Five Thoughts on OU’s 74-72 Win Over OSU

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Oklahoma State gave Oklahoma as much as they wanted in GIA on Wednesday thanks to an electrifying night by true freshman Jawun Evans. The Cowboys fell short but there are plenty of takeaways from what was a pretty enjoyable game altogether. Here we go…

1. Jawun Evans stole the show

I don’t really feel like this needs explaining, but a true freshman just dropped 42 in GIA in his first Bedlam game ever. The favorite to win the Wooden Award was the second best player on the court tonight. Jawun Evans: 42 points. Rest of team: 30.

Evans’ 42 was the most ever by a freshman in OSU history. Here’s the list of top five:

Most points in a game by an OSU freshman all-time:

Jawun Evans, 42
Cezar Guerrero, 29
James Anderson, 29
Byron Houston, 29
Marcus Smart, 28

— Cowboy Basketball (@OSUMBB) January 14, 2016

2. Defense is not the issue

I wrote about this earlier, but even with an ELITE defense, OSU still needs some horses to keep up with the big dogs on offense. Of course it was completely overshadowed tonight with Evans’ superman performance. But you’re not going to count on 42 from a true freshman every night.

3. Not seeing Phil Forte and Jawun on the court together this year is tragic

Seriously, all off season the question was “who the heck is going to score?” Ummm… this guy will do.

Unreal. pic.twitter.com/2tXQP1BzGF

— Kyle Boone (@PFBoone) January 14, 2016

He finished with 42 points, 6 assists and 7 rebounds. Can you imagine if we could have two guys that could score playing on the same court?!

4. Chris Olivier was the silent assassin

Olivier was the only Cowboy to reach double figures besides Evans, which is incredible considering they were one Jeff Carroll prayer away from a huge upset in GIA. Olivier’s post presence is tremendous, and he really knows how to work his body down low. I think he’ll get more PT as the season progresses if he can be consistent on offense. He had a quiet 12 points but reallllllly needs to work on rebounding.

5. Jeff Newberry is maybe the most athletic player in the Ford era

I look at Newberry as a slightly more erratic Markel Brown in a sense – but his athleticism is straight up out of this world. The kid works hard, is an absolute workhorse on the defensive end, and held Buddy Hield to just 26 points. That’s pretty dad gum good considering the streak Hield has been riding.

When he gets in the open court, look out.

It’s a ✈️ … it’s a ? … it’s Jeff Newberry! The junior slams one ⬇️ for @OSUMBB. https://t.co/3q1DkQacEq

— Big 12 Conference (@Big12Conference) January 14, 2016

Next up: OSU @ Texas on Saturday at 5:00pm