Postgame Notes: Davidson

[2] Oklahoma State 84, Davidson 80
National Invitation Tournament | First ROund
March 17, 2026 | Stillwater, Okla. | Gallagher-Iba Arena
Records: OSU: 20-14; Davidson: 20-14

Scoring                              1st        2nd                       Final
Davidson 50          30          -              80
Oklahoma St. 40          44          -              84

Team Leaders:
Pts:       Clary (20), Ahmed (16), C. Coleman (15), Curry (11), Guetta (11)
Reb:     C. Coleman (13), Curry (6), Ahmed (6)
Ast:       Crotty (4)
Blk:       Coleman (1)
Stl:        Ragland (3)

Quick Summary:

Down by 10 points at halftime, short-handed Oklahoma State rallied for an 84-80 win over Davidson in the first round of the NIT.
The Cowboys notched their 20th win and will host Wichita State on Sunday (start time TBA).
Kanye Clary led a group of five double-figure scorers for the Cowboys (20-14), who were down to just eight active players due a combination of injuries and suspensions but got big contributions from some of their deep reserves.
Benjamin Ahmed (16 points), Daniel Guetta (11), Kirk Cole (6) and Mekhi Ragland (5) all set new career-highs.
Christian Coleman added 15 points and 13 rebounds.
Roberts Blums tallied 22 points and hit six of Davidson's 15 three-pointers.
The Wildcats nailed six threes over the last 3:55 of the first half to take a 50-40 lead into the break.
OSU opened the second half on an 11-2 push and regained the lead on Coleman's basket with 13:08 to play.
The teams jockeyed for position over the next 10 minutes before Guetta's corner three gave OSU the lead for good with 3:56 left.
The Cowboys made 9-of-12 free throws over the last 1:42 to seal the win.

Series Info:

Tonight's game marked the first ever men's basketball matchup between the schools.

Team Notes:

Head coach Steve Lutz secured his fourth 20-win season in five years as a head coach.
This is the 39th 20-win season in OSU history and the first since 2023.
OSU improves to 8-3 in first-round NIT games, including 7-1 in Gallagher-Iba Arena.
The Cowboys have won at least one game in each of their last five NIT appearances.
OSU has scored at least 81 points in all 20 of its victories.
The Pokes out-rebounded the Wildcats, 39-32. They're 16-2 when winning the battle of the boards.
The Cowboys outscored the Wildcats 40-28 in the paint and 21-5 at the foul line.
The Pokes are 9-1 when hitting at least half of their shots. They shot exactly 50% against Davidson, including 7-of-15 from three.

Individual Notes:

Christian Coleman's 13 rebounds tied for the second most by a Cowboy in an NIT game.
Coleman (15 pts, 13 reb) recorded his fifth double-double as a Cowboy and 12th in his career.
Daniel Guetta made just his third appearance in the last two months, finishing with career-highs for points (11) and minutes played (21:00).
Kirk Cole made his first appearance since Feb. 7 at Arizona and set career-highs for points (6) and minutes (9:52).
Benjamin Ahmed has scored in double-figures in four of the five games since moving into the starting lineup. Over that stretch he's averaging 10.8 points and 5.4 rebounds.
Freshman Mekhi Ragland set career-highs for points (5) and steals (3).
OSU used its 20th unique starting lineup this season

###
OSU Starters (Starts in '25-26, OSU Career, NCAA Career):
F             #4          Christian Coleman                     25          25          67          19 straight
C            #23       Benjamin Ahmed                         6             6             6             5 straight
G            #1          Kanye Clary                               30          30          54          22 straight
G            #0          Jaylen Curry 6             6             40          First since Jan. 10
G            #24       Ryan Crotty 9             9             9             First since March 10

Up Next:
Home vs. Wichita State | NIT Second Round | Sunday (Time TBA)

For the second straight year, the Cowboys will host Wichita State in the NIT. OSU defeated the Shockers in last year's opening round.
WSU (23-11) – the regular season and tournament runner-up in the American Conference – has won 13 of its last 16 games.

OSU leads the series against its former MVC 33-11 (16-5 in Stillwater).

Oklahoma State University Athletics

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Players Mentioned

Benjamin Ahmed

Kanye Clary

Kirk Cole

Christian Coleman

Ryan Crotty

Jaylen Curry

Daniel Guetta

Mekhi Ragland

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