Cowboys open desert road swing Saturday at No. 1 Arizona

Saturday, February 7

Tucson, Ariz. / McKale Center

3:00 PM

Oklahoma State University

Arizona

Image Taken at the Oklahoma State Cowboys vs Brigham Young Cougars Basketball Game, Wednesday, January 4, 2026, Galagher-Iba Arena, Stillwater, OK. Bruce Waterfield/OSU Athletics

Photo by: Oklahoma State University

February 06, 2026 | Cowboy Basketball

Cowboy Notes (PDF)

OKLAHOMA STATE (16-6, 4-5) at 1/1 ARIZONA (22-0, 9-0)
Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026 | 3 p.m. CT (2 p.m. MT)
Tucson, Ariz. | McKale Center (14,688)

Watch: ESPN (Mike Monaco & King McClure)
Listen: Cowboy Radio Network (Dave Hunziker, John Holcomb, Kendall Mae Stark)
Stats: okstate.statbroadcast.com
Series: UA leads 4-0 (first in Tucson)

Coaches:
Steve Lutz (Texas Lutheran '95) – 2^nd Season at OSU (33-24), 5^th Overall (102-59)
Tommy Lloyd (Whitman) – 5^th Season at UA (134-33), Same Overall

Opening Tips:

The Oklahoma State Cowboys begin a two-game desert road swing against the nation's unanimous No. 1 -- the 22-0 Arizona Wildcats.
UA won the first Big 12 era meeting between the schools last season in Stillwater and leads the all-time series, 4-0. OSU now makes its first ever visit to the McKale Center.
After Saturday, the Cowboys will continue on to Tempe for a Tuesday date with Arizona State (8 p.m. CT, CBSSN).
OSU is coming off back-to-back wins, led by the hot hand of Anthony Roy (28.0 ppg, 10/18 3pt).
Roy scored 26 in last Saturday's 81-69 victory at Utah, which snapped a 15-game Big 12 road losing streak.
Roy added a season-high 30 in Tuesday's 99-92 home win over BYU. The Pokes let an early 15-point lead slip away but outscored the Cougars 58-51 after halftime to secure their second top-25 win of the season.
The Cowboys (16-6) have now exceeded their 2024-25 regular season victory total (15-16) with still half the Big 12 schedule left to play. A win over the Wildcats would even their league record at 5-5 and further strengthen their case for an NCAA tournament bid.
The AP Poll made its debut on Jan. 11, 1949. Nine days later, OSU pulled the first ever upset of a No. 1-ranked team, defeating Saint Louis, 29-27. The Cowboys have since beaten three other No. 1's: Oklahoma (1989), Kansas (2010) and most recently Baylor (Jan. 15, 2022 in Waco).
OSU's 86.5-point scoring average is just ahead of the school-record pace set by the 2015-16 team (85.7). The Cowboys are 16-0 this season when scoring at least 81 points (0-6 otherwise).
Seven Cowboys average at least seven points per game, led by Roy (18.2 ppg). The senior guard ranks among the nation's best three-point marksmen by both quantity (14^th, 3.42/game) and quality (9^th, 44.8%). He's also shooting a league-best 88.6% at the foul line.
Senior forward Parsa Fallah (13.9 ppg, 59.7 FG%) is the team's top rebounder at 6.3 per game.
Point guards Kanye Clary (5.0 apg) and Jaylen Curry (4.3 apg) lead one the nation's most aggressive attacks (13^th in KenPom adjusted tempo).
Head coach Steve Lutz is one of just four active DI coaches with 100+ career wins and less than five full seasons of experience, joined by Hubert Davis (UNC), Tommy Lloyd (Arizona) and Jon Scheyer (Duke).

On This Date: Feb. 7

1953 – Bob Mattick's tip-in in the final seconds of regulation helped the Pokes to an eventual 60-58 overtime win over Saint Louis in front of 9,700 fans in an overstuffed Gallagher Hall.
2000 – In front of a national TV audience on Big Monday, No. 14 OSU handed No. 20 Kansas its worst defeat under Roy Williams, riding 31 points from Desmond Mason to an 86-53 victory.
2005 – OSU students began lining up on a Thursday. Four days later – on Big Monday -- they helped No. 10 OSU extend the nation's longest home winning streak to 27 games with a 79-67 win over Kelvin Sampson's 16th-ranked Oklahoma Sooners. JamesOn Curry and Joey Graham scored 22 point each and Ivan McFarlin added a double-double.
2015 – Phil Forte woke up with the flu, skipped shoot around, then spent a portion of pregame in the training room, wrapped in a blanket. He went on to score 13 points in 29 minutes as OSU rallied from an 11-point halftime deficit to upset No. 8 Kansas, 67-62.

