Oklahoma State's Defensive Struggles on Full Display Against Texas Tech
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Oklahoma State’s conference opener went exactly as many feared it would.
On Saturday, OSU lost to Texas Tech 102-80 in Lubbock, marking just its second loss this season to begin Big 12 play. After a successful nonconference slate, the Cowboys’ road was always going to be tougher in the Big 12, and that was on full display against the Red Raiders.
After Texas Tech fans were left disappointed watching their football team fail to score a single point on the big stage on New Year’s Day, the Red Raiders came through on the court with an abundance of points, dropping triple digits on the Cowboys.
Steve Lutz’s team has been a liability on defense from day one this season, and there might not be any reason to believe that will change any time soon. Coming into this season, it was clear that the Cowboys were looking to improve offensively more than anywhere else.
With their transfer portal class consisting of several high-level offensive talents who can get buckets or set up teammates, the Cowboys were always expected to be better on that end. Meanwhile, the hope for Lutz, as he explained early in the season, was that defense could come with time, and that the offensive talent could be enough to make up for steadily improving defensive shortcomings.
That hasn’t happened.
With 80 points against Texas Tech to begin Big 12 play, OSU might just be well on its way to having a great offense throughout its conference slate. While the offense looks better than last year’s squad that hit the 80-point mark only four times in conference play, the defense will continue to be a work in progress, giving up the most points in the Lutz era thus far on Saturday.
If the Cowboys are going to be a legitimate threat to make some noise in the Big 12 this season and in the near future, defense has to be a staple of that attack. Sure, this team is more aesthetically pleasing than the Mike Boynton teams that too often mustered scores in the 40s early in conference play. Yet, being more enjoyable to watch offensively doesn’t necessarily change the results.
Texas Tech killed OSU in a number of ways, shooting 17-of-37 from deep and scoring 18 second chance points. However, the scariest thing for OSU is that Texas Tech didn’t exactly play perfect on that end.
If the Cowboys continue to play like this, their hopes of getting back to the NCAA Tournament could bust as easily as OSU’s defense.
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.