Not Stillwater…
Kansas looks to get its second true road win and first one in conference play tonight, as they travel to Stillwater to take on Bill Self’s Alma Mater, Oklahoma State. Here’s what you should know about the Cowboys.
Hopefully last week’s game at UCF will serve as a reminder that there are no free games in the Big 12, especially on the road. Oklahoma State actually remains the lone winless team in Big 12 conference play, but their overtime game with Baylor suggests they can hang with anybody if given the chance.
Turnovers
Fans of both teams will be able to sympathize over one shared struggle: turnovers. For OSU, they turn the ball over 19.5% of the time, (good for 309th in the country) not to mention Saturday’s game, where that number jumped to 30.3%. Almost every third possession they turned it over against Iowa State, on their way to 42 total points. Harris, McCullar, and Co. should be licking their chops to get some steals and fast break points. The game could get particularly messy if the Jayhawks decide they also don’t care about the basketball. They turned it over 17 times in the loss against UCF and 18 times in the should-of-been-a-loss against TCU. But as we all saw Saturday, the Jayhawks set the program record for turnovers in a game, with just 2 against Oklahoma. Which team will we get tonight? Probably something in between if we’re being honest, but let’s keep it in the single digits if possible.
It will be interesting to see how often Oklahoma State and the rest of the Big 12 opt for a zone defense against KU. Bill Self is one of the last coaches who would typically struggle with a zone, but that was just the case against UCF.
Shooting
When the Cowboys don’t turn it over, they actually shoot it pretty well. Leading scorer Javon Small hits at a 40% rate from three, former Jayhawk Bryce Thompson sits at 36%, while the team as a whole makes a little over 9 3s per game, just behind Baylor for 31st in the country. However, they are shooting just 29% from 3 in their last 3 games. Kansas allows 31.9% for opponents on 3s, but allowed the UCF guards to get hot last Wednesday.
Rebounding
Both teams rebound decently well on the defensive glass (KU, 59th, OSU 55th) and not so decently well on the offensive one (KU 187th, OSU 165th). Look for either team to buck the trend to get some sort of advantage.
Players
As mentioned previously, OSU’s guard tandem of Small and Thompson lead the team in points and shooting. Watch for Jarius Hicklen off the bench as well. All 29 of his made field goals have been a 3 pointer this year. Read that again. He hasn’t made a shot inside the arc yet, as he’s only attempted 6 compared to 66 from deep. The rest of the Cowboy team is pretty young. They’ve got 5 freshmen who have already logged 100+ minutes each. This crew combines for about a third of OSU’s minutes and points, three times the Big 12 average. Brandon Garrison will be one of the rookies starting tonight, in what will be a little a bit of an experience
History
While the Cowboys have had KU’s number in the past (won 4 of 7 from 2015-2018), they are just 1-9 in the matchup recently. The games in Stillwater always have a weird feel to them, especially these days with Bryce Thompson suiting up and often having his best games against KU. A win tonight would finally give Bill Self a winning record in Stillwater as KU’s coach. (although he’s 8-10 overall if you include his time at Oral Roberts)