What Had Oklahoma State Coach Steve Lutz Steaming After First Scrimmage?

Steve Lutz certainly wasn't expecting a finished product when his Oklahoma State Cowboys hosted the New Mexico Lobos in their first exhibition game on Sunday at Gallagher-Iba Arena. But he certainly expected more than what he got.

The Cowboys lost the game, 99-89. For the third-year head coach, the score was relevant, but not in the way that one might expect in contrast to a regular-season game. What was relevant to Lutz and what concerned him after the game was what led to the 10-point loss.

For Lutz, the offseason and fall workouts have all been about one thing — improving one area that he believes will help the Cowboys become an NCAA Tournament team this season. What he saw on the court left him steaming after the game.

What Steve Lutz Was Upset About

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Lutz wasted no time talking about what he didn’t like in the scrimmage in his postgame comments to reporters, captured by the Tulsa World’s Eric Bailey on X (formerly Twitter).

“We’ve talked ad nauseum about last year’s difficulties defensively, and that if we didn’t fix those then we weren’t going to be able to get where we wanted to get this year,” he said. “For us to come out and foul 33 times, allow them to shoot 48 free throws and allow a young man who's a darn good player to get 31 on our home floor is inexcusable and we have to do better.”

That “young man” was New Mexico’s Jake Hall, who dropped in six 3-pointers and is considered one of the best players in the Mountain West Conference. The Lobos made the NCAA Tournament last year and are considered the Mountain West favorites.

That's part of the reason Lutz was upset about it after the game. This was the Cowboys’ first opportunity to show that all the work on defense in the summer and fall workouts was beginning to pay off. He wasn't expecting the team to play at a Big 12 level yet. But he was expecting them to play much better defensively.

New Mexico ended up shooting 36-of-48 from the foul line and took full advantage of OSU’s propensity for fouling. The Lobos also shot nearly 50% from the field and 42% from the 3-point line and only turned the ball over 12 times. Turnovers are typically a result of defensive pressure, another number that will likely capture Lutz’s attention when he watches film.

OSU shot 40% from the field and only 26% from the 3-point line. Freshman guard Anthony Felesi led five Cowboys in double figures with 18 points on 8-of-13 shooting. Junior center Julius Halaifonua added 16 points, while Luka Bogavac and Benjamin Ahmed contributed 13 points each.

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