The Oklahoma State Cowboys have two games under their belts. Now comes the hard part.

The Cowboys (2-0) will travel to College Station to face the Texas A&M Aggies (3-0) on Thursday at 7 p.m. The game will be the Cowboys’ first contest against a power conference opponent — one of three the program will play in November.

After blowing out Incarnate Word and Queens last week, this is the first real test Oklahoma State will face this season. Head coach Steve Lutz knows it. So this would be a great time for guard Kanye Clary to be full strength.

Oklahoma State Prepares for Texas A&M

Clary, the veteran point guard, didn’t play in the season opener and only played a handful of minutes against Queens. He’s dealt with a groin injury since the exhibition games last month and Lutz didn’t commit to how much Clary would play.

“I don't know,” Lutz said. “I mean he's practicing. We'll just manage it as the training staff and the doctors, you know, say. I expect him to play, and the minutes— I hate to put a timetable on him. He played against them last year and played really well. So his experience will be invaluable to us.”

The reality is that Clary didn’t have much of an impact on last year’s meeting in Stillwater, which was an 87-63 loss. Clary only played seven minutes, finishing with three points. He was a full-time starter who averaged 10.6 points and 28.2 minutes per game. Getting him back would be a boost for OSU.

Part of that is Clary’s ability to run the point. Part of that is the style of play for both teams. The Aggies, like the Cowboys, want to play fast. Texas A&M has scored at least 97 points in all three games and more than 100 points in each of their last two games. Lutz liked how his defense played in their first two games. But the Aggies are clearly a bigger test.

Texas A&M features PJ Haggerty, who played for Kansas State last year, who is averaging 18 points. Another guard, Jordan Pope, also averages 18 points as well.

Lutz isn’t worried that both teams want to play fast.

“You have two teams that play an exciting brand of basketball, and there's no reason to slow it down, right?” Lutz said. “We've always taken what the defense has given us. If they're going to put two on the basketball or three on the basketball, then we've got to be able to be strong enough to withstand that and get the ball moving.”

Oklahoma State has balanced its scoring among five players, including forward Andrija Grbovic, who leads the team with 13.5 ppg. Freshman Parker Robinson, a freshman, has 12.5 ppg. Three other Cowboys are averaging more than 10 points per game, but Lutz has played so many players that rotations are still not set.

This will probably be the first game those rotations tighten a bit. But Lutz still needs more information.

“I'm just collecting information — who I can count on, who's going to flip out on me, and who's going to maintain their discipline and their focus?” Lutz said. “But that's going to be the next 10-12 games probably.”