Oklahoma State Basketball: Predicting Kansas
The Oklahoma State basketball team takes on no. 1 Kansas tonight in the regular season finale at Gallagher-Iba Arena in Stillwater.
The big day is finally here. The Oklahoma State basketball team battles the no. 1 ranked Kansas Jayhawks tonight at Gallagher-Iba Arena in Stillwater. It’s the final regular season game in the Big 12, and promises to be one of the most exciting games this season.
On a night where the Duke Blue Devils and North Carolina Tar Heels play right after KU and OK State finish up at GIA, college basketball fans are treated to quite a set of games.
The Cowboys enter tonight’s matchup with a 20-10 (9-8 Big 12) record. Meanwhile, the Jayhawks enter with a record of 27-3 (15-2 Big 12).
KU already wrapped up their 13th consecutive regular season title no matter what happens tonight. However, head coach Bill Self still has one more big test in front of him against his alma mater.
The thing that most OK State and KU fans know coming into this game is how much trouble the Jayhawks had recently defeated the Cowboys in Stillwater. OK State has a four game home winning streak against the Jayhawks, and they hope to continue that in this game.
Furthermore, no matter what happens tonight, the Jayhawks have already locked up the one seed in the Big 12 Tournament and the Cowboys already locked up the five seed.
Cowboy fans should expect a huge night from seniors Leyton Hammonds, Phil Forte, and Mitchell Solomon as they play in their last game at GIA. These senior have never lost to KU at home.
Sophomore point guard Jawun Evans had a massive game in the loss to the no. 24 ranked Iowa State Cyclones on Tuesday. He posted 29 points and six assists. Evans needs a huge game tonight if the Cowboys want any chance to defeat the Jayhawks.
Junior forward Jeffrey Carroll was held out of double figures in scoring against ISU which has been rare this season. Carroll posted 23 points in the first meeting against the Jayhawks this season. Fans should expect nothing less out of him tonight.
The first meeting between these two teams at Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence ended in an 87-80 victory for the Jayhawks. OK State only got to the free throw line 14 times while the Jayhawks got to the free throw line 45 times. That needs to change tonight, especially with the quality of free throw shooters on the Cowboy roster.
GIA is sold out for the fourth time this season, as Stillwater will be rocking thanks to first-year head coach Brad Underwood who has done an amazing job turning around this program.
The Jayhawks have possibly the best counter to the Cowboys’ talented back court of any team in the Big 12. Frank Mason III and Devonte Graham will challenge Evans and Forte to the very end on both ends of the court. Mason III posted 22 points and four assists in the first meeting between these squads.
Senior center Landen Lucas could have his way in the paint tonight if Solomon gets into foul trouble as well. Yet, Lucas only averages 7.7 points per game this season.
Freshman Josh Jackson plays in the final game of his freshman year, wrapping up a regular season where he averaged 16.3 points per game and 7.2 rebounds.
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KU enters the game as 1.5 point favorites and the over/under for the game sits at 163 points. This is a hard matchup to predict but we have to go with the Cowboys in a thriller tonight to extend their home winning streak over the Jayhawks to five games.
Oklahoma State 82, Kansas 78