On Tuesday, March 17th, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, down five rotation players, managed to slip by the Davidson Wildcats, 84-80, in the first round of the 2026 NIT. The Cowboys were already without big men Parsa Fallah and Andrija Vukovic due to their respective knee injuries (Fallah, a torn ACL, and Vukovic, a torn meniscus). However, the big surprise came just moments before tipoff when it was announced that Anthony Roy, Vyctorius Miller, and Isaiah Coleman were all suspended for the battle with the Wildcats. With those five out, the Pokes leaned on an eightman rotation, saw big contributions from unlikely players, and reached 20 wins in a season for the 39th time in program history.

The Wildcats began the game like their season was on the line and pounced on the Cowboys from the jump. An early 23-9 lead halfway through the first for the visitors had the unfamiliar rotation and Gallagher-Iba Arena rattled. After this slow start, OSU began to ease into things with quality minutes from three freshmen and a walk-on. Young big men Benjamin Ahmed (9 first-half points) and Mekhi Ragland (3 first-half steals) held it down in the paint while freshman guard Daniel Guetta and walk-on Kirk Cole saw their first action in more than a month with 6 points apiece in the opening half.

After the Cowboys tied the ball game at 30-30, Davidson finished the first half on an absolute heater from behind the arc. The Wildcats hit six three-pointers over this stretch. Cowboy coach Steve Lutz stood with his hands on his head as the Wildcats led the home squad 50-40 at the intermission.

The opening minutes of the second half were like Steve Lutz flipped out and then flipped a switch in the locker room at the break. Before the under-16 TV timeout, his team had cut the deficit down to one, trailing just 52-51 thanks to baskets at the rim by Benjamin Ahmed and Christian Coleman. Gallagher-Iba was gearing up for another quality finish, as from this moment on, no team would lead by more than five points the rest of the way.

A quality performance is what the Cowboys delivered down the stretch, battling for the lead on the backs of regular starters Kanye Clary (17 2nd half points) and Christian Coleman (15 points and 13 rebounds in 37 minutes). However, it was an unlikely hero who gave the Pokes the lead for good. Freshman guard Daniel Guetta, who had only appeared in nine games all season up to this point, hit a right corner three with 3:59 remaining for a 73-71 lead. From that point forward, OSU made 8/10 free throws and put the Wildcats to bed, surviving the visitors’ upset big with the 84-80 victory.

The Cowboys were able to overcome a hot Davidson shooting night (15 made threes, tied for a season high) and free-throw struggles of their own (21-30 from the stripe) thanks to five double-digit scorers (Clary 20, Ahmed 16, Coleman 15, Curry 11, Guetta 11). Those numbers were career highs for Ahmed and Guetta.

However, the story of the ball game was the suspensions of three of the Cowboys’ most valuable players.

Here is what Head Coach Steve Lutz had to say on the decision regarding Roy, Miller, and Coleman. “We’re still working through the process. They’ve got to meet the standards and the expectations of the program, and they’re working toward that right now. They made a mistake, and as I said, I believe in humankind. I believe they’re good people, but when I was 18 to 22 in college, I made some mistakes, too, guys. But the fact of the matter is that when you make a mistake, you have to be held accountable, and we are doing so.”

With the win, Oklahoma State improves to 20-14 overall and moves on to the 2nd round of the 32-team NIT. A round that will give the Cowboys another opportunity to host when the Wichita State Shockers visit Gallagher-Iba Arena. OSU defeated the Shockers in the first round of last year’s NIT, giving the Pokes a 33-11 all-time series lead. As of writing, the gameday is set for Sunday, March 22nd, but no tip-off time has been announced.