Steve Lutz didn’t need a perfect first exhibition from Oklahoma State. He needed a sign that the defensive work from the offseason and fall had started to show up.
Instead, the Cowboys gave him a mess.
Oklahoma State fell 99-89 to New Mexico on Sunday at Gallagher-Iba Arena, and for Lutz the final margin was almost beside the point. What bothered him was everything that fed into it, especially the defensive breakdowns he’s spent months trying to fix.
“We’ve talked ad nauseum about last year’s difficulties defensively, and that if we didn’t fix those then we weren’t going to be able to get where we wanted to get this year,” he said. “For us to come out and foul 33 times, allow them to shoot 48 free throws and allow a young man who's a darn good player to get 31 on our home floor is inexcusable and we have to do better.”
That “young man” was New Mexico’s Jake Hall, who finished with 31 points, knocked down six 3-pointers and looked every bit like one of the best players in the Mountain West Conference. The Lobos, who made the NCAA Tournament last season and are viewed as the league favorites, took advantage of nearly every opening OSU gave them.
The free-throw line became a major problem for the Cowboys. New Mexico went 36-of-48 there and repeatedly punished OSU’s fouling. The Lobos also shot close to 50% from the field, hit 42% from beyond the arc and kept their turnovers to 12, a number that will almost certainly stand out when Lutz studies the film because turnovers usually start with defensive pressure.
Oklahoma State had some offensive answers, but not nearly enough to cover for the other end. The Cowboys shot 40% overall and just 26% from 3-point range.
Freshman guard Anthony Felesi led five OSU players in double figures with 18 points on 8-of-13 shooting. Junior center Julius Halaifonua scored 16, while Luka Bogavac and Benjamin Ahmed added 13 apiece.
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