Takeaways From Opening Night of Oklahoma State Basketball
Oklahoma State’s basketball season began on Monday with vastly different results.
The evening doubleheader in Gallagher-Iba Arena tipped off with the Cowgirls taking care of SIUE 100-59. But the Cowboys could not keep the momentum going and lost to Abilene Christian 64-59.
Takeaways from OSU basketball’s opening night:
Shooting has to be better
Among other things, the story of OSU’s night against ACU was its putrid shooting performance. Like last season, shooting from beyond the arc and the free-throw line destroyed OSU’s chance of winning.
The Cowboys shot 5-of-23 from 3-point range, three of those makes coming from Connor Dow in a three-minute stretch. Fewer attempts from outside may have aided the Cowboys’ offense, but when they drove and got fouled, they could not convert there either.
OSU shot only 8-of-20 on free throws, its worst percentage from the line since March 2019. Bryce Thompson went 2-of-7 on his free throws, including three critical misses in the final minute.
Late-game execution needs work
The Cowboys entered the final minute of the game trailing by five. They proceeded to turn it over three times after that mark.
While ACU did not play its best during that stretch, OSU’s failures in the final seconds were magnified. With sloppy offense and careless play, OSU’s offense could not capitalize on everything the defense had done to give it a chance to win late.
John-Michael Wright’s attempted cross-court pass was the Cowboys’ last turnover down three, but after a missed free throw on the other end, they still had a chance. Dow threw up a shot from a couple of steps beyond the arc and hit nothing but the backboard to end the Cowboys’ rough night.
Outside shooting will still be a strength
The Cowgirls did not have their desired outing from beyond the arc, but the framework for another elite shooting season is there. Anna Gret Asi was the Cowgirls’ top scorer and got off to a good start from 3-point range, nailing two of her five attempts.
While OSU finished just 6-of-25 from outside, an uncharacteristically poor shooting night from Lior Garzon was one of the main reasons. Garzon finished 2-of-9 from deep on her way to crossing 1,000 career points against SIUE.
With Garzon and Asi both shooting better than 40% from outside last season, the two looked comfortable again in Jacie Hoyt’s offense on Monday.
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Ivan is a sports media student at Oklahoma State University. He has covered OSU athletics since 2022 and also covers the OKC Thunder for Inside The Thunder and Thunderous Intentions.