Can the Cowboys Carry Momentum Into the Baylor Game?

Momentum is everything.

But it’s often fleeting.

That’s the vulnerable contrast facing the OSU’s men’s basketball team, riding a two-game winning streak, including a potentially defining upset of then-No. 6 Kansas, and owning two Top 25 victories among its past three outings… waiting for a coronavirus quarantine to end.

The soonest the Cowboys will play is Saturday at home against unbeaten league-leader Baylor, which is receiving votes for No. 1 as the nation’s second-ranked squad. That means the Cowboys will be 11 days removed from KOing KU, an unwanted delay just as they were growing up and growing teeth and gaining confidence.

Pressing pause is hardly ideal, not for a young team that was gaining traction in learning to deal with the ups and downs of big boy college basketball.

They’ve gone from surging to standby, with games against Oklahoma and West Virginia postponed.

And it can’t be comfortable.

Hungry teams like to eat, especially when the competition tastes so good.

“We’ve been very fortunate to play the games we’ve played thus far,” Cowboys coach Mike Boynton said in a statement on Friday. “And we will await the advice of our medical staff before making any decisions on a return to team activities.”

Boynton’s right, in a season filled with delays and postponements nationally, OSU had remained on schedule until this past week. Then the Cowboys were forced to hit the brakes just with a highly anticipated Bedlam battle on deck for Saturday. West Virginia was dealing with COVID issues of their own, shoving Tuesday’s game down the road.

Good news could be coming, as a media call with reporters Tuesday offered hope that the Cowboys might be ready for Saturday’s scheduled game with No. 2 Baylor. Time to press play?

“Fingers crossed,” Boynton said.

The Pokes can only hope a return to action, including practices, is imminent because they’ll need to hit the floor running and gunning against the Bears, who moved to 13-0 by thumping Kansas Monday night.

Can the Cowboys simply turn it back on?

"There's no doubt, this is going pose a great challenge and probably one that's more complicated by us not having the opportunity to really practice for a while," Boynton said Tuesday. "Our guys will be ready. I think we'll be ready to compete. How well we'll play is anyone's guess, but I feel good that our guys will be excited to play against what is certainly one of the premier teams in the all of college basketball."

Boynton’s crew seemed to just be finding its groove, too, with a statement win that firmly moved them into NCAA Tournament projections.

Days off can be welcome, but too many days off can work against a team.

Guarding against that is Boynton’s major task in these days leading up to Saturday.

"I've talked to other coaches around the country who have experienced this and there's been a mix of responses from it,” Boynton said. “You just hope that the kids are excited to play, understanding, because we've talked about there's going to be disruptions.

“How do you handle it, how do you keep yourself mentally engaged in what we're trying to do on the court, but also taking care of your body, continuing to keep your conditioning up somehow, someway?"

Good questions.

No good answers.

Momentum is everything.

And it can be fleeting, especially in the days of COVID-19.