Oklahoma State Basketball: Cowboys look to get back on track against Texas
The Oklahoma State basketball team looks to get back on track against the Texas Longhorns after losing their conference opener to West Virginia.
On Dec. 30, the Oklahoma State basketball team lost to the no. 11 West Virginia Mountaineers at Gallagher-Iba Arena in Stillwater 92-75. OK State gets a great opportunity to bounce back from a disappointing start to conference play, on the road, against the Texas Longhorns. The Longhorns lost their first Big 12 game against the Kansas State Wildcats on the road 65-62. That loss moved UT to 6-7 (0-1 Big 12) on the season. Meanwhile, the Cowboys enter the game with a record of 10-3 (0-1 Big 12).
The Cowboys are likely to be favored in this game. Horns head coach Shaka Smart did not get the start to the 2016-17 season as he had hoped for. However, OK State head coach Brad Underwood did not get the start to conference play that he was hoping for. The Cowboys were only a three-point underdog against the Mountaineers but lost by 17 points.
A good sign for OK State is that senior shooting guard Phil Forte had a great game against the Mountaineers. He scored 18 points on 7-12 shooting, while also posting three rebounds and one steal. Moreover, senior forward Leyton Hammonds had 17 points and seven rebounds.
The biggest problem for the Cowboys last game was turnovers. WVU forced 18 turnovers while the Cowboys only forced 12 turnovers. Sophomore point guard Jawun Evans and junior forward Jeffrey Carroll both turnover the ball over five times. Evans seemed overwhelmed against the “Press Virginia” defense. Both Evans and Carroll are key parts of the OK State rotation and need to take better care of the basketball against the Horns.
True freshman guard Lindy Waters III and freshman center Lucas N’Guessan only had five points combined. They have to play larger roles providing secondary scoring.
The Pokes need better play out of their bench also. Outside of Carroll, the Cowboys only got 11 points in bench scoring. Brandon Averette, Davon Dillard, and Thomas Dziagwa did not score a single point between the three of them.
Horns sophomore Tevin Mack is the best player on their roster. He averages 14.3 points per game and 4.5 rebounds. He is likely to match up with either Waters III or Hammonds.
Moreover, KSU forced 12 steals from the Horns in their last game. Considering OK State forces turnovers at a high rate, that presents a large advantage for the Pokes.
If the Cowboys plan to get back on track toward a bid for the NCAA Tournament this is a must-win game in the early part of the Big 12 schedule. They could use a fast start in conference play since they only won three games in the Big 12 last season.
UT and OK State tip-off a 7 p.m. CST on Jan. 4 at the Frank Erwin Special Events Center in Austin.
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