Scouting The Oklahoma State Cowboys

This week’s polls are out and the Sooners are checking in at #4 and 5. OU also picked up a single first place vote this week in the AP. They’ll defend that ranking tonight in what used to be one of the Big 12’s most intimidating arenas. Now with an expansion/remodel along with hard times that began with the demise of Eddie Sutton, Gallagher Iba Arena has become a state of the art facility that seldom reaches capacity.

This will be OSU Head Coach Travis Ford’s first Bedlam Battle and he brings to the table a team with very little depth and no inside presence. The Cowboys are 2-2 in conference play and 15-3 overall. At home they are 1-2 in conference play with losses to Baylor and Missouri and a win over Texas A&M. O-State ranks second in the conference in points scored per game with 85.4 and have earned a #6 ranking with 47% shooting from the floor. They are tops in the conference in three-point shots made per game (10.3) as well as three-point shooting percentage with 41.5%.

James Anderson is OSU’s main scoring threat. He goes off for 17.9 points and 5.7 rebounds per game. He shoots better than 50% from the floor and 44% from beyond the 3-point line. Obi Muonelo almost gives the Cowboys a double-double per game with 15.6 points and 9.6 rebounds per game. Terrel Harris and Byron Eaton also score in double figures each game as well as Keiton Page who comes off the bench. Harris contributes 14.3 points along with 5.1 rebounds and almost 2 steals per game while Eaton gives a 13.6 point effort to go along with 5.7 assists and a Big 12 leading 2.5 steals per game. Page comes off the bench to score 10.2 points by hitting just over 50% of his shots.

With four guards on the floor Oklahoma State runs a fast paced brand of basketball. Like Baylor they live and die by the jump shot but they lack the inside presence that even the Bears have. The problem with OSU’s version of the run-and-gun is that they don’t yet have the personnel to give Travis Ford what he wants. They can still be very in front of the home crowd if their shots are falling. However, playing Baylor on Saturday was a good warm up against a similar team with better athletes. If the Sooners are able to stick to the same game plan that they used on Saturday this should be Oklahoma’s 20^th win this season.

Correction: O-State is 1-1 in conference play at GIA. Their loss to Baylor was on the road.