Cowboy Basketball meets Utah Saturday on ESPN2

Saturday, January 31

Salt Lake City, Utah / Huntsman Center

5:00 PM

Oklahoma State University

Utah

January 29, 2026 | Cowboy Basketball

Cowboy Notes (PDF)

OKLAHOMA STATE (14-6, 2-5) at UTAH (9-11, 1-6)
Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026 | 5 p.m. CT (4 p.m. MT)
Salt Lake City, Utah | Huntsman Center

Watch: ESPN2 (Roxy Bernstein & Corey Williams)
Listen: Cowboy Radio Network (Dave Hunziker, John Holcomb, Kendall Mae Stark)
Stats: okstate.statbroadcast.com
Series: OSU leads 5-2 (Utah leads 2-1 in SLC)
Last: Feb. 1, 2025 in Stillwater (OSU, 81-72)

Opening Tips:

Oklahoma State heads west for a Saturday showdown with the Utah Utes in Salt Lake City.
Both sides have been idle since last Saturday.
The Cowboys fell by 13 points to No. 9 Iowa State despite 19 points apiece from Kanye Clary and Jaylen Curry. It was just their second home loss this season.
Road success has been far more fleeting. The Pokes won heavily-slanted neutral court contests against Northwestern (Chicago) and GCU (Phoenix) during the non-conference season but are still searching for their first true road victory. They nearly had one last Tuesday at TCU, leading by seven points with just over 4:00 remaining, but the host Horned Frogs finished on a 10-0 run, scoring the go-ahead basket with less than 10 seconds remaining.
OSU and Utah split a two-game series last season -- the Utes' first as a member of the Big 12 -- with each holding serve at home.
Last January in Salt Lake City, the Utes scored the first 12 points in an 83-62 victory. OSU avenged the loss three weeks later in Stillwater, jumping to a 9-1 lead in a wire-to-wire win.
OSU is 14-0 when scoring at least 81 points (0-6 otherwise).
OSU's 86.2 point scoring average is a half-point ahead of the school-record pace set by the 2015-16 Cowboys (85.7).
Seven Cowboys average at least seven points per game, led by senior guard Anthony Roy (17.0 ppg). The 6-5 guard ranks among the nation's best three-point shooters by both volume (24^th, 3.24/game) and accuracy (20^th, 43.3%). He's also shooting a league-best 87.9% at the foul line.
Sophomore guard Vyctorius Miller (13.3 ppg) has also been a dangerous perimeter threat this season, sinking 33-of-78 (.423) from deep.
Senior forward Parsa Fallah (13.9 ppg) is averaging a team-best 6.5 rebounds and ranks among the top-30 nationally in field goal percentage (.603).
Point guards Clary (4.9 apg) and Curry (4.2 apg) lead one the nation's most aggressive attacks (12^th in KenPom adjusted tempo). Curry ranks 48^th nationally in A:TO ratio (2.92) and Clary is one of only 23 players who are averaging at least 8.0 assists-per-40-minutes.
Clary has posted more assists than turnovers in each of his last 17 games, matching Sean Sutton (1991-92) for the third-longest streak in program history. Doug Gottlieb, who played from 1997-2000, holds the top two marks (20 and 23).

Consecutive Games w/ More Assists Than Turnovers (1985-Pr.):
23 -- Doug Gottlieb (3/9/1998 to 1/30/1999)
20 -- Doug Gottlieb (2/10/1999 to 12/15/1999)
17 -- Kanye Clary (11/12/2025 to Present)
17 -- Sean Sutton (3/8/1991 to 1/6/1992)
11 -- Jawun Evans (2/4/2017 to 3/17/2017)
11 -- Brooks Thompson (12/30/1993 to 2/7/1994)
11 -- Scott Sutton (2/16/1994 to 3/20/1994)

On This Date: Jan. 31

1962 –Oklahoma coach Doyle Parrack cooked up a surprise for his former coach, Henry Iba, unveiling a new zone defense for the team's Bedlam matchup in Norman. Undeterred, OSU raced to a 17-4 lead before the Sooners returned to their customary man-to-man scheme. Stillwater natives Cecil Epperly (18 points) and Eddie Bunch (16) paced the scoring in a 65-49 Cowboy victory.
1981 – A capacity crowd at Gallagher Hall saw the Cowboys nip the Sooners, 87-85, on Leroy Combs' layup with six seconds remaining.
2004 –Tony Allen scored 20 points and held Red Raider All-American Andre Emmett scoreless over the final 16 minutes as No. 18 OSU held off No. 13 Texas Tech, 70-66, in GIA. That Cowboy team would go on to reach the Final Four.

