How Defense-Fueled Second Half Led Oklahoma State to Season-Opening Win
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Oklahoma State’s season tipped off with a win, and the second half was the difference.
On Tuesday night, the Cowboys opened the second year of the Steve Lutz era with a 95-71 win over Oral Roberts in Gallagher-Iba Arena. With the home win being a success on almost every front, it’s easy to point to what happened after halftime as the key to victory.
Entering halftime, the Cowboys were somewhat sluggish on the defensive end. While offense wasn’t a problem and will clearly be a strong suit for the Cowboys all season, the defense was lacking in the first 20 minutes, allowing ORU to score 46 points.
Clearly, a switch was flipped in the second half, as the Golden Eagles managed to put up only 25 points, with OSU also forcing 11 turnovers. That performance in the final 20 minutes was no coincidence, with Lutz being clear about what he wanted out of his team after halftime.
“I know any of you that know me know it was probably not a collective calm conversation,” Lutz said. “But I thought Kirk Cole diving on the floor before the half, I thought that got the crowd going, and so I credit Kirk with getting them going. And in the second half, we were able to come out and get a couple steals and a couple stops.”
Of course, Lutz acknowledged that OSU’s ability to find some of that momentum after halftime wasn’t because of a perfect effort. With it being the first game, there will always be some issues, but the Cowboys’ mistakes weren’t enough to keep them from putting together a stellar second-half performance.
One of the stars of the night for the Cowboys was Christian Coleman, who became just the 10th player to record a double-double in their OSU debut. Considering how OSU’s offense didn’t struggle in either half, Coleman also credited the defense for being the clear difference for the Cowboys.
“We picked up the intensity on the defensive end,” Coleman said. “In the first half, we just kind of let them cut us in half. They were driving, straight-line drives. We weren’t stopping the ball. We weren’t guarding the ball well.”
Assuming OSU can find ways to channel that defensive intensity for a full 40 minutes in the near future, the Cowboys could be a dangerous team in the Big 12 picture. With their first win in the books, the Cowboys can now look ahead to a Sunday matchup against Texas A&M.
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.