Oklahoma State Prepares for NIT Second-Round Showdown with SMU
STILLWATER – Oklahoma State is preparing for their second round match up against SMU on the road in Dallas on Sunday afternoon at 2. The Pokes, who are coming off an 89-79 win over Wichita State this past week, are looking to extend their season at least one more game.
As for the No. 1 seeded Mustangs, they’re coming off a 73-63 win over Northern Iowa last week.
They’re led by junior guard, Boopie Miller, who currently averages 13.2 points per game on 41% shooting from the floor, but Miller’s been sidelined with a hand injury and his status for the game on Sunday is in question.
"We feel like our team, if you saw us play this year, especially when we were healthy with Boopie [Miller], we were an NCAA Tournament team. We could win games in the tournament," Enfield said during his Northern Iowa post-game radio interview Wednesday. "I was proud of our guys to put their disappointment aside, come here and play in the NIT and give a good effort tonight against a good team."
Right behind Miller is senior guard Chuck Harris and junior guard, B.J. Edwards. Harris, who’s averaging nearly 13 points per game, dropped 12 points in the win over UNI. He’s shooting nearly 45% from the floor and is the leading 3-point threat with 42% from beyond the arc.
As for Edwards, he’s averaging 10 points per game on the season but led the team against UNI with 16 points on 7-of-16 shooting from the floor.
As a team, they’re averaging 80 points per game on an impressive 48% shooting from the floor and 37% from 3-point range. They’re also outrebounding their opponents by nearly six boards a game. As for the Cowboys, they’re averaging 35 boards per game, so Abou Ousmane and Co. will have their work cut out for them on Sunday.
The question of whether a team wants to play in an NIT game is always a valid question, especially if they feel like they were snubbed out of the NCAA tournament, just like SMU. But the first game of the tournament for both teams proved to us they want to compete and continue their seasons, at least one more game.
We’ll see if the Cowboys still want to continue their season one more game as they tip off against the Mustangs on Sunday at 2 p.m. CT. The game is being televised on ESPN2.
