Five Thoughts on Oklahoma State-UMKC

This is a guest basketball post from Ben Nemecek who mercifully watched Oklahoma State beat UMKC on Tuesday.

BOX SCORE

Oklahoma State ground out a 61-43 win against a pesky UMKC team on Tuesday that featured the WAC preseason POY. The Cowboys showed some rust after a 10-day layoff following the holidays but were able to string together a few stops and made some big shots to ultimately put the game away.

1. Defense won the game

From the onset, the Cowboys asserted themselves on the defensive end. The Pokes were able to hold UMKC to 30 percent shooting and 22 percent from deep. The reigning WAC Player of the Year Matrez Harrison was held to one point on 0-5 shooting due in large part to the defensive effort provided by Tyree Griffin.

Hey night owls check out the highlights from tonight's win over UMKC including some sweet blocks from @TheRealTony_Ghttps://t.co/T47thAv4cz

— Cowboy Basketball (@OSUMBB) December 30, 2015

A bright spot on the defensive end was the play of Anthony “King” Allen. The ‘Roos were able to get into the paint, but Allen was able to block a season-high six shots and he was also able to alter many more. If he can stay out of foul trouble in Big 12 play, he gives the Cowboys a shot blocking threat that will allow the Pokes offense to run in transition.

Ford and Co. were able to develop and implement a scouting report that focused on Harrison and kept him from scoring, and that led to an overall solid defensive game.

2. Offense is still mediocre

Jawun Evans, Tyree Griffin and Jeff Newberry led the Pokes in scoring with 11 each. Jeffrey Carroll finished with 10. Chris Olivier added seven points and six rebounds off the bench.

As the second half progressed, the Cowboys were able to run in transition and make easy buckets. It was mentioned on the telecast, but without Mitchell Soloman (more on that in a minute), the Cowboys were missing a facilitator in the high post against the zone.

The Cowboys all struggled from the free throw line, going 12-22 (55 percent) from the stripe. A bright spot on the offensive end was when Evans and Griffin are on the floor at the same time. They both can be primary ballhandlers and initiate offense, but they are also scoring threats. Griffin made a few jumpers tonight, as has shown the ability to go and get his own shot. Evans is effective at driving to the rim and finishing thru contact. Both are good passers and ultimately just play well together.

3. Injury Bug

As mentioned above, Mitchell Soloman did not play in the game this evening. He was in a walking boot and seemed to be walking gingerly on his left foot. Although the injury does not appear serious, it continues the trend of injuries in Stillwater this season. First it was Shine with a shoulder injury, then Forte with an elbow injury (return still TBD), Hammonds with pneumonia, Newberry’s nose, and now Mitch and his foot. The Pokes will need to be at 100 percent during conference play to compete in arguably the toughest league in college basketball.

4. Arguably The Best Conference

‘Arguably’ is a loose term as the Big 12 has two of the Top 5 teams (KU, OU) and five teams in the Top 25 (ISU, WVU, BU.) Needless to say, league play will be beyond difficult. Check out the Big 12 standings as of this evening:

Six of the 10 teams have amassed ten wins in the non-conference, and each team has at least eight wins. Yikes.

5. Happy birthday, Travis Ford

He gets a lot of crap (and deservedly so), but it was nice to see OSU end the calendar year with a win

Happy birthday @OSUCoachFord5! This cake will taste a lot sweeter after the win tonight. #okstate pic.twitter.com/UKkQpChVRa

— Cowboy Basketball (@OSUMBB) December 30, 2015

Up Next: Sat, Jan 2nd – TCU in Stillwater – 3pm