Oklahoma State has been proving people wrong for the better part of the last month and a half as they continued that streak knocking off the top seed Baylor 83-74. The Cowboys have now won nine out of the 11 games dating back to the 75-67 double-overtime win over then No. 6 Texas on Feb. 6 in Stillwater.
Now, they’re one step closer to proving people wrong again as the Cowboys will have a third showdown with the Longhorns as they’re set to face them in the Big 12 championship game in Kansas City, MO, Saturday night.
Tipoff is scheduled for 5:00 p.m. CT on ESPN.
This is the first championship game for the Pokes since the 2005 season when they won their second of back-to-back tournament championships. They’re 2-1 all-time in the championship game, having lost to Kansas, 53-37, in 1999.
However, the Cowboys have been preparing for this moment all season long. Head coach Mike Boynton had the team practice cutting down nets after practice one day earlier in the season.
"I believe in the law of attraction,” said coach Boynton. “You've got to believe something can happen and you've got to see yourself doing it before you can put it into action, and I wanted to set a tone with this team pretty early about what I expected us to be capable of doing and then we went to work. We haven't talked about it since, but here we are."
The Cowboys and Longhorns split the regular season games, both winning on their home courts. However, it was Boynton and Co. that gave away the game in Austin as they allowed a 17-0 Texas run for a come-from-behind 77-74 win.
Texas had the fight back late to beat Texas Tech in the Big 12 quarterfinal, 67-66, with Matt Coleman getting fouled and knocking down two clutch free throws with 1.8 seconds left. They were supposed to face Kansas in the semifinals on Friday, but the Jayhawks had to bow out with positive COVID-19 cases.
The Longhorns are currently on a four-game winning streak, five if you count the KU forfeit, but they weren’t really impressive wins. They beat Iowa State 81-67 in Ames, beat a struggling OU 69-65 in Norman, then a 76-64 win over TCU in Ft. Worth.
Still, the Shaka Smart led Horns will be a tough out for the Pokes due to weapons. Andrew Jones (14.7 ppg), Courtney Ramey (13.0 ppg), Matt Coleman III (12.7 ppg) and Greg Brown (10.0 ppg) have all had solid seasons. Brown is second behind Jericho Sims in rebounds with 6.6, while Sims has 6.8 rebounds per game. Sims is also averaging 8.7 points per game.
The last time out between these two teams, it was Andrew Jones who led the way with 17 points, with 13 coming from Ramey and 10 boards from Brown.
Cowboy sophomore Kalib Boone had a huge game against the Horns in Feb. as he posted a career-high 22 points, 15 rebounds and five blocks.
Last night against Baylor, Boone posted 10 points, six rebounds and his second-straight six block game. As it has been the past few weeks, it was freshman Cade Cunningham and sophomore Avery Anderson III lead the way for the Pokes. Cunningham posted a team-high 25 points, eight rebounds and five assists, while Anderson posted 20 points and five rebounds.