Last Time on Cowboy Basketball:
Saturday, Jan. 24 in Stillwater | #9 ISU 84, OSU 71

OSU's strong second half wasn't enough to overcome a miserable first.
The Cowboys held the Cyclones to just eight field goals and forced 12 turnovers after halftime to cut a 30-point deficit to as a little 10 on Kanye Clary's three with 1:37 to play.
Clary and Jaylen Curry scored 19 points apiece for OSU, with Curry adding five of the Cowboys' 13 steals.
Milan Momcilovic (29 points) and Joshua Jefferson (20) combined for nine of ISU's 11 threes.
OSU trailed 23-4 after six-and-a-half minutes and 51-21 at the midway point, hindered by 10 turnovers and 31% shooting.
ISU shot 62% in the first half and 51% for the game, while also winning the rebounding battle, 36-27.

Whiteboard Wizardry:

Head coach Steve Lutz is one of just three active Division I coaches with 100+ career wins and less than five full seasons of experience, joined by Hubert Davis (UNC) and Tommy Lloyd (Arizona).
Per Synergy Sports, OSU ranks 10^th nationally in baseline out-of-bounds scoring, averaging 112.9 points. Synergy estimates the Cowboys are getting roughly 7.0 points per game off SLOBs alone (4^th nationally).
Lutz has also made effective use of his timeouts, after which the Cowboys rank 23^rd nationally in scoring efficiency (104.5 points per 100 possessions).

Streaks & Trends:

After clocking just 2:21 over the last five games, freshman guard Ryan Crotty turned in his best Big 12 performance against ISU with nine points on 3-of-6 three-point shooting.
Jaylen Curry's five steals in the ISU game were the most by a Cowboy this season.
The Pokes have turned up the defensive pressure with back-to-back 13-steal games.
OSU is 6-6 against KenPom top-100 foes -- 8-0 against the rest.
Kanye Clary posted his sixth consecutive double-figure scoring game against ISU. Over that stretch, he's averaging 14.0 points and 5.5 assists.
Anthony Roy has made at least one three-point field goal in each of his last 16 games.
Christian Coleman enters the game just two rebounds shy of 500 for his career.
The Cowboys have dropped 14 straight Big 12 road games, last winning Feb. 21, 2024 at Cincinnati. It's the program's longest dry spell since a 16-game streak that stretched from Feb. 11, 2006 to Feb. 9, 2008.
OSU is looking to avoid just its second three-game losing streak under Lutz. The other came last January against Arizona (H), Texas Tech (A) and Kansas State (A).
81 has been the magic number for OSU under Lutz. The Cowboys are 24-0 when scoring that many points (14-0 this season) but 7-24 when held to 80-or-fewer (0-6 this season).
OSU's Jan. 20 loss at TCU was its first this season when leading at halftime. The Pokes were 11-0 previously (26-2 overall under Lutz).
Under Lutz, OSU is also 22-4 (11-0) when outshooting its opponent and 23-5 (11-0) when winning the rebounding battle.

Depth Charged:

Steve Lutz doesn't put much stock in who starts the game, but rather who finishes.
Lutz has used 15 different starting-fives this season with 12 different Pokes logging at least one start.
Seven players have taken a turn as minutes leader (all on multiple occasions). Reserve guard Jaylen Curry had the honor last Saturday against Iowa State (31 minutes), marking the fourth time this season that the minutes leader has come from off the bench.
Cowboy reserves are averaging just over a third of the team's points (31.1) and have clocked 38.4% of the minutes. Both marks ranks second among Big 12 schools.
Those fresh legs have helped OSU maintain of the nation's fastest paces. The Cowboy lead the Big 12 and rank 13^th nationally in adjusted tempo, per KenPom, with more than one-in-five possessions coming in transition, per Synergy.

The Series with Utah:

OSU is 5-2 all-time against Utah (1-1 BIg 12 era).
The schools split two meetings last season -- Utah's first as a league member -- with each side protecting its home court. The Utes jumped out to a big lead early in an 83-62 win at the Hunstman Center. Three weeks later in Stillwater, the Cowboys did the same, riding Bryce Thompson' 20 points to an 81-72 victory.
The series began with a 1945 NCAA quarterfinal matchup in Kansas City. OSU took down the defending national champion Utes, 62-37, on the way to its first NCAA title. Bob Kurland led the way with 28 points.
When hall of fame coach Jack Gardner moved from Kansas State to Utah in 1953, among the first games he scheduled was against Henry Iba's Aggies in Stillwater. The seventh-ranked Pokes won 71-44 behind 33 points from second team All-American Bob Mattick.
Gardner quickly built the Utes into a power, winning conference titles in 1955 and 1956 with an Elite Eight run in the latter, but Iba's Aggies were up to the challenge, taking a December, 1956 rematch in Salt Lake City (73-59).
OSU is 1-2 against Utah in SLC (0-2 at the Huntsman Center), losing a subsequent visit on Dec. 12, 1980 to a Utah team that would go on to reach the Sweet 16. OSU regrouped one day later for an 87-81 win over Loyola Marymount in the Hilton Classic third-place game.
The teams squared off in the Las Vegas Invitational title game on Nov. 28, 2009. Tournament MVP James Anderson scored 26 points to lead the Cowboys to a 77-55 rout.
The Cowboys' only other visit to SLC came early in their 2004 Final Four season -- a neutral court loss to BYU at EnergySolutions Arena.

