Five Thoughts On Tulsa’s 66-56 Win Over Oklahoma State

BOX SCORE

Tulsa turned it on late and sent Oklahoma State home empty for just the sixth time in its last 202 non-conference games in GIA. Phil Forte sat this one out with a bum elbow and nobody else did much of anything to assert themselves as the go-to player on a night when OSU could have used one.

Five thoughts on my first basketball game of the year.

1. Tulsa, man, Tulsa

I’m not saying it’s unacceptable to lose to Tulsa in GIA in Year 8 of the reign of Ford, but it should feel like an upset. Probably a big one. It didn’t. Tulsa was just better which is a far worse thing than being upset in GIA. I’ll stop talking about how Oklahoma State hasn’t built anything substantial eight years into the Ford era because nobody wants to hear me say that all year.

Consider this, though.

It’s easy to say, “hey, Tulsa ain’t that bad” because they aren’t. They’re a good club. But that feels a little like Texas fans saying, “you know, UH is pretty good at football” after getting smoked in Austin, doesn’t it? OSU should be better, Forte or no Forte.

2. Thumbs up on Jawun Evans

Evans isn’t athletically overwhelming (like Marcus Smart was), but he’s technically stunning. He had a spinning entry pass to Mitch Solomon that was spectacular. The stuff you do with your kids in the driveway except he was doing it against a D1 basketball team. He’s a better one-handed passer than 90 percent of Travis Ford’s players have been with two hands.

He’s smart, savvy and has a real sense of his place on the court. I’m in on him despite the five turnovers (most of which were, “wait, that worked in high school!” passes). The problem is that with a Forte-less team, he has to be Steph crossed with CP3 to beat teams at Tulsa’s level or better. So that’s probably not happening.

3. Turns out, OSU can’t shoot without Phil Forte

I know this will stun, but OSU is bad at shooting without its best shooter. Pokes finished 16/54 from the field (30 percent) and 2/18 from three-point range (11 percent). I’m not sure which teams you’re going to beat nationally with those numbers. But I am sure you aren’t going to win any in the Big 12.

4. This is random (but related to the game)

Why can’t college basketball players hit open threes? I can understand why they can’t hit contested ones — and one of the biggest college basketball mistakes is taking too many of those — but I can’t understand why they can’t bury the open ones. That should be nearly automatic, no? If Mason Rudolph can read defenses and hit James Washington in between two defenders 30 yards downfield on repeat, shouldn’t a college basketball player be able to hit an open 22-footer?

Oklahoma State actually moves the ball pretty well. It’s just that there’s nobody there to hit the shots.

5. This is going to be bad, isn’t it?

I don’t want to overreact here, but what I watched on Wednesday night wasn’t a competitive Big 12 team. I know Forte is out, but there is no scoring. Folks underrated Le’Bryan’s ability to put the ball in the bucket with the ease he did it throughout his career. That’s gone now and you have nothing left on offense. Sure, some guys might get hot from three and you’re going to steal a couple.

But this is going to be bad, isn’t it?