Hoops Preview: Cowboys Open Home Schedule Against UTSA

STILLWATER — Oklahoma State’s 110th basketball season is off to a rough start.

After a disappointing road loss to Charlotte, the Cowboys are set to take on UTSA, another team looking for its first win of the season. The game is the first of 15 games the Cowboys will play on Eddie Sutton Court this season.

Viewing Info

Time: 7 p.m. Wednesday
Location: Gallagher-Iba Arena
TV: Fox-Plus

Missing Mikes

Along with coach Mike Boynton, there are two other Mikes on OSU’s team. Mike Cunningham and Michael Weathers both sat out the Charlotte game Saturday.

The pair’s absence put more reliance on OSU’s six freshmen, who played for a combined 96 of 200 possible minutes Saturday.

Weathers recently got reinstated to the team after being suspended since September. Before his suspension, Weathers was expected to be a key contributor for the Cowboys. Boynton said Weathers is available, but that he needs to catch up on what he has missed.

“He’s behind, and we’re not gonna put him out there when he’s not yet prepared to help us win,” Boynton said. “He has another two more days of practice, and we’ll see on Wednesday if he’s closer.”

Cunningham’s situation is a little more touch-and-go. He has dealt with a nagging hamstring injury. He was questionable for the Cowboys exhibition game before sitting out. Then he was questionable again before sitting out Saturday.

Boynton said he doesn’t want to rush his lone senior onto the court just for his hamstring to flare up again.

“He’s probably more day-to-day,” Boynton said. “He probably could’ve went the other day, but this is a long-term deal, and I don’t wanna be shortsighted and try to rush the kid back. Those are pretty tender muscles and the last thing you want to do is re-aggravate it. We’ll get him as close to 100 percent and make sure that he feels good physiologically about going out there because we demand that they play really hard.”

‘It’s a process’

Boynton said there were tears in the locker room Saturday after the Cowboys blew a 24-point lead to Charlotte.

It looked as if the young group Cowboys were going to win their first game that mattered before suffering what Boynton called a “slow death,” that involved a 17-0 49er run.

“They were hurt,” Boynton said. “There were some tears, and that’s a good thing. It’s a sign that those kids care, and they wanna win for Oklahoma State. They want to play the right way, and they were disappointed they we didn’t hold on. But we don’t want to have the mentality of holding on. We were good enough to get up 24. We should’ve been good enough to win the game. We were also probably in position at some point to extend that lead.”

Boynton said the young group doesn’t fully understand the mental fortitude it takes to win a college basketball game yet. He gave examples of freshman point guard Isaac Likekele not fully understanding the importance of each possession, and Yor Anei’s 0-for-2 trip to the foul line late. Boynton praised each player for what they will become, but said, “It’s a process.”

“To their credit, not necessarily in their defense, it’s very rare you take a team on the road against a quality team for their first game that counts,” Boynton said. “It was real. It’s on our record now, and for the rest of the year, that will stand. I’m proud of our kids for the way they played.

“I didn’t anticipate being able to go on the road and get up 24 points. This’ll be my 15th year in college basketball, and I can count the number of times I’ve been up 24 points on the road, in a true road game. It doesn’t happen very often at any level. For those young guys to go out there and execute the gameplan the way they did for 25 to 30 minutes, it’s something we can build on. But, now it’s the next part. We gotta learn how to finish.”

UTSA

Somebody will pick up their first victory Wednesday night, as the Roadrunners enter their game with the Cowboys 0-2.

UTSA played Oklahoma on Monday night in Norman, and the Roadrunners fell 87-67. In its first game of the season UTSA fell 77-76 to St. Edward’s, a Division-II school.

UTSA coach Steve Henson has Oklahoma ties. Henson was on the OU staff that made the 2016 Final Four. He was on Lon Kruger’s staff from 2011-16.

The Roadrunners have three players averaging double figures through their opening to games in Keaton Wallace, Nick Allen and Giovanni De Nicolao.

Last Meeting

It was a fun one the last time UTSA and OSU met in Gallagher-Iba Arena.

The Cowboys game back from down 11 to defeat the Roadrunners 90-85 in overtime on Nov. 16, 2011. Cezar Guerrero, then a freshman, led the Cowboys with 29 points supported by Le’Bryan Nash’s 18 and Jean-Paul Olukemi’s 12.