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Five Thoughts on Oklahoma State’s 71-70 Upset of Florida State

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Oklahoma State snapped its 7-game skid against ranked opponents on Saturday, downing No. 19 Florida State in upset fashion, 71-70. Jeff Carroll shook out his slump with 23 points, Mitch Solomon added 12 and 11, and Yankuba Sima, in his first career game in the orange and black, provided a much-needed boost in the post.

With the win, OSU moves to 8-2 on the season and, in the process, bumps the previously unbeaten Seminoles to 9-1. There are now only four remaining undefeated teams in college basketball.

“I’m really proud of our guys, the way they played, the way they compete,” said Mike Boynton. “We played a really good team today. Florida State is going to win a lot of games. Coach Hamilton has done a great job but I think today we were just a little bit better.”

Let’s get into five thoughts.

1. Yankuba Sima is a treat

Nine players saw the floor against the ‘Noles, but in a bit of a shocker, Yankuba Sima swallowed up 16 minutes of action and Lucas N’Guessan didn’t appear. That’s a testament not only to Sima’s overall impact, but also to how the coaches must feel about their transfer from St. John’s.

The 6-11 Sima was a stellar presence in the post both on offense, where he scored 5 points of 2 of 4 shooting, but also on defense, where he had 3 rebounds, 2 steals and affected countless shots around the rim.

 

With OSU’s defensive philosophy under Boynton potentially one that will overpursue and take risks to dare teams to go inside and put up shots, I think Sima fits an important role that’s been missing. He’s a legitimate rim-protector that OSU can pit alongside Solomon.

2. Zone defense was a curveball

Mikey B. has rode the hard-nosed man-to-man defense train all season, but he whipped out a nice little curveball and zoned the Seminoles for a big chunk of the game to throw FSU off its rhythm.

Against a 3-point shooting team that ranks 130th in college basketball, it was a sly coaching move that paid dividends.

“We take a lot of pride in our defense. Making plays, altering players, speeding guys up, different things, making them play out of their comfort zone,” said Mitch Solomon. “We schemed a lot this game knowing that they had some good guards so we knew we had to get it out of their hands and pressure them when they did have it. Today, it [our defense] came up big for us and we were able to score points. That’s a big part of our game.”

I like that OSU is a man-to-man squad — I think it fits Boynton’s mentality and OSU’s roots — but I also applaud Boynton for being willing to throw a curveball in a game against a ranked opponent.

3. Jeff Carroll’s un-slumping

Clip’s first start of the season went off without a hitch on Saturday as he rose out of his recent skid and led OSU with a team-high 23 points.

Inserted into the starting lineup maybe was a stroke of genius, too, because against one of OSU’s stiffest opponents to date, he looked like the Clip of old with a confidence we haven’t seen much of this season.

“The stat sheet will tell you the difference he made, 23 points on 19 shots, 7 rebounds. I think maybe in his mind he felt a little more comfortable,” Boynton said.

Given the fact that OSU’s roster was reduced by two players this week, I think Carroll in the starting five will be a mainstay moving forward. Especially if he can continue to play like the All-Big 12 caliber player many believed he would be in 2017.

4. Mitch Solomon was that dude

Yo, the final sequence of the game could have gone either way. But thanks to Mitch, OSU came away on the winning end after a tip-in and charge in the final 5 seconds.

He’s grown from potential contributor to X-factor to MVP this season.

“Mitch is our MVP,” Boynton declared after the win. “He doesn’t score a lot of points or get a lot of praise or press but he makes every right play while he’s on the court. He fouls sometimes in bad situations in a couple possessions but he didn’t pout. He kept his head up and new he had an opportunity to make a difference and he did that on the defensive end for us.”

 

5. Signature win

Will OSU’s win force the Pokes to gain … momentum(?) … into Big 12 play? Maybe. Maybe not.

But for a team picked to finish last in the Big 12, it’s borderline miraculous that OSU came away winners Saturday. There’s a solid chance that OSU will have eclipsed 10 wins before league play, and that Big 12 opener against WVU has gone from ? to ? in my mind.

More importantly, OSU has been competitive in some games I kind of felt like it had no business in doing so. Getting over the hump with a win over FSU this early in his tenure for Boynton is massive, and could carry huge implications on the recruiting trail and for the remainder of the season.

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