Steve Lutz keeps pointing back to defense as the swing factor for Oklahoma State this season, and he’s not pretending the offense needs a full overhaul. His belief is simpler than that: the Cowboys already have enough scorers to hang around with anybody in the Big 12. But if the defense slips again, extra offense won’t save them.
That’s where Jordan Burks enters the picture.
No one on Oklahoma State’s reshaped roster may alter the team’s offense more than the transfer forward, because he brings a dimension the Cowboys did not have enough of last season. Burks, who spent last year at UCF, averaged 13.3 points and 4.8 rebounds while showing he already knows the Big 12 landscape better than most of Oklahoma State’s newcomers.
The real separator is his shooting. At 6-9, Burks is the only forward on the roster who can consistently stretch the floor with 3-pointers.
He hit 37.3% from deep last season, and that number fits the larger pattern of his career: he’s a 37% career 3-point shooter. Kentucky and Georgetown barely tapped into that strength, with Burks attempting just 50 combined 3s across those stops.
UCF used him properly. He took 161 and knocked down 60.
That kind of spacing changes the math for everyone else on the floor.
For one thing, it can pull a defender away from the paint. If a forward has to chase Burks to the perimeter, that leaves one fewer body near the rim and one fewer rebounder down low. The defender has to honor the shot, and once that happens, the lane opens up for teammates.
The clearest potential winner is Julius Halaifonua. The former Georgetown center overlapped with Burks two seasons ago, and the seven-footer brings a reliable inside game of his own, shooting 61% from the floor. If Burks draws a defender out to the wing, Halaifonua can work against just one man inside, and that’s a matchup Oklahoma State can live with.
There’s another layer, too. If Burks feeds Halaifonua and a backside defender digs in to help, the Cowboys can get a clean look for a shooter on the weak side. That puts Kanye Clary, Jacob Walker, Kashie Natt and Luka Bogavac in position to cash in on kick-out chances.
Burks’ shooting gives Oklahoma State something it lacked: a forward who can force defenses to choose between staying home and helping inside. And when that choice gets harder, the offense can start to breathe.
In Other News...
Oklahoma State Enters A Brutal Stretch With Little Room For Error
Oklahoma State heads into a tough Big 12 run with little margin for slipups, starting with a road trip to Iowa State and three of its next four games away from Stillwater. The Cowboys are ranked No. 24 and have leaned on an offense that leads the conference in scoring, while the defense offered a better look in the recent win over Colorado, giving the team at least some momentum as the schedule tightens.
Iowa State brings its own wrinkles into the matchup, beginning with a quarterback situation that coach Jimmy Rogers has handled carefully after recent changes under center. The Cyclones also have a few versatile pieces who can affect a game in multiple ways, which makes this an especially tricky opener for an Oklahoma State team trying to protect its early standing and avoid getting caught in the wrong kind of conference grind. [Read more 🡒]
Oklahoma States New Roster Just Got An Early Reality Check
Oklahoma States first real look at its new basketball roster came with a reminder of how quickly an exhibition can turn into a measuring-stick game. The Cowboys fell 82-65 to Wisconsin at the Kohl Center, spending most of the night chasing a Badgers team that controlled the tempo and kept the pressure on from the perimeter. Oklahoma State did manage to shoot the ball better after halftime, but the early hole proved too deep to climb out of.
Julius Halaifonua led the Cowboys with 16 points, and Jacob Walker added 12 as Oklahoma State tried to find some offensive rhythm against a veteran Wisconsin group. Owen Foxwell paced the Badgers with 19 points in a game that gave the Cowboys plenty to clean up before the results start to count for real. [Read more 🡒]
Former OSU QB Sees One Big Test Coming For Drew Mestemaker
Former Oklahoma State quarterback Clint Chelf liked what he has seen from the Cowboys lately, especially the way Drew Mestemaker has settled in and the way the offense has started to come together around him. The line in front of Mestemaker has been a big part of that progress, and Chelf pointed to that growth as one of the main reasons the unit has looked more comfortable and more productive.
The next challenge, though, comes in one of the toughest spots on the schedule: a Halloween night trip to Iowa State. Chelf talked about the environment and the conditions that can make that game hard to navigate, which adds another layer to an already important test for a quarterback still building his reputation. Mestemaker has already started to turn heads beyond Stillwater, and there is still real interest in how far he can carry this offense from here. [Read more 🡒]