Oklahoma State gets a stiffer test Friday night when Queens comes to Gallagher-Iba Arena for an 8 p.m. tip.
The Cowboys are 1-0 after rolling past Incarnate Word, 91-60, on Monday. Queens arrives at 2-0 and has already shown it can survive a tight finish, edging Loyola Marymount 96-95 on Wednesday. For OSU, this is the first opponent on the schedule that made the NCAA Tournament last season.
The Royals, based in Charlotte, N.C., were a Division II program before moving to Division I in 2022 and joining the ASUN. They reached the NCAA Tournament for the first time last season, falling to Purdue in the opening round, and came into this year as the league favorite after finishing 21-14 a season ago.
Their start has been anything but routine. Queens opened at Winthrop in Rock Hill, S.C., then made a cross-country trip to Los Angeles for the Loyola Marymount game.
Now it heads to Stillwater before another road stop at BYU on Tuesday. After that, the Royals still have buy games against LSU, Houston and Baylor before conference play begins.
Oklahoma State had plenty to like in its opener, especially from a pair of Sam Houston transfer guards. Jacob Walker tied school records for a Cowboy debut with eight assists and four steals, while also scoring eight points. Kashie Natt added seven points, three rebounds and two assists.
The Cowboys also got balanced scoring. Four players finished in double figures, and three of them came off the bench.
Luka Bogavac led that group with 14 points, Parker Robinson had 11, and Andrija Grbovic scored 10. Jordan Burks was the only starter to reach double figures, finishing with 11.
OSU is still waiting on a couple of pieces. Guard Kanye Clary could be back after sitting out the opener with a groin issue, while forward Parsa Fallah continues to recover from a torn ACL.
Queens has its own emerging star in Jordan Watford. The All-ASUN freshman selection averaged 11.8 points, 2.6 rebounds and 3.9 assists in 20.8 minutes per game in 2025-26, and he’s taken another step early this season.
Watford scored 26 in the opener against Winthrop and followed that with 20 against Loyola Marymount. He’s shooting 54% so far and has attempted only one 3-pointer.
That makes the Walker-Watford matchup one to watch. Walker’s defensive showing against Incarnate Word suggests he could draw the assignment, and after averaging one steal per game last season, Monday’s performance hinted at a possible step forward on that end. With more scoring options around him this year, Walker can spend a little more energy locking in defensively.
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