Hoops Preview: Cowboys, Waters Look to Continue Streak Against Experienced Sooners

STILLWATER — This season’s Oklahoma team doesn’t feel the Cowboys’ experience struggles.

The Sooners rank 26th in the country in experience, according to KenPom. Oklahoma State is 272 teams away in 298. The Cowboys’ experience ranking has slowly climbed with the team’s freshmen playing more minutes, but the Pokes won’t be catching Oklahoma anytime soon in that category.

Looking at projected starters, if you labeled freshmen as zero and graduate players at four, OU’s starting lineup would average out to a 2.8. OSU’s averages to a 1.2. It will be the first Bedlam game that nine OSU players will be a part of, yet still, the Cowboys’ junior class is 4-1 against the Sooners.

Like the Cowboys, OU too played a tough nonconference schedule, playing teams such as Wisconsin, Notre Dame and USC. But the Sooners experience drove them to an 11-1 record before falling to Kansas to start conference play. The Cowboys are 0-1 in conference, too, despite struggling to an even 6-6 after their tough noncon.

Viewing Info

Time: 1 p.m. Saturday
Location: Lloyd Noble Center in Norman
TV: Fox Sports Southwest

Projected Lineups:

Last Five

Oklahoma State

Oklahoma

Waters