BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — In a mid-October exhibition that felt more like March madness wrapped in fall suspense, Oklahoma State stunned Auburn 97–95 in overtime on Wednesday night at Boutwell Auditorium. The Cowboys came into this contest unranked, picked to finish 13th in the Big 12, and knocked off an Auburn squad still adjusting to Bruce Pearl’s abrupt retirement. The Pokes left Birmingham with momentum, swagger, and reasons to whisper “sleeper” team this season.
This was no glorified scrimmage hidden in a closed gym. Tickets were sold. Fans filled seats. Broadcast crews aired the game on YouTube, courtesy of the Next Round Live. Auburn’s ex-coach Bruce Pearl roamed courtside in a partial coaching role. Commissioner Greg Sankey watched from the stands. The stage was real. The pressure was real. And Oklahoma State thrived with the lights turned bright.
Auburn, ranked 20th in the AP and 31st in KenPom entering the night, trotted out what amounted to a transitional roster. Without the veteran leadership that took them to the Final Four in April, this version of the Tigers wore its inexperience. Meanwhile, Oklahoma State—the roster of which in 2025–26 includes guards Jaylen Curry, Kanye Clary, Christian Coleman, Vyctorius Miller, and longtime presence Anthony Roy—looked more like a team than a collection of hopefuls. Roy, now in his sixth year, buried clutch triples throughout and willed his team to victory.
The game was a classic tug-of-war. Fouls clogged the stat sheet: Auburn attempted 49 free throws to OSU’s 29. The pared-down halfcourt was punctuated by traded shots from Roy and Auburn’s Tahaad Pettiford in the waning minutes. Neither side yielded. Neither side blinked. But when the smoke cleared in OT, the Cowboys had made the decisive plays to win.
Let’s give credit where it’s due. OSU’s front office deserves props. Their offseason work—bolstering depth, trusting sharpshooters like Roy, and building a roster that can gut out tight road wins—is quietly shaping them into a sleeper pick for both Big 12 surprises and March madness underdog runs. Roy, now in his sixth year, lit up the night, proving veteran poise against a team still figuring its seams.
Now, Auburn. The Tigers returned a small chunk of their previous roster, but without Bruce Pearl behind the bench something felt… missing. The roster they brought was young, raw, transitional. Losing Johni Broom in the paint doesn’t help; Auburn’s rim presence was tested and exposed. That Steven Pearl nepotism hire? The same one folks joked about for the past month and in years prior to it becoming a reality? Let’s just say his job is harder now and the cameras are on.
Credit Pearl for his success under father Bruce as an assistant, but leaping to head coaching duties at a program with instant expectations, in a power conference, is no easy feat.
There’s a reason most power coaches get their start at the lower levels. Sure, Duke and Jon Scheyer may be the exception to that unwritten rule, but it hardly ever works.
Oh and Duke does practically recruit itself, even in the age of NIL. Auburn is in a much better place than it was before Bruce took the reigns, but it’s still far from a blueblood or a typical recruiting destination.
Bruce Pearl built Auburn basketball and its standards. Now, it’s up to his son, a nepotism hire, to maintain that success.
The clock is officially ticking for Steven.
Steven Pearl, in his first unofficial game as head coach, didn’t sugarcoat the loss. He admitted his staff “did not install a proper defensive game plan” and conceded that his group was unprepared for Oklahoma State’s guard movement. That’s accountability. It’s a game that doesn’t count in the standings and can be used as a learning opportunity.
It’s also fuel for trolls. Pearl inherited more than a roster: a reputation to protect, expectations to moderate, and a cult of delusion-filled AU diehards watching every word out of his mouth. Hugh Freeze has yet to fix the football program, so the pressure on Auburn basketball is higher than ever before.
The “nepo hire” jokes aren’t going away after one exhibition, especially after losing to a team picked 13th in the Big 12, missing three of its starters.
Well played!
Still, credit Auburn: they played this hard. They poured starter minutes in. They fought for every inch in front of what was a favorable crowd and they had SEC Media Day duties in Mountain Brook on Wednesday morning, which likely clogged their focus. But desperation can’t mask deficiencies. Rebounding was inconsistent. Guard rotations looked porous. Connections between the backcourt and frontcourt were tenuous, especially with Johni Broom’s absence inside.
For Oklahoma State, this is a night they’ll reference in February, come conference play against the Houston, Iowa State and Baylor’s of the world.
Beating Auburn on the road in hostile territory sends a signal: they won’t be content as mid-tier Big 12 fodder. Roy’s shotmaking, bench energy, and the collective confidence displayed suggest this is a team to watch in non-conference play and beyond. If they keep pulling stunts like this, they’ll be worth a few futures tickets.
Auburn may stitch this together. Their ceiling still towers over many programs in the SEC if they can find cohesion, defensive identity, and veteran calm. The risk is a rapid fall, similar to post-peak Auburn squads before COVID, where hype outpaced reality and March hopes died early.
This game was a refocus, an audition. The exhibition delivered drama, tension, and a reminder: college hoops is back, and it’s unpredictable. Oklahoma State earned their roses tonight and walked off with swagger. Auburn got an early roadmap of what needs fixing: chemistry, poise, defensive structure, and coaching clarity. The Tigers are a work in progress. The Cowboys are plotting something. And for the basketball junkies, that is everything we could ask for.
Steven Pearl and Auburn have their work cut out this season. This game brought a heavy dose of reality that the good times don’t last forever.
In the ever-changing world of college basketball and college athletics, Auburn needs to adapt and do so fast.
The clock is ticking and we’ll find out more on the Tigers in November.
Auburn opens with Bethune-Cookman at home on November 3rd. The Pokes play host to Oral Roberts on November 4th.
It’s college basketball season, folks!
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