Pokes Set for Big Monday Showdown Against West Virginia
STILLWATER – Oklahoma State is fresh off a thrilling overtime road win over No. 13 Texas Tech, but there’s no time to celebrate as they turn around and face a tough No. 9 West Virginia team in Stillwater on Monday night.
Tipoff is scheduled for 8 p.m. and will be televised on ESPN.
The Mountaineers enter this game 8-3 on the season and are coming off a 75-71 road loss to unranked Oklahoma. It’s their second conference loss, both coming on the road as they lost to Kasas towards the end of December, 79-65.
Their third loss of the season came in a close one to No. 1 Gonzaga in the Jimmy V Classic, 87-82. That was one of the better games played so far this season, especially considering Gonzaga probably has the best chance in the country to win the NCAA tournament this year.
Some big news out of Morgantown this weekend though as it was announced that sophomore big man Oscar Tshiebwe had left the program due to personal reasons. This is the second big man WVU has lost this season, in the past few days in fact, as freshman Isaiah Cottrell was lost for the season with a torn Achilles against Northeastern.
Tshiebwe led the Mountaineers last season in both scoring (11.2ppg) and in rebounding (9.2) and was tabbed a unanimous All-Big 12 Freshman selection and earned Second Team All-Big 12 honors. Through the first 10 games of the season this year, he averaged 8.5 points and 7.8 rebounds per game.
However, the Mountaineers still have a ton of firepower everywhere else. They’re led by sophomore guard Miles McBride and junior Derek Culver. McBride is averaging a team-high 14.8 points per game this season on 44% shooting from the field and nearly 40% from 3-point range. He’s also dished out 45 assists this season and recorded 20 steals.
As for Culver, he’s averaging 13.0 points on 49% shooting from the field and is hauling in 9.5 rebounds per game this season and is going to be a handful for both Matthew-Alexander Moncrieffe and Kalib Boone down low. He’s 6-10, 255-pounds and is extremely physical and dominating in the paint.
The Mountaineers are also getting great play out of senior guard Taz Sherman as he’s turned it up from last season. While he’s still coming off the bench, he’s averging 11.3 points per game on 42% shooting from the field and he’s also shooting 41% from 3-point range.
While this is going to be a tough out for the Pokes, I really like their chances after the win over Texas Tech on Saturday. They lost their first two Big 12 games by a combined four points, then went out an proved they have what it takes to be successful in this league with the overtime upset of the Red Raiders.
When Cade Cunningham fouled out, guys like Bryce Williams, Keylan Boone and Rondel Walker rose to the occassion when it mattered. Isaac Likekele and Avery Anderson III turned it up and played very well on both ends of the court as well.
I’d look for that win to carry over into Monday night against West Virginia in terms of confidence and swagger for the Pokes. As Mike Boynton’s said many times over the past few years, every night out in the Big 12 is very difficult and Monday night is no different.