5 Thoughts on Oklahoma State's 72-69 Win Over West Virginia

STILLWATER – I’m not sure there are many Oklahoma State fans that can take much more excitement than what Cowboy basketball has given everyone over the past month. For the second time in less than a week, Mike Boynton and Co. have knocked off a higher-ranked West Virginia team, this time 72-69 in the opening round of the Big 12 tournament.

Here are my 5 Thoughts on the No. 5 Cowboys’ win over the No. 4 Mountaineers.

This was an incredibly gritty and gutsy win by the Pokes

Down eight points with just under 13 minutes to play in the game and with the Mountaineers rolling, the Cowboys found a way to go on a 21-3 run to regain the lead. There were multiple turnovers, which we’ll get to in a minute, but the Cowboys found a way to fight back from those as well. One of the scariest turnovers turned into one of the grittiest and gutsiest sequences for the Pokes. Cade turned the ball over under the basket with less than 30 seconds left but forced a miss on the shot and a foul against WVU on Ice, who made two of the biggest free throws of the season. With 16 seconds left, Ice recorded a huge block on a three-point attempt, then everyone played suffocating defense and didn’t allow the Sean McNeil to even get another three-point attempt off.

After missing roughly a month of basketball, Isaac Likekele played some of his best ball down to the stretch to help secure the Pokes’ win

The rebounding performance was solid

For the second-straight game, the Pokes outrebounded the Mountaineers, 45-32. Sure, Derek Culver was playing with some sort of bug, but he turned it on in the second half to finish with nine boards. However, Kalib Boone has really picked up his play as he finished with 10 boards, six of which came on the defensive end. Ice Likekele also had a solid day on the boards as he finished with seven in his fist game back in a month, five of which game on the defensive end. They also outscored WVU in the paint 40-30. They didn’t get much help from MA Moncrieffe as he picked up two quick fouls in the first half, then a quick third foul in the second half. Hopefully he’ll have a better outing in the semifinals game.

Avery Anderson III might be the most-clutch player in the country

After dropping 31 against the Mountaineers last weekend, Avery got off to a bit of a rough start to the Big 12 opening round game. He finished the first half with just two points, three fouls and three turnovers. He’d come out in the second half and drop 15 points, two assists and two steals and didn’t pick up another foul. I think it’s safe to say that even with Cade, the Pokes wouldn’t be having the success they are without the improved play by Anderson.

We just need to accept and live with the turnovers

Turnovers have been a massive issue for the Cowboys all season long, so a 20-turnover game against WVU should come as no surprise. It certainly doesn’t mean you should like it, but anywhere between 15-25 turnovers is something that’s going to happen from here on out for the Pokes. The plus side to the turnover discussion is they forced 15 on the other end and created a lot of havoc most trips down the court.

The Pokes have a tough out in the semifinals

While the game has yet to be played by the time this article was published, I think it’s safe to say the Pokes will be facing the Baylor Bears in the semifinals of the Big 12 tournament. The Pokes dropped both games against the Bears this season, 81-69 in Stillwater and 81-70 in Waco. The Bears are the defending regular season champs and are averaging an impressive 85.3 points per game while getting stellar play out of Jared Butler, who’s averaging 17.1 points and 5.0 assists per game.

However, it’s extremely difficult to beat a team three times in a season and the Cowboys are playing some really gritty and gutsy basketball right now. Excited to see how that one plays out. Tipoff is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. on Friday and will be televised on either ESPN or ESPN2.