The Bearcats end their regular season with a trip to Stillwater to take on Oklahoma State (14-16, 6-13 Big 12, NET #100, KenPom #99) in a game that will impact seeding for next week's conference tournament if nothing else.
The Cowboys are wrapping up year #1 under former Western Kentucky coach Steve Lutz and are looking to end the conference slate with a commendable 7-3 home record. After two double-digit losses on the road, the Cowboys are hoping the familiar confines of Gallagher-Iba Arena will allow them to pick up where they left off on 2/25 when they beat Iowa State 74-68.
Oklahoma State plays fast (20th nationally in Adjusted Tempo) but are one of the conference's least efficient offensive teams (158th nationally). Their ace in the hole is that they draw more fouls and get to the free throw line more than any other team in the Big 12 where they have shot 71.5% during conference play.
The Cowboys boast one of the league's deepest benches as they comfortably play up to 10 players each game. They are also one of the league's oldest teams as 7 of their top 10 players are either in their 4th or 5th season of college basketball.
We did not see their leading scorer, 6'5 Bryce Thompson (12.3 ppg), before he got hurt last season, but we did face off against their starting center, 6'10 Abou Ousmane (12.1 ppg), who last played for Xavier, along with UCF transfer, 6'8 Marchelus Avery (11.6), who comes off the bench to shoot over five 3s/game at a 34.4% clip.
As deflated as our NCAA tournament bubble may be, a win on Saturday will certainly boost our chances of making any semblance of a run in Kansas City next week.
Hopefully the Cats use Wednesday's embarrassing loss as fuel to get back on track.
The Cowboys are wrapping up year #1 under former Western Kentucky coach Steve Lutz and are looking to end the conference slate with a commendable 7-3 home record. After two double-digit losses on the road, the Cowboys are hoping the familiar confines of Gallagher-Iba Arena will allow them to pick up where they left off on 2/25 when they beat Iowa State 74-68.
Oklahoma State plays fast (20th nationally in Adjusted Tempo) but are one of the conference's least efficient offensive teams (158th nationally). Their ace in the hole is that they draw more fouls and get to the free throw line more than any other team in the Big 12 where they have shot 71.5% during conference play.
The Cowboys boast one of the league's deepest benches as they comfortably play up to 10 players each game. They are also one of the league's oldest teams as 7 of their top 10 players are either in their 4th or 5th season of college basketball.
We did not see their leading scorer, 6'5 Bryce Thompson (12.3 ppg), before he got hurt last season, but we did face off against their starting center, 6'10 Abou Ousmane (12.1 ppg), who last played for Xavier, along with UCF transfer, 6'8 Marchelus Avery (11.6), who comes off the bench to shoot over five 3s/game at a 34.4% clip.
As deflated as our NCAA tournament bubble may be, a win on Saturday will certainly boost our chances of making any semblance of a run in Kansas City next week.
Hopefully the Cats use Wednesday's embarrassing loss as fuel to get back on track.
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