Oklahoma State Holds on to Beat Cincinnati in Regular Season Finale
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Oklahoma State ended its regular season on a high note.
On Saturday, OSU beat Cincinnati 78-67 at Gallagher-Iba Arena in Stillwater to secure its seventh Big 12 win of the season, all coming at home. While Cincinnati was desperate for a win while sitting on the NCAA Tournament bubble, the Cowboys built an early lead and made enough plays to escape with the victory.
While OSU had a lead throughout the first half and into the second half, Cincinnati continued to apply pressure. A once-double-digit lead was cut to one with only 4:31 left after Simas Lukosius nailed a 3-pointer from the corner. He had another look to tie the game a few possessions later but couldn’t connect. After the Bearcats came within one point, they went scoreless until the final five seconds, and OSU was able to build its lead back up with several clutch free throws.
Overall, OSU’s defense had a solid outing, forcing Cincinnati to shoot only 7-of-28 from beyond the arc and holding them to a 40.6% mark from the field.
OSU did a solid job building a lead in the first half and carried it into halftime. However, it could have been significantly larger had the Cowboys not crumbled a bit to finish the half.
Through just over 12 minutes of play, OSU had built a seven-point lead and had been in control for much of the contest. At that point, the Cowboys looked to pull away and put their mark on the regular season finale. Including seven points just from Abou Ousmane, OSU went on an 11-0 run to take a 40-22 lead with only four minutes left in the half. Ousmane was a star for the Cowboys on Saturday, going for 24 points and eight rebounds.
Yet, the Cowboys couldn’t get to halftime quickly enough. Over the final possessions of the half, Cincinnati crept back into the game and used a 14-4 run to get the game back to single digits going to the locker room.
Still, OSU’s early first-half dominance was enough to get them into halftime with a lead and regroup. Although Cincinnati had far more to play for than OSU, the Cowboys’ effort and intensity were unquestioned throughout.
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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.