Oklahoma State Looking to Rebound Against Struggling Iowa State
STILLWATER – Oklahoma State is looking to bounce back into the win column Monday evening against Iowa State following a short-handed 81-66 loss to No. 2 Baylor over the weekend.
That game will be televised on ESPN2 and will tipoff at 8 p.m. CT. You can stream the game on WatchESPN app and, as always, you can listen to Dave Hunziker and John Holcomb on the Cowboy Radio Network and on XM Ch. 380.
The game against No. 2 Baylor was the first game back on the court for the Pokes since 75-70 win over Kansas on Jan. 12. Since then, the Cowboys, as well as one of their Big 12 opponents, West Virginia, have dealt with COVID issues. The Cowboys entered the Baylor game with only two days of practice and without Cade Cunningham, who was sidelined due to COVID precautions, and Rondel Walker, who was dealing with an arm injury.
The Pokes lead for roughly 25 minutes of the game before fatigue and exhaustion started to set in. While that certainly could be an issue against Iowa State as Cade Cunningham isn’t expected to be available, the Cyclones are last in the league at 0-5 in conference place and 2-7 overall. The Big 12 isn’t a place to mess around, but this should be the perfect opportunity to bounce back.
The projected lineup for the Pokes looks like Avery Anderson III at point guard, Bryce Williams and Isaac Likekele at the two and three spots respectively, Matthew-Alexander Moncrieffe at the four and Kalib Boone, who’s coming off a career game against Baylor, is at the five.
Boone and Moncrieffe are both coming off great games against Baylor this past weekend, especially Boone. Moncrieffe posted the first double-double of his career as he finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds. As for Boone, he was finally able to get out of his funk as he posted a career-high 21-points on 10-of-15 shooting from the field. He also hauled in seven rebounds.
The Cyclones are averaging 68.4 points per game this season and is led by point guard Rasir Bolton, who’s averaging 14.8 points and 4.9 rebounds per game. They’re also getting solid play out of the senior transfer out of DePaul, Jalen Coleman-Lands. Coleman-Lands is averaging 12.7 points and 4.3 points per game.