No Cade Cunningham, No Rondel Walker, shoot, you might as well have no game as the Cowboys had to play No. 2 Baylor. I can see some fans thinking that way, but on Stephen Howard’s game notes he lists along the right-hand side of the page the pictures and stats of the five starters, of which Cunningham is obviously one. Actually, he’s the one with the most stats. Walker is one of the three “Other Key Cowboys” listed below the starters. One of those other key players listed is sophomore Kalib Boone. It was Boone that drew into the starting line-up for Mike Boynton in lieu of Cunningham’s COVID-19 quarantine. In a real pinch on national television against a team many feel could cut down the nets at the NCAA Tournament bubble in Indianapolis, Boone brought his best.
What made it more impressive is head coach Mike Boynton could have thought he was drawing into losing hand. Just a couple of weeks ago Kalib Boone was experiencing his own version of the sophomore slump. He even admitted to the media in a Zoom call of being lost in the game.
“At times, yeah, I feel like it’s really me stopping me from being the best player on the court,” Boone told the media.
He was averaging 6.7-points, 3.8-rebounds a game, but it was inconsistent and it didn’t feel right. He was limiting himself and his playing time by reaching on defense and getting into foul trouble.
“I’m just worried about all the wrong things,” Boone said while adding that he is his own worst critic and with the help of the coaching staff he can correct. “That’s my fault because I’m not doing the things for me to get back in rhythm. So, I’m thinking that it’s going to magically click, but it’s not. I just gotta do the things for me to help it click. The more I start doing stuff again, the more I feel it. But right now it’s not all the way there yet.”
In the wins over Kansas State and then the upset win over Kansas it was getting closer and then in the pinch where his team needed him as the starter in place of leading scorer and college basketball’s top freshman and the NBA’s future first pick Cunningham, Boone was all the way there.
Marshall Levenson of Pokes Report
Boone drove on Baylor, he rebounded and followed shots, and he even muscled his way to the basket on his way to 21 points.
His one-hander in the lane opened the scoring for the Cowboys. His turnaround a little less than two minutes later was the second basket for the Cowboys. Boone vs. Baylor? Not quite, but win he followed his one miss for his third bucket the Cowboys had their first lead at 8-7 and they would lead at halftime with Boone leading the way in scoring with 11 points.
It wasn’t just scoring as Kalib Boone took a charge from the Bears Matthew Mayer. Boone was screening for teammates, he was setting up pick and rolls, rebounding, defending. It was complete and at the end of the first half he took a pass from Matthew-Alexander Moncrieffe for a slam and then another on a feed from Isaac Likekele that rattled the soft rim on the south end of GIA.
Boone had 11 points at halftime and Oklahoma State led the No. 2 Baylor Bears 36-32.
“It was just the fact that like I told you guys I just felt that I haven’t done everything I could for my team. I’ve been holding back,” Boone said. “Baylor and playing them and any team in the Big 12 then you’re excited and you play with a chip on your shoulder. I said I was going to go out there and play free whether Cade was out there or Rondel, I was going to play free.”
Mike Boynton seemed to substitute a little more. Kalib Boone sat a good portion of the second half and it was midway through that the Bears went on a 19-1 run that gave them control of the game. The Bears were nailing a series of three-pointers.
It was Kalib Boone that ended the run when he muscled inside for a basket. It started a run for Boone as followed his own miss to make it 70-57. He hit again on a feed down low. He had an impressive assist inside to Moncrieffe and he finished with another basket to go for a career high 21 points.
Oklahoma State lost 81-66 to fall to 9-4 on the season and 3-4 in the Big 12, but Boone was a star and the CBS crew including Bill Raftery took note.
He was 10-of-15 from the field, had seven rebounds, the lone assist, no turnovers, a blocked shot and a steal. His previous career high in points was 16 nearly a year ago in the home win over Texas Tech and he had multiple games where had seven rebounds.
“It was huge and, to be honest, it is what I expect from him,” Boynton said of the performance Boone had against Baylor. “What I have to get him to understand is we need that kalbi every game and not just when he thinks it’s an emergency. We need him to be that guy everyday and it starts with him being that guy in practice. He is one of the guys that has been able to practice the last couple of days and in his preparation he was really focused and knew he had a challenge.”
On an afternoon when his team needed his best, he gave it. Slump over, but consistency the rest of the way could really help.
“The one thing I don’t like is when people think I’m skinny and I get punked,” Boone said of showing the muscle against Baylor and players like Mark Vital. “That is the one thing I hate, honestly. I’ve seen Azubuike and Culver and I’ve played guys that are bigger then me. I can move. I can run and I can jump. We use that to our advantage.”
As Boynton said and will no doubt encourage, Boone needs to keep remembering his advantage and keep whispering, he can move. He can run and he can jump and keep doing it.
