STILLWATER – Oklahoma State is looking to get back into the win column as they travel up to The Little Apple of Manhattan, Kansas for a showdown with Kansas State. Tipoff is scheduled for 5 p.m. CT on ESPN2.
The Cowboys dropped a heartbreaker to West Virginia earlier this week as they gave up a 19-point second half lead, that also included a 15-1 WVU run, to lose by three, 87-84. With that loss, the Cowboys moved to 7-3 on the season and 1-3 in Big 12 play.
They were in a similar situation against Texas earlier in the season, but allowed a second half Longhorn comeback that was aided by a several minute scoring drought by the Pokes. That’s something Mike Boynton and Co. have been working on heading into Saturday’s game.
"It's game-by-game,” said head coach Mike Boynton. “Some of it just depends on how the run is happening, right? The run here that TCU went on us, the 9-0 to end the game, we literally got the ball within two feet of the basket three-straight possessions. So, I don't feel like we weren't running good stuff or not getting the ball where we wanted to go, we just couldn't finish the play and they scored as well. The other night [against West Virginia], it was just a mental thing. It was more that we weren't focused on playing to win. We played aggressive basketball; we were a pretty damn good team for 29 minutes the other day. I don't want to get away from our guys remembering who they were for that part of the game as well. Yes, we lost the lead, but we also got it. We had a 19-point lead on the 14th-ranked team in the country at our place. I think if we get a stop and a score at that moment, maybe that's the knockout blow and we didn't deliver it.”
Kansas State’s a much different team that West Virginia. They’re a very young team that lost to Fort Hays State earlier in the season. They’re 5-7 on the season and are averaging just 66.3 points per game. That’s 12 points less than the Pokes’ 78 points per game. However, the Big 12 is full of surprises and talent and every night there’s someone who could jump up and bite you.
"It's a young, Bruce Weber team, who always seems to get better as the season goes along,” coach Boynton said of the Wildcats. “I wasn't in the league yet, but I remember watching Dean Wade, Barry Brown and Kamau Stokes as freshmen and watching them go through the process of learning how to compete and win in the Big 12. I think all the people in Manhattan would say it wasn't pretty, but they stuck with the process. They believed in what they were doing and they became Big 12 Champions and went to the Elite Eight one time. They've got a little bit of carryover from the team. I think Mike McGuirl is the only one left, I think, but that's kind of who they are again.
"That's college basketball in many ways, right? If you're going to do it the right way and you're going to not cut corners. You've got to get a bunch of young guys; you've got to teach them how to play. You've got to learn through some bumpy roads and eventually they stick together long enough they can find success. I think this team is getting better. They're much better today than they were a month ago. I expect them to be better a month from now than they are today. It's a credit to his staff and the guys’ commitment to their team. We'll have a challenge. It's not like we've got a bunch of old guys running around here either, they'll be tough to compete with. Davion Bradford, who we recruited for a while, he's a load in there and he's getting more comfortable as the games go along. They've got some really, really athletic players and guys who can really shoot it."
McGuirl is leading the Cats with 12.2 points per game, as well as with 3.9 assists. They’re also getting solid play out of Nijel Pack and Dajaun Gordan, who are averaging 10.7 and 10.2 points per game respectively.
While this game looks to go to the Pokes on paper, they can’t enter Bramlage Coliseum expecting a win. They have to enter and fight a full 40 minutes and try to limit as many self-inflicted wounds, such as turnovers, fouls and scoring droughts, as possible.
