Oklahoma State Faces Arizona State in Must-Win Game Tuesday Night

STILLWATER – No need to mince any words: Oklahoma State got absolutely trounced out in the desert on Saturday by No. 1 Arizona. 

Poor shooting, poor guarding and poor effort. Granted, Arizona is the best team in the country by a long shot, but shooting 25% from the field on 15-of-61 shooting and 48% from the free throw line on 11-of-23 shooting is inexcusable. 

While they couldn’t have lost to Arizona State before, the drubbing by Arizona makes this game an absolute must-win.

Arizona State is 3-8 in Big 12 play, 12-12 overall on the season and in the bottom half of the conference in quite a few categories. 

They are averaging nearly 77 points per game, which is nearly even with the Pokes, and they’re giving up 84 points per game while the Pokes are giving up 83.

Field goal percentage and opponent field goal percent is negligible at 48% (OSU) and 49% (ASU), as is opponent 3-point percentage at basically 37% apiece. Rebounding is virtually a wash as the margin is -4.9 (OSU) and -5.5 (ASU). 

Maurice Odum and Anthony Roy are averaging 18.4 and 18.2 points per game respectively, while Massamba Diop is second on the ASU stat sheet with 14.5 points per game. 

There have, however, been some mutual opponents between the two teams, with UCF (79-76) and BYU (104-76) beating the Sun Devils, both loses coming on the road. Arizona won an emotional rivalry game at home, 87-74, and the Sun Devils beat Utah, 71-63, in Salt Lake City. They also beat Kansas State in Tempe, 87-84, early in conference play. 

The Cowboys have yet to face WVU, who ASU lost 75-63 at home to, and they beat Cincinnati 82-68. 

The Cowboys currently lead this series 6-3, with the Sun Devils leading 2-0 out in Tempe. While the road certainly hasn’t been kind to the Cowboys the past two seasons, this is a winnable game for the Pokes. A must-win if they want any hope at an NCAA tournament berth.

Tipoff is scheduled for 8 p.m. CT and will be televised on the CBS Sports Network.