Cowboy Basketball Making Statement in Steve Lutz's Second Season

Oklahoma State has had a superb start to the season, and the program might be ready for the national stage again.

Over the first couple of weeks of the 2025-26 season, the Cowboys have showcased their skills on the hardwood in a big way. In Steve Lutz’s second season at the helm in Stillwater, OSU has quickly adopted his fast-paced, high-scoring style of play in year two, and it’s leading to results already.

Sitting at 5-0, the Cowboys are off to their best start since a 6-0 start in 2020-21, when Cade Cunningham led them to their most recent NCAA Tournament appearance. While there hasn’t been much to be excited about in Gallagher-Iba Arena in the years since, Lutz appears to be turning things around substantially.

On Wednesday night, the Cowboys hosted South Florida in one of the team’s biggest nonconference matchups of the season. Late in the first half, the Cowboys trailed 44-31, their largest deficit of the game.

In most years past, that would have been the point in the season where things began to spiral. But this OSU team is remarkably different.

Instead of getting too down about a 13-point deficit, the Cowboys quickly answered back, finishing the half on a 13-1 run to get back within one and steal momentum going into halftime. That might be the stretch that defines exactly what this OSU team can be.

Not only did OSU respond in a big way after trailing by double figures to end the half and get back in the game, it continued to attack in the second half. In a back-and-forth final 20 minutes, the Cowboys eventually settled in and pulled away in the final moments.

Assuming the Cowboys can continue to hit their stride throughout the season and find ways to win games that don’t always look promising early, they should be able to make it to the big dance. While Lutz’s message to fans was clear about wanting to build a contender, actually showing signs of that progress on the court is what OSU fans have been looking for.

With a team that truly plays his ideal style this season, Lutz has put OSU in a position to become a Big 12 contender for years to come. While things can change rapidly in college sports, especially in the transfer portal era, Wednesday night’s win against South Florida proved that the Cowboys are in great hands moving forward and could be a real threat to make some postseason noise in 2026.