Last Time on Cowboy Basketball:
Feb. 4, 2026 in Stillwater | OSU 99, #16 BYU 92

Anthony Roy scored a season-high 30 points on five three-pointers and OSU overcame a stellar performance by freshman sensation AJ Dybantsa (36 pts, 7 reb) to defeat No. 16 BYU.
Jaylen Curry scored 18 points and Vyctorius Miller added 14 for the Cowboys, who improved to 2-1 at home against nationally-ranked visitors.
Helped by nine early BYU turnovers, OSU jumped to a 29-14 lead at the 9:00-mark.
Dybantsa scored 13 points during a 19-4 BYU run to close the half, including a dunk with five seconds left that knotted the game at 41.
The teams went back and forth before OSU took the lead for good with a 7-0 run midway through the second half.
The Cowboys scored 21 of their 58 second-half points at the foul line, converting 14-of-18 free throws over the final 3:39 to protect their lead.
BYU shot 50% and hit 13 threes, but OSU outscored the visitors 21-8 off turnovers, forcing 16 while committing just eight.
Kanye Clary tallied nine assists and five of OSU's 10 steals.

Streaks/Trends/BYU Leftovers:

OSU's 99 points were its highest total against a nationally-ranked opponent since a 101-80 win over No. 11 Memphis on Nov. 19, 2013.
BYU lost for the first time under Kevin Young when scoring 90+ points (previously 14-0) and for the first time when shooting 50% from the field (previously 26-0).
In their win over BYU, the Pokes topped the 90-point mark for the ninth time this season -- the second-highest total in program history (12 in 2016-17).
The Cowboys outshot the Cougars 54.7% to 50.0% and are now an unlikely 4-0 this season when their opponents make at least half of their field goal attempts.
Anthony Roy became the third Cowboy to post a 30-point game this season and the first to do it in Big 12 play. Jaylen Curry and Vyctorius Miller scored exactly 30-each in wins over Nicholls (Nov. 22) and Prairie View (Nov. 12) respectively.
It's the first time in 32 years and only the third time ever that three Cowboys have posted 30-point games during the same season. Brooks Thompson, Bryant Reeves and Randy Rutherford were the last trio in 1993-94. Incredibly, Thompson, Reeves and Fred Burley all did it in the same game late in the 1992-93 season (a 114-85 win over Oral Roberts).
Roy is the first Cowboy in more than four years to score 30+ against nationally ranked opponent (Avery Anderson, 34 vs. No. 23 Iowa State on Jan. 26, 2022).
Roy also logged his 20^th career game of 20+ points.
Roy has made at least one three-point field goal in each of his last 18 games. It's the longest streak by a Cowboy in the last seven seasons.
Roy is averaging 3.42 threes-per-game. Randy Rutherford (3.95 for the 1995 Final Four team) is the only Cowboy to average more over a full season.
OSU is 9-1 when Christian Coleman scores at least 10 points. He's done it in back-to-back games against Utah (14) and BYU (10).
Kanye Clary has posted more assists than turnovers in each of his last 19 games. It's the third-longest such streak in program history. Doug Gottlieb, who played from 1997-2000, holds the top two marks (20 and 23).
Clary tallied a career-high five steals against BYU.
The Cowboys ended the night with 10 total steals -- the third time in four games that they've finished with double-digits in that category.

Whiteboard Wizardry:

Per Synergy Sports, OSU ranks 11^th nationally in baseline out-of-bounds scoring, averaging 110.6 points per 100 possessions. Synergy estimates the Cowboys are getting roughly 6.6 points per game off BLOBs alone (7^th nationally).
Steve Lutz has also made effective use of his timeouts, after which the Cowboys rank 32^nd nationally in offensive efficiency (103.7 points per 100 possessions) as well as 21^st in defensive efficiency (75.6). Both marks lead the Big 12.

OSU vs. Nationally-Ranked Opponents:

No. 1 Arizona is OSU's third nationally ranked opponent in a two-week span.
OSU is 2-3 against AP top-25 opponents this season, but both victories have come at home (No. 25 UCF and No. 16 BYU).
The Cowboys have beaten at least one AP top-25 foe in each of the last 28 seasons. The BYU victory was their 142^nd all-time and 80^th at home.
An 11-point win over No. 25 UCF marked OSU's largest margin over a top-25 opponent since a 64-51 win over No. 14 Texas on Jan. 8, 2022.
Likewise, the Cowboys' 99 points against BYU was their highest output against a ranked team since since a 101-80 home win over No. 11 Memphis on Nov. 19, 2013.