Last Meeting with Utah:
Feb. 1, 2025 in Stillwater | OSU 81, Utah 72

Bryce Thompson scored 20 points on 4-of-4 three-point shooting and Arturo Dean handed out a season-high seven assists to help OSU avenge a 21-point loss in Salt Lake City.
Marchelus "Chi Chi" Avery added 17 points off the bench.
Ezra Ausar paced Utah with 18 points
The win was OSU's 300^th in 25 seasons since Gallagher-Iba Arena's renovation.
OSU shot 49%, including 8-of-20 from deep, and knocked down 27-of-36 free throws.
Coming off its two worst turnover games of the season (22 at Texas Tech, 21 at K-State), OSU tightened things up, committing just 10.
The Cowboys jumped out to 12-3 lead and never trailed.
One of the nation's tallest teams, Utah piled up 19 second-chance points on 13 offensive rebounds. The Utes made 15-of-27 from inside the arc but just 7-of-28 from beyond it.

Scouting the Utes:

Longtime NBA assistant Alex Jensen is in his first season as head coach at his alma mater. The 2000 MWC player of the year was a key member of the Utes' 1998 NCAA runner-up team.
Jensen is looking to rebuild a program that lost all five starters from last year's 16-17 team that appeared in the 2025 College Basketball Crown.
Utah is No. 112 in KenPom's efficiency rankings (71 offense, 225 defense).
The Utes (9-11, 1-6) have played four of their first seven conference games against nationally-ranked opponents. This will be their first home action since an 82-79 win over TCU two Saturdays ago.
Utah is averaging 80.1 points per game, helped by a strong 37.1 three-point percentage.
Per KenPom, Utah opponents have generated 55.7% of their 81.5 points per game off two-point field goals (13^th nationally).
Utah's top three scorers all average more than 30 minutes-per-game.
6-3 junior Terrence Brown, the NEC's leading scorer last season at FDU, has continued to produce points at the Big 12 level. He ranks seventh nationally at 22.2 points per game and also leads the team in assists (3.4) and steals (34).
Brown has been a regular at the foul line, averaging 5.7 free throw makes on 80.1% accuracy. The former ranks second in the Big 12 behind BYU's A.J. Dybantsa.
Don McHenry, a 6-foot-2 guard, has also been a reliable scorer, averaging 18.0 points. He's knocked down a team-best 50 threes while shooting at a .403-clip.
Versatile 6-9 junior Keanu Dawes has stepped into a larger role, putting up 12.4 points and a team-high 8.9 rebounds in 30.5 minutes with five double-doubles. He's converted 72.5% of his 2-point attempts (15^th nationally).

Matchup Mashup:

Steve Lutz coached Utah guard Don McHenry during the 2023-24 season at Western Kentucky. The pair helped lead the Hilltoppers to their first ever CUSA tournament title.
OSU played its first three Big 12 road games relatively close to home but will travel to different time zones for each of the last six. This is the first of four straight road games that will tip on Mountain Time, continuing with next weekend's road swing through Arizona and Arizona State and continuing with a Feb. 21 visit to Colorado.
As previously mentioned, Utah (1944) and OSU (1945, 1946) were two of the earliest champions of the NCAA tournament, which launched in 1938. Though OSU denied Utah a Final Four appearance in '44, the Utes have been back three other times since, including in 1966 when they fell to a Texas Western team led by OSU graduate Don Haskins.

A Cowboy win would...

Push their record to 15-6, matching last year's regular season win total (15-16) with 10 games still to play.
Be their first Big 12 road victory since Feb. 21, 2024 at Cincinnati, snapping a 15-game streak.
Make them 6-2 all-time against Utah (2-1 Big 12 era).
Be their first win over the Utes in Salt Lake City since 1956 and boost their series road record to 2-2 (1-2 at the Hunstman Center).

A Cowboy loss would...

Match their longest losing streak of the Lutz era (3 in January, 2025).
Be their 16th straight Big 12 road loss, dating back to February 2024.
Narrow their all-time series lead over Utah to 5-3 (1-3 in SLC).

Up Next: 13/13 BYU
Wednesday, 8 p.m. CT (FS1)

The Cowboys will close out the first half of the Big 12 schedule at home against 13^th-ranked BYU.
This will be just the second Big 12-era meeting in Stillwater. OSU won the first on Feb. 17, 2024 over a BYU team that came in ranked 12^th in the AP poll.
The Cougars have since won two straight -- both in Provo.
It's the first of back-to-back games for OSU against top-25 teams, continuing next Saturday at No. 1 Arizona.