Oklahoma State Suffers Another Embarrassing Loss at Cincinnati

The Cowboys were outmatched in every way on the road.

Feb 21, 2026; Boulder, Colorado, USA; Oklahoma State Cowboys head coach Steve Lutz during the game against the Colorado Buffaloes att the CU Events Center. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images | Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

Oklahoma State’s season is a lost cause.

On Saturday, OSU went into Cincinnati looking to carry its momentum from a win on Tuesday and set itself up for a strong finish to the regular season. Instead, the Cowboys were embarrassed in a 91-68 loss on the road to mark yet another disappointing performance from Steve Lutz’s squad.

While OSU’s horrendous performance certainly wasn’t up to the standards the program is looking for, it’s clear that Parsa Fallah’s injury was a key factor for the Cowboys’ massive shortcomings. Without their leader and interior anchor, OSU was off from tipoff.

After taking a 2-1 lead 18 seconds into the game, the Cowboys quickly lost that advantage and never regained one at any point in the afternoon. Less than five minutes into the game, Cincinnati had already built a double-digit advantage. While the Cowboys briefly battled and kept the game close for a few more minutes, Cincinnati’s double-digit advantage stayed true from the 11:41 mark of the first half to the final buzzer.

While Fallah’s injury was a clear factor in OSU’s falling apart, it was far from the only thing to blame. In fact, this simply looked like the same OSU team that has consistently faltered against Big 12 competition since Lutz’s arrival.

As has been the theme all season, OSU’s defense was laughable and not viable for winning basketball. Giving up over 90 points in a Big 12 game is simply inexcusable.

And for a team that is supposedly built on offensive talent, combating those 91 points by failing to hit 70 is an awful look. It’s not exactly surprising that OSU looked this way against Cincinnati after looking this way in several other games throughout the year, but it must still be disappointing for fans nonetheless.

OSU was undermanned and lost its on-court leader, which was always going to result in a step back for the team for the rest of the season. However, that didn’t mean there should also be a lack of effort from the players still on the floor.

Maybe it’s a matter of players knowing the season was effectively over when Fallah went down. Maybe it was a matter of players failing to care about games when the NCAA Tournament bubble rapidly went out of reach throughout February.

Whatever the case may be, OSU’s performance in Cincinnati was the exact opposite of what the program is looking for.