Oklahoma State Basketball: Initial Reactions after victory against TCU

The Oklahoma State basketball team emerged victorious against the TCU Horned Frogs tonight in Stillwater 89-76 to claim their second straight victory.

The Oklahoma State basketball team needed a victory tonight against the TCU Horned Frogs to keep themselves alive for a bid for the NCAA Tournament. It was an opportunity to win two games in a row after starting 0-6 in the Big 12 this season. An 83-64 victory over the Texas Tech Red Raiders gave the Cowboys the kick-start they needed. Moreover, head coach Brad Underwood got his 100th career win.

The Pokes needed to limit turnovers while also shooting better from the free-throw line. Both of which they did much better tonight than in previous games this season. Most importantly, sophomore point guard Jawun Evans stayed out of foul trouble. Evans blew his point total against TTU out of the water tonight with

Now let’s look at the initial reactions from Oklahoma State’s victory over the TCU Horned Frogs.

Jawun Evans and Jeffrey Carroll are the lifeline of Oklahoma State

Evans finished the game with 27 points, eight assists, three rebounds, and one steal. Meanwhile, junior forward Jeffrey Carroll finished the game with 19 points, nine rebounds, one assist, one steal, and one block. Carroll and Evans combined for a little less than half of all OK State’s points tonight.

Evans did not play well against TTU on Jan. 21, but Carroll scored 25 points and grabbed nine boards against the Red Raiders. OK State’s newfound success in Big 12 play starts with Carroll and Evans.

OK State is finally playing well in the second half

This marks two consecutive games where the Pokes outscored their opponent in the second half. That’s something they did not do in their six conference losses to start conference play. Part of that can be contributed to the strong play of Mitchell Solomon who really came on in the last two games.

Furthermore, the Pokes only turned the ball over six times this game while forcing 12 turnovers from the Frogs. In their last conference loss, which came to the Kansas State Wildcats 96-88, they turned the ball over 19 times. Taking care of the ball also needs to continue.

New players are stepping up

OK State had a few lesser known players step up tonight. Sophomore guard Davon Dillard played some key minutes while putting up 10 points, two rebounds, one steal, and one block. He also had two massive dunks, including one to seal the game at the end.

Freshman point guard Brandon Averette played more key minutes tonight with six points and one assist. He’s averaging 5.7 points per game in only 15.5 minutes per game this season.

Freshman center Lucas N’Guessan gave Underwood key minutes in the first half with four points on 2-2 shooting from the field. With Solomon in foul trouble N’Guessan gave the Pokes some added height to combat TCU forward Vladimir Brodziansky who scored 20 points.

Next: Oklahoma State halftime thoughts against TCU

This was an enormous victory for Underwood and the Cowboys to carry into the Big 12/SEC Challenge on Saturday Jan. 28 against the Arkansas Razorbacks.