Cougars once again got strong contributions from the bench with 30 points as sophomore guard Mercy Miller added seven points and three rebounds.

Junior forward Joseph Tugler has suddenly made visible improvements in his offensive game, and he scored 12 points on 5 of 7 shooting. This was his third straight game with double-digit points.

Houston delivered in the second half and won the period 45-34 in the comeback. The Cougars went on a critical 13-2 run led by freshman guard Kingston Flemings, who added 13 points and a career-high nine assists. Even when he tweaked his foot, Flemings still stayed in the game and made back-to-back shots.

Senior guard Emanuel Sharp hit a clutch 3-pointer that made it a four-point game with under a minute to go.

Bad: Slow Start

This was an early 11 a.m. start on the road, and the Cougars did not look great for a large portion of the first half besides the early 5-0 lead. Oklahoma State led for basically the entire first half, and the Cowboys took a 13-point lead at around the six-minute mark. The threes were all falling in from Roy, Clary, and Curry, the three guards for OSU.

Houston was finally able to bring it under double digits with two minutes left in the first half. The Cougars struggled on the offensive glass as the Cowboys won that battle 13-9. Oklahoma State had double the amount of second-chance points than Houston at 18-9.

Another reason for Houston’s struggles was the lack of turnovers from OSU, especially in the first half. The Cowboys only had three turnovers in the first half, and that limited Houston’s ability to run in transition and get more points off them.

It changed in the second half as the Cougars got eight turnovers for 14 points.

Ugly: Free Throw Disparity

Houston had to overcome a big gap in fouls and free throw shooting in this one. The Cougars picked up 18 personal fouls, compared to 11 for the Cowboys. It was a 9-3 difference in the first half. That resulted in nine more free throw attempts for OSU and 11 more makes.

Even with that difference, it was such a close game almost the entire way. Houston was 6/10 from the line while Oklahoma State was 17/19. Tugler did well considering his foul trouble struggles and only picked up three.

The Big 12 tournament is up next for Houston, as it’ll play on Thursday in the quarterfinals after earning a double-bye.