OSU Basketball Is Looking To Gain Its Confidence Back On Saturday Against Utah

The Pokes find themselves in a rough stretch and need to get back on track quickly.

Jan 17, 2026; Stillwater, Oklahoma, USA; Jaylen Curry (0) of the Oklahoma State Cowboys shoots the ball during the first half against the Kansas State Wildcats at Gallagher-Iba Arena. Mandatory Credit: William Purnell-Imagn Images | William Purnell-Imagn Images

The Oklahoma State Cowboys need to get back in the win column, and fast. 

The Cowboys have dropped two straight games and have now fallen to 14-6 overall, and 2-5 in Big 12 play, somewhere OSU can’t afford to stay. Oklahoma State has put itself in a position where every game matters, and it continues as the Pokes travel to Utah on Saturday night. 

The Utes are 9-11 this season, and only have one conference win to their name. However, there is no reason to expect this game to be easy, as Utah’s one conference win is against the TCU team that beat OSU earlier this season. 

Utah also has one of the best scorers in the country, as Terrence Brown averages 22.2 points per game, ranking him seventh in the nation. The Cowboys’ defense will have to be on point, or else the result of this game could resemble the past two. 

Luckily for the Cowboys, Utah’s defense hasn’t been on point this season either. The Utes allow opponents to score 81.5 points on average per game. This, combined with OSU’s fast-paced electric style of play, should allow the Cowboys to do what they love best and get out and run. 

The Pokes will need a bounce-back performance out of Parsa Fallah, specifically, as the Cowboy big man has been held to eight combined points in his last two games. These two instances are the only times this season that Fallah has been held under 10 points in a game where he played at least 20 minutes. If OSU wants to get back into the win column, it will start with Fallah coming back into his element. 

The truth is, the road that lies ahead for the Cowboys is one of the toughest stretches in basketball. After Saturday’s match against Utah, the Cowboys will meet No. 13 BYU back in Stillwater before having to travel to Arizona to play the No. 1 Wildcats. 

Saturday will be an opportunity for the Pokes to gain some much-needed confidence before two of their biggest games of the season. 

March is approaching faster than the Pokes anticipated, and they sit at a spot that wouldn’t land them one of the 64 entries in the NCAA Tournament. With every game remaining, helping determine the fate of the Pokes' offseason, Saturday is the perfect opportunity to get back on track and make one last final push this season. 

---