Cowboy Basketball Slightly Exceeds Expectations With Top 12 Finish in Big 12
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The Cowboys made the most of a rough season and gave fans reason to be optimistic moving forward.
Oklahoma State didn’t finish the regular season with a winning record, isn’t anywhere near the NCAA Tournament bubble and went winless in conference road games. Despite all of the things that predictably went wrong for the Cowboys, they still managed to find success within the struggles.
OSU capped its regular season on Saturday with a 78-67 win over Cincinnati in Stillwater. While that win only improved OSU’s overall record to 15-16 and its Big 12 record to 7-13, it was still an example of OSU’s impressive play at home.
OSU basketball has been in a bad spot for some time now and fan support has dwindled inside Gallagher-Iba Arena, once known as the rowdiest arena in the country. Bringing the rowdy back will be a lengthy effort, but the Cowboys managed to put on a show for their fans in most of their home games.
OSU finished 7-3 in conference home games following an undefeated stretch of home games in nonconference play. The Cowboys’ success in Stillwater was the key to exceeding expectations in the Big 12.
After being projected to finish 14th in the 16-team league in the preseason media poll, OSU finished 12th. Although it is only a two-spot jump, it is still something to celebrate after going 4-14 in Big 12 games last season.
Originally projected to finish ahead of only Colorado and Utah, the Cowboys finished ahead of preseason NCAA Tournament contenders. In beating Cincinnati on Saturday, OSU secured its spot ahead of the Bearcats in the conference standings after they were projected to finish sixth in the Big 12.
That also set OSU up for a matchup against Cincinnati in the 12/13 matchup to begin the Big 12 Tournament on Tuesday. Considering OSU has already exceeded its preseason expectations, any wins in Kansas City would be a true mark of the impact Steve Lutz has made in his first season.
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Ivan is a sports media student at Oklahoma State University. He has covered OSU athletics since 2022 and also covers the OKC Thunder for Inside The Thunder and Thunderous Intentions.