Oklahoma State Holds Off No. 9 Iowa State to Complete 74-68 Upset

STILLWATER – Oklahoma State had it firing on all cylinders Tuesday evening as they recorded an upset win over No. 9 Iowa State, 74-68.

The Cowboys never trailed in the game, taking a 2-0 lead and never relinquished that lead.

With the win, the Cowboys moved back to .500 on the season, 14-14, and 6-11 in Big 12 play. 

With :35 left in the game, up six points, Chi-Chi Avery drove the court and hit a layup, but not before he was called for an offensive foul, which led to a bucket on the other end for the Cyclones to make it a four-point game, 70-66, with just 11 seconds left. That’s the closet the Cyclones had been since the 11:51 mark of the first half, when it was 16-12 OSU.

Arturo Dean was fouled in the ensuing inbounds, hitting both free throws to take it back up to six points, 72-66, and a Steve Lutz timeout to draw up a defensive play. 

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Lipsey hit a layup on the other end to make it a four-point game with just four seconds left. But the Cowboys drew up a solid in-bounds play leading to an Ousmane dunk and a steal by Dean to end the game.

Big man Abou Ousmane had a great night as he recorded 25 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the floor, with six rebounds, four steals and a block.

Dean scored 14 points and recorded seven steals, Bryce Thompson finished with 11 and Marchelus Avery with 10.

As a team, the Cowboys shot 42% from the floor, forced 18 turnovers to just 12, leading to 24 points on the other end.

It was as good of a first half as the Cowboys have had in several seasons, and I’m including their 53-point performance against UCF last week, the most points they’d scored in a half since 2017. They went into the break with a 14-point lead, 40-26, after forcing 11 Cyclone turnovers, leading to 15 points on the other end. The Pokes also dominated the paint, scoring 18 points to just six from the Cylones.

Ousmane drilled a three to put the Pokes back up 13 points, 54-41, with just over 12 minutes left in the game. On the trip back down the court, he recorded a big block on a shot from Dishon Jackson, leading to an ISU foul on the Pokes’ way back down the court. On that ensuing offensive possession for the Pokes, Chi-Chi hit a contested layup to make it a 15-point game, 56-41. 

The Cyclones cut their deficit to just six points with 5:43 left in the game, 60-54, following a 7-2 run. But as he’d done for much of the game, Ousmane ended that on two free throws. The Cyclones turned it over on their next drive, leading a fastbreak layup by Dean to put it back to 10 points, 64-54, one minute later.

Joshua Jefferson drilled a big three just under three minutes left in the game to make it a six-point game, 66-60, before an OSU shot clock violation led to another Cyclone bucket on the other end, 66-62. Thompson cooled ISU off a bit with a bucket and then a steal back down the court, which led to a floater by Dean to make it an eight-point game with one minute left in the game, 70-62.

Ousmane tied up a loose ball on a missed Cyclone bucket, but Jefferson flushed home a dunk just a few seconds later getting it back to six, 70-64, with :35 and an ISU timeout. 

The Cowboys are back in action this coming Saturday, March 1, on the road in Waco, TX, against Baylor.