Arizona State delivered a gritty late-game surge to knock off Oklahoma State, 85-76, on Tuesday night - a win that snapped the Cowboys’ momentum and underscored the Sun Devils’ ability to capitalize when it mattered most.
With the game hanging in the balance and Oklahoma State trailing by just one after a Kanye Clary three-pointer made it 69-68, Arizona State responded with a decisive 9-0 run that flipped the script. Maurice Odum drilled a clutch three during that stretch, and the Sun Devils took full control, stretching the lead to double digits with just over a minute left. From there, it was all about composure - and they had plenty of it at the free-throw line to close things out.
Massamba Diop led the charge for Arizona State with 17 points, while Santiago Trouet turned in a double-double - 16 points and 10 boards - that proved crucial in a game where second-chance opportunities told the story. Arizona State didn’t shoot the lights out (just 40% from the field and 5-for-21 from deep), but they made up for it with hustle, grit, and execution in the margins.
The Sun Devils turned 17 Oklahoma State turnovers into 26 points and added another 24 points off offensive rebounds. That’s 50 points generated off effort plays - and in a tight Big 12 matchup, that’s the difference between walking away with a win or a long flight home.
For Oklahoma State, Anthony Roy and Parsa Fallah each scored 16 points, and Clary added 11. But the Cowboys couldn’t overcome their own mistakes. Head coach Steve Lutz didn’t sugarcoat it postgame.
“This league is too good to give away 50 points,” Lutz said. “You can’t turn it over 17 times and get beat on the glass like that and expect to win.”
Lutz pointed to the breakdowns in execution long before Arizona State’s late run put the game out of reach. His frustration was clear - not just with the final score, but with the physicality and effort that his team failed to match.
“This is not a two-hand touch league. This is a tackle football league,” Lutz said.
“If you’re not going to fight and scrap and rebound, you’ve got no shot. We got our butts kicked because of it.”
That physical battle on the boards has been a recurring issue, and Lutz didn’t shy away from calling it out. The Cowboys have now been, in his words, “flat-whipped on the boards” two games in a row - a troubling trend for a team trying to stay afloat in the Big 12 grind.
“We’ve shown we can be tough,” Lutz said. “But not on this trip. That’s on us.”
Oklahoma State now heads back to Stillwater to face TCU on Saturday, and if Lutz’s message wasn’t already loud enough, he made it crystal clear.
“If we’re not going to rebound the basketball and we’re not going to fight on Saturday, we’re going to get the same result.”
For Arizona State, this win doesn’t just add to the record - it’s a reminder of what can happen when a team leans into effort, capitalizes on mistakes, and finishes strong. In a conference where every possession matters, they showed they’re still swinging.