Mike Boynton Understands Frustrations Following 3-5 Start

STILLWATER – There was seemingly a lot of promise surrounding Mike Boynton’s 2023 roster as Oklahoma State played the transfer portal well and signed a handful of talented freshmen. 

However, it’s been a 3-5 start to the season, which has featured home losses to Abilene Christian and Creighton, a road loss to Southern Illinois and neutral site losses to Notre Dame and St. Bonaventure.

This year marks the worst start to a season for the Cowboys since the 3-6 start to the 1986-87 season, the first year Leonard Hamilton was head coach. That team would go on to finish the season 8-20.

“Certainly, less than ideal, probably to be as mild as possible, starting the year off 3-5,” Boynton said early this week. “I ain’t here to make excuses about it: we’ve got to play better, I’ve got to coach better, we’ve got to get more consistently productive on both ends of the court.”

Other than most of the game in the loss to Creighton, the Cowboys have had a chance to win most of the five losses on the season. They’ve gotten great play out of transfer point guard, Javon Small, who’s leading the Pokes in scoring with 17 points per game, nearly six points more than senior guard Bryce Thompson, who’s sitting with 11.2 points per game.

However, one of the dark spots on the statsheet for the Pokes is from the charity stripe, where they’re shooting an abysmal 63% as a team.

They’ll have a chance to get back in the win column on Sunday as they’ll face in-state rival Tulsa in the Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, but with a rather slow and unimpressive start to the season so far, Boynton certainly understands the unrest surrounding the program.

“I’m man enough to come in here and say we just gotta play better more consistently,” Boynton said. “We have to win more. I’ve gotta coach better. I’ve gotta continue to put our team in positions where we’re more successful. At the end of the day, that’s really the most important thing… The process word is nasty. No one cares. It’s Year 7, they want results, and they want them now. And they want them every time we step on the court.”

While it might not be full-blown panic mode yet for this coaching staff, it’s certainly getting closer and closer, especially as this team gets closer and closer to Big 12 play. The Big 12 is consistently the toughest conference in college basketball and this year’s no different as there are seven teams inside the top-20 in the NET, including BYU at No. 1 and Houston at No. 2.