Abou Ousmane's Big Night Leads Oklahoma State Past No. 9 Iowa State

The Cowboys got their best win of the season.

On Tuesday night, Oklahoma State beat No. 9 Iowa State 74-68 to earn its first win over a ranked opponent this season. Entering the night as clear underdogs, the Cowboys never trailed in their potential momentum-building win.

Before Abou Ousmane’s dunk in the final seconds put an exclamation point on OSU’s upset, he was the driving force for OSU’s lead throughout the night. His 25 points led the Cowboys and gave his team the offensive punch it needed to get over the hump.

While Ousmane led OSU’s offense, the Cowboy defense deserves credit for the win. After allowing at least 93 points in their past three games, the Cowboys held the Cyclones to only 68 and forced them to shoot only 41.4% while forcing 18 turnovers.

Although OSU didn’t have the second-half scoring droughts it has had in previous games, a six-minute stretch with only two buckets easily could have sunk the Cowboys if not for their defense. It wasn’t pretty at the end, but OSU did just enough to hang on and secure an upset win.

After getting blown out at Kansas on Saturday, OSU was in need of a bounce-back performance. Although the Cowboys had performed well after a big loss in previous weeks, they had only faced unranked opponents in those matchups. With a top 10 team coming to town, it appeared that OSU might struggle again.

OSU tried to end those concerns in the first few minutes, taking a quick 10-3 lead and earning a 23-12 advantage just over midway through the first half. Over the next few minutes, the Cyclones battled back and had the Cowboys’ lead down to only four. In contrast to other games against top opponents this season, the Cowboys responded in a big way.

Over the final three minutes and change of the half, OSU outscored Iowa State 12-2 to extend its lead to 14 going into the locker room. While Iowa State battled back, it was still enough of an advantage to keep the Pokes in front for the rest of the night.

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