STILLWATER – The big cameras will be out on Saturday afternoon as ABC televises the Cowboys hosting Texas. Over the years there have been some very special games in Gallagher-Iba Arena between Oklahoma State and Texas. I can remember a national ESPN audience coming in to see the Cowboys battle one and done Kevin Durant when he was a Longhorn and that was an entertaining night. My guess is ABC scheduled this game for the big show in part due to another one and done player in the Cowboys Cade Cunningham. Cunningham has been the major topic of discussion for recent announcers when they weren’t focused strictly on the action.
After a loss to TCU on Wednesday, where the Horned Frogs completed the season sweep of the Cowboys 81-77 and Texas losing by 14 to unbeaten Baylor in Waco earlier in the week both teams would like to reverse fortunes. Texas three of their last four games with a postponement and a cancellation stacked in there as well.
For the Cowboys the loss and being swept by TCU is the biggest eye sore on a resume’ that was starting to look March Madness solid.
“In the locker room there was no talking and on the bus ride home there was no talking, so you could tell everybody took the loss really hard,” said guard Avery Anderson III, who struggled to find his shot in Ft. Worth. Everybody came back yesterday and we watched video, and I thought they were really engaged. We all know what we have to do coming our tomorrow to get the job done.”
Oklahoma State lost to Texas in December down in Austin 77-74, another game the Cowboys had a chance to win. Texas is highly visible target. A win over the Longhorns will help the Cowboys in a lot of areas. The eye test to start out with, but it is a win that would likely resonate with the computers that have been slow to warm to the Cowboys success.
“We didin’t do enough to put ourselves in a real position to play as well as we are capable of,” head coach Mike Boynton said in wrapping up the loss. “I tell the guys all the time that you can’t cheat the game. Somethings went against us late in that game but if we had done more of what we should have done early then I feel like we wouldn’t have been in that position.”
A key aspect to being better Saturday in a quick turnaround and they will have an even faster turnaround to Monday at Kansas, you have to forgive yourself and move on.
“We don’t start the game (Saturday) 10 points down because we lost at TCU and we wouldn’t start it 10 points up when we win,” Boynton said. “We have to come out tomorrow and start the game with a better focus, a better urgency, and that we play much better from the start than we did the other day.”
