Following an emotional double overtime win over TCU, the Longhorns will travel to Stillwater to take on Oklahoma State. Texas will again be without starting guard Kerwin Roach, who is nursing a fractured left hand. In Roach’s absence, fellow guard Eric Davis responded well against the Horned Frogs, connecting on 4 three pointers and finishing with 22 points. The Longhorns will attempt to get their conference record above .500 and steal a road win from an Oklahoma State team that finds itself towards the bottom of the Big 12 standings.
The Cowboys enter the contest with a 1-3 conference record, with the sole win coming over Iowa State. Most recently, Oklahoma State suffered a 86-82 loss to Kansas State on Wednesday. First year coach Mike Boynton took over for Brad Underwood, who left Stillwater after one season to take the head coaching position at Illinois. Boynton will rely heavily on Jeffrey Carroll for the Cowboys offense. The 6’6 senior is averaging 16.2 points per game to go along with 6.5 rebounds. Point guard Kendall Smith is a graduate transfer who is averaging 11.3 points and a team leading 3.6 assists per game. Sophomore guard Thomas Dziagwa is the leading 3 point shooter for the Cowboys at 40.5% and will be a weapon coming off the bench. As a team, the Cowboys put up a good amount of points (81.2 PPG) and shoot well from the free throw line (78.3%).
Prior to the TCU game, Texas head coach Shaka Smart emphasized the need for point guard Matt Coleman to play with joy and have an energy that his teammates can feed off of. The freshman responded by having his best game of the year, collecting 17 points and dishing out 12 assists. Fellow freshman Jericho Sims also had the best game of his young career, finishing with 14 points and 6 rebounds. The Longhorns will have to clean up some of the defensive problems that popped up against TCU, especially the ability to defend the 3. Oklahoma State will surely test the Longhorns perimeter defense. On offense, Texas will need to continue to get looks for Mo Bamba and Jericho Sims.
The game will tip off at 4 PM CST and will be televised on ESPNews. Follow along here at HornSports for live updates.
