Following a 93-76 upset of the Wichita State Shockers on the road, the Oklahoma State basketball team looks to crack the top 25 next week.
The Oklahoma State Cowboys are coming off possibly their biggest win of the season so far on Dec. 17. OK State pulled off a shocking 93-76 upset over Wichita State, on the road, as 7.5 point underdogs.
First-year head coach Brad Underwood looks to be making
a real transformation in this basketball program. Former head coach Travis Ford left the OK State basketball program much worse than when he started.
Following the Pokes victory over the Wichita State Shockers, they received enough votes to place them at no. 30 in this week’s AP Poll. It seems that the rest of the college basketball world is noticing the difference between this year’s OK State team compared to last season’s. You can view this week’s AP Poll here.
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If there is some chaos with the teams ranked above the Cowboys, they’ll have an opportunity to finally crack the top 25. The only game the Cowboys have this week is against the 7-2 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders. It is another opportunity to get a quality win against a respectable out of conference opponent.
The first conference game the Cowboys have on the schedule is the no. 11 West Virginia Mountaineers in Stillwater on Dec. 30 at 3:00 p.m. CT. OK State’s meeting with the Islanders is their last game before they enter Big 12 play.
Part of the reason for the Pokes gaining so much respect nationally is the play of their sophomore point guard Jawun Evans. He has already garnered NCAA Team of the Week honors once this season. Wichita State head coach Gregg Marshall also had some high praise for Evans, according to tweets from Mark Cooper.
Gregg Marshall on Jawun Evans: "He was literally toying with us, I felt like. … He could have scored 50 if he wanted to." #OKState
— Mark Cooper (@mark_cooperjr) December 18, 2016
The Pokes look better on both sides of the floor this season. They’re scoring 93.5 points per game and generating numerous turnovers.
More than anything else, if OK State can get improved play from senior shooting guard Phil Forte, they could be one of the best teams in the Big 12. He is averaging 12.5 points per game, his lowest average since his freshman season, and shooting a career-low 34.6 percent from the field. Considering Forte used to be known as one of the deadliest shooters in college basketball, it’s likely only a matter of time before he finds his stroke.
Next: Oklahoma State Basketball is a sleeper in the Big 12
It’s looking like Underwood is making OK State basketball is as much fun to watch as it was back in the Eddie Sutton days.