When they play each other Saturday in Stillwater, Okla., Oklahoma State can only hope to match what Utah did in the aftermath of their last meeting.
The Cowboys (10-10, 2-7 Big 12) take a three-game losing streak into their matchup against the visiting Utes (12-8, 4-5) and need a dramatic shift.
That scenario played out for Utah a few weeks ago when it snapped its own three-game conference losing streak with a commanding 83-62 win over the Cowboys in Salt Lake City. The Utes went on to win four of six games, including Tuesday’s 69-66 home victory over Cincinnati.
Oklahoma State has dropped seven of nine games and has an uphill road to qualify for postseason play. The team leans on Marchelus Avery (12.5 points per game), Abou Ousmane (11.9) and Bryce Thompson (11.4) for scoring.
The Utes and Cowboys each struggled with turnovers in their most recent outing.
Oklahoma State committed 16 turnovers in the first half en route to 21 for the game, leading to an 85-57 blowout loss to Kansas State.
“A lot of our lack of defense is because we turned the ball over 21 times and gave them 28 points,” coach Steve Lutz said, per the student newspaper.
Although the Utes beat the Bearcats, they finished with 19 turnovers. Utah coach Craig Smith lamented the giveaways, saying the Utes’ 53.1 percent shooting was “a silver lining” that helped them overcome the miscues.
“I felt like our guys thought they were Magic Johnson and John Stockton out there, and guys, you’re not,” Smith said. “Like, just make simple plays, because when — we kept saying it in timeouts — when we make simple plays and simple decisions, we’re scoring at 53 percent (and) we’re getting almost anything we wanted. You’ve gotta just be tougher with the ball.”
Gabe Madsen’s performance was another bright spot for Utah. He scored 18 points, hit three late free throws and dished out four assists in one of his best conference outings. Though he only shot 5-for-13, missing five of six 3s, it was encouraging that the Utes’ leading scorer reached double figures for just the third time in nine Big 12 games.
“It’s been weird,” Madsen said. “Obviously, I’ve never really been through something like this, so I don’t know. I’ve been talking to my dad about just whenever I’d go through a little slump or whatever in high school, he’d just talk about going back to the basics, kind of just taking what the defense gives you and trying to find other ways to help the team out and whatnot.”
–Field Level Media
