A hungry Oklahoma State squad travels to Manhattan, Kan., on Wednesday night to take on Kansas State.
The Cowboys (10-9, 2-6 Big 12) have lost four of their five games since defeating Kansas State 79-66 in Stillwater, Okla., on Jan. 7.
The Wildcats (8-11, 2-6 Big 12) snapped a six-game losing streak with a stunning 73-60 victory over then-No. 23 West Virginia on Saturday. They shocked the Mountaineers by starting the game with a 19-2 run. The lead grew to 42-18 by halftime.
The Mountaineers started the second half with an 11-2 run but never got the deficit inside single digits.
“We were locked in,” Kansas State coach Jerome Tang said of the fast start. “Guys were in attack mode. I thought we got to the paint, and defensively we made it difficult for them. I don’t know if we’ve gone on a 17-0 run this year at all. Offensive runs have been few and far between.”
Five Wildcats scored in double figures, including a team-leading 15 points from Dug McDaniel, who added six assists and two steals. McDaniel is scoring 9.8 points per game, one of five Wildcats averaging between 9.3 and 12.7.
Not only has Oklahoma State been losing recently, it has done so by double digits.
Most recently, at Texas Tech on Sunday, the Cowboys put together a 16-1 run to trim their deficit to 52-49 with 5:07 to play. But the Red Raiders closed on a 12-5 run for a 10-point victory.
Turnovers were the problem for the Cowboys. They committed 20 of their 22 in the first 30 minutes of the game.
“You can’t turn the ball over 22 times against anyone (and) expect to win, much less (against) a team like Texas Tech,” coach Steve Lutz said. “That’s a top-10 defense in the country. I still feel in my mind that a lot of those turnovers were self-inflicted, and us trying to do way too much instead of letting the game come to us.”
The Cowboys have a trio of double-digit scorers, led by Abou Ousmane at 12.6 points and 6.1 rebounds per game.
–Field Level Media
