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Five Thoughts on Oklahoma State’s 82-64 Win Over Kansas to End the 2018 Season

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6 years ago

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Oklahoma State whipped Kansas 82-64 in GIA on Saturday afternoon as Bill Self’s GIA record moved to 4-7 with Kansas and 4-9 overall. The loss also means Self’s KU team has been swept by a Big 12 team for the first time … ever (in case you missed the 462 times they mentioned that on the broadcast).

It was a must-win game for a Cowboy team still treading the NCAA Tournament waters, and it was as perfect a script as you could write for Senior Day.

The Pokes four senior day honorees — Jeffrey Carroll, Mitchell Solomon, Kendall Smith and Tavarius Shine — combined to shoot 20 for 39 for 62 points and nearly beat the Jayhawks by themselves. They added a combined 18 rebounds and 8 assists and completely carried OSU home at different points in the game.

Kansas’ only player in double figures was Devonte’ Graham, who had 15 points in 39 minutes. The Jayhawks were held to 42 percent shooting and turned the ball over 17 times (more on this in a minute).

Five thoughts on a great capper to a bonkers first year for Mike Boynton.

1. Kendall in control

I’m not sure who the overall best player on the floor was on Saturday, but I do know that for long stretches it was Kendall Smith. He hit every note, stepped on every beat and played the game that I would imagine Boynton and Co. envisioned him playing when they brought him to Stillwater for his final season.

His 25-3-3 line on 9 of 15 shooting tell a story, but they don’t tell the entire narrative. When OSU wobbled a bit, he bridged the gap. When OSU needed a right hook, he was there. When they needed somebody to close out the first half and maintain momentum into the second, he obliged. The perfect Kendall Smith game and another in bag of Big Daddy™ performances.

His final stat line against Big 12 champion KU in 2018: 49 points (on 19/31 shooting), 8 boards, 8 assists. I would not want to play Kendall Smith in the NCAA Tournament.

2. King Solomon

I’m stealing that nickname — I think from OKC Dave — and it fit on Saturday. Solomon was tracking for a career in his 127th college basketball game and needed just one bucket in the final 17 minutes to get it. Alas, he somehow fell short. It didn’t matter, though, KU had been slain, and Solomon was one of the primary suspects. His fake, drive and dunk in the first half is illegal in a handful of states and should be in the others.

I sort of always rolled my eyes at Boynton’s whole thing about he’s our MVP or whatever, but it crystallized for me today. He was active, efficient in just 23 minutes, hit all his free throws and limited Udoka Azubuike as much as Udoka Azubuikes can be limited.

The exit at the end was legit emotional, too!

3. Defense that won them the game

It’s fun to talk about how good OSU was offensively and how exactly they scored their points, but the Cowboys won this game — just as they won the first game — because they were disruptive on the defensive end, protected the rim and never let Kansas get settled (KU also missed a lot of 3-pointers — 7 for 20 overall).

In two regular season games, OSU turned Kansas over 28 times and scored 41 points on those turnovers. That’s an astonishing number, especially when you consider the fact that Kansas turned Oklahoma State over 26 times but got just 20 points off those turnovers.

That to me is the bread and butter of this team, and you see it in their best players. Shine, Carroll and Smith all average a steal a game, and they combined for seven on Saturday. The majority of those led to 2-on-1 or 3-on-2 breaks that Kansas had as much interest defending as I do of taking a charge on a Cam McGriff tomahawk. If that’s going to be the identity of future Oklahoma State teams, then I couldn’t be more excited about the Boynton era.

4. Stay in your world

I was semi-monitoring OSU’s field goal percentage throughout the game. I get worried when this team builds a lead on the back of, like, 68 percent shooting through 15 minutes or some number like that. It’s unsustainable and the fall back to earth can actually result in a swing the other way where the opposing team gains all the momentum and slingshots into the lead (shoutout Robert Griffin 3).

Through the first 10 minutes of the game OSU was shooting 55 percent, which is really good, but also not out of their world. It was almost encouraging to watch them try and figure out how to patch those droughts (mostly with the Kendall Smith Repair Kit) and sustain blows from Kansas.

The Cowboys got to the line a lot (23 times to Kansas’ 11 times — come right the hell at me, Kansas fans), which is usually a good sign for this team. I also thought a mostly packed house was paramount to sustaining stretches of struggle. It was probably the most complete, fulfilling game OSU has played all year … and it could not have come at a better time.

5. Is it enough?

What a bizarre season. OSU tied for 6th in the Big 12 but won half of their games against the top three teams in the league (aside: Saturday’s win touched off OSU’s first two-game Big 12 winning streak of the year). Here are the final Big 12 standings.

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On paper, it looks like OSU has done enough to get in the NCAA Tournament, and Wednesday’s Bedlam III matchup could solidify it. How do you take a team in OU that would have the same record but (potentially) two losses to Oklahoma State but not take Oklahoma State?

On the other hand, OSU would probably have the lowest RPI of any team to ever get in the NCAA Tournament … so I’m not real sure what to do with that stat. Regardless, to beat four top 10 teams and six top 25 teams in Boynton’s first year is absolutely tremendous.

And if the man who just served up Big 12 win No. 8 and continues to give back to his alma mater in as generous a way as you could hope for — he should get POSSE points for all the cash he’s made OSU over the years — has anything to say about it, the Pokes will be dancin’ eight days from right now.

 

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