Cowboy Wins Over AP No. 1 Teams:
Jan. 20, 1949 – Saint Louis – W, 29-27 ot
Feb. 4, 1989 – Oklahoma – W, 77-73
Feb. 27, 2010 – Kansas – W, 85-77
Jan. 15, 2022 – at Baylor – W, 61-54

Overtime Claims:

OSU has played 62 consecutive games without an overtime -- its longest gap since 1991.
Saturday will make 714 days since the last OT -- on Feb. 24, 2024 vs. Oklahoma. That's the Big 12's longest active drought and one of the 10 longest nationally.
Perhaps for the best. Cowboys have lost seven consecutive OT contests, last winning Feb. 19, 2022 vs. K-State.

The Series with Arizona:

OSU is still seeking its first win over Arizona.
The Wildcats won the first Big 12 era meeting last January in Stillwater, powered by 27 points from Caleb Love.
Prior to that, the schools met three times over a 12-year span between 1993 and 2005 -- all of them top-25 matchups between hall of fame coaches Eddie Sutton and Lute Olson. The last came in the 2005 NCAA tournament when the Wildcats defeated the Cowboys, 79-78, to earn a spot in the Elite Eight.

Scouting the Wildcats:

Arizona is a unanimous No. 1 in the AP and Coaches Polls and sits atop the NCAA NET Rankings.
The Wildcats have won all 22 of their games by an average of 21.0 points while collecting a nation-best 10 Quadrant I victories.
They've been especially good at the McKale Center with 72-6 record under fifth-year head coach Tommy Lloyd (12-0 this season).
Only one team has come within 25 points of the Wildcats on their home floor this season (Arizona State, which fell 89-82).
Arizona leads the Big 12 and ranks among the national leaders in scoring offense (11^th, 89.5 ppg), rebounding margin (3^rd, +13.0), field goal percentage (7^th, .516), free throw makes (9^th, 19.8) and fastbreak points (9^h, 17.9).
Defensively, the Wildcats are limiting opponents to 68.5 points on 39.4% shooting (17^th).
Five-star freshmen Brayden Burries (15.3 ppg) and Koa Pete (14.8 ppg) are the team's top two scorers.
A trio of returners are also averaging double-figures points. Jaden Bradley (13.9 ppg) is the team's top assist man (4.5 per game, 2.68 A:TO ratio), and 7-foot-2 Motiejus Krivas (11.0 ppg, 8.3 rpg) and 6-foot-8 Tobe Awaka (10.0 ppg, 9.8 rpg) are the Wildcats' best rebounders.
Krivas has blocked 40 shots and Awaka is the national leader in rebounding rate, per KenPom.

Matchup Mashup:

Robert Jennings is the only Cowboy returner who saw time last year against UA (7 minutes). He's out for the season with a hip injury.
KenPom ranks the rosters based on height, weighted by minutes played. OSU's next two opponents, Arizona (7^th) and Arizona State (9^th) both rank among the top 10 nationally, averaging around 79.0 inches (6-5^3/4) per position.
This is OSU's second visit to Arizona this season. In early December, the Cowboys defeated Grand Canyon in the Jerry Colangelo Classic doubleheader at the Phoenix Suns' Mortage Matchup Center. Arizona State defeated Oklahoma in the nightcap.

A Cowboy win would...

Mark the fifth time that they've knocked off an AP No. 1 opponent (5-9) and the second time that they've done so on the road (Jan. 15, 2022 at Baylor).
Give them their first three-game Big 12 winning streak since a four-gamer in February 2023.
Give them back-to-back Big 12 road wins on the heels of a 15-game conference road losing streak.
Be their first ever against Arizona (1-4).
Even their Big 12 record at 5-5.
Make them 3-3 this season against AP top-25 opponents (1-2 on the road).

A Cowboy loss would...

Make them 2-4 against nationally-ranked teams this season (14-3 against everyone else).
Drop them to 4-10 all-time against AP No. 1.
Give Arizona a 5-0 lead in the all-time series (1-0 in Tucson).

Up Next: at Arizona State
Saturday, 8 p.m. CT (CBSSN)

The Cowboys continue their desert road swing Tuesday at Arizona State.
ASU (12-11, 3-7 heading into Saturday's game at Colorado) is No. 73 in the NCAA NET rankings. The Sun Devils have the nation's 64^th most efficient offense, per KenPom, and 113^th defense.
Maurice Odom (17.0 ppg) is ASU's top scorer and one of the nation's best table-setters (6.2 apg).
OSU leads the all-time series with ASU, 6-3, but lost its only two previous visits to Tempe (1994 and 1996).
OSU took the first Big 12 era meeting last season in Stillwater, 86-73. Jamyron Keller scored 14 points and five other Cowboys added 10-each. Alston Mason scored 25 for the Sun Devils, who shot just 33% from the field.