After losses to No. 14 Houston and West Virginia, it appeared like Oklahoma State is likely to be in for a repeat of final season when it opened up Large 12 Convention play with six straight losses.
The Cowboys (9-5, 1-2 Large 12) prevented that destiny with a much-needed 79-66 win over Kansas State on Tuesday, led by a 27-point outing from Abou Ousmane.
Now, Utah (8-6, 0-3) is hoping for the same breakthrough efficiency towards Oklahoma State when the 2 groups sq. off Saturday in Salt Lake Metropolis.
The Utes have struggled mightily up to now of their Large 12 debut, shedding to Baylor (81-56), Texas Tech (93-65) and Iowa State (82-59) by a mean of 25.3 factors.
Utah coach Craig Smith remained optimistic after the Utes misplaced to the third-ranked Cyclones on Tuesday. The Utes held an early lead and pulled inside six within the second half earlier than falling on the street.
One bonus was the truth that main scorer Gabe Madsen scored 20 factors after struggling by means of a stoop.
“I assumed we did some actually good issues. Clearly, we have been struggling slightly bit coming into (Tuesday),” Smith mentioned. “We’re not mild on shedding, however I assumed we took a step ahead for our crew for the place we’re attempting to go. We’ll maintain pushing ahead. Our greatest basketball is but to return.”
Oklahoma State will attempt to maintain the ball rolling in a optimistic route because it begins a two-game journey in Utah, additionally together with a sport at BYU on Tuesday.
Although defeating Kansas State was just one win, it positive beats beginning 0-6 like final 12 months.
“The actually good groups that you’re going to see play their finest basketball in March would be the groups that determine it out the quickest,” Oklahoma State’s Brandon Newman informed ocolly.com. “We confirmed actually good flashes (Tuesday), and I am hoping we could be this constant because the season goes on.”
Ousmane leads the Cowboys at 12.9 factors per sport and Marchelus Avery is at 12.6 ppg. Each gamers common greater than 5 rebounds per sport.
–Area Degree Media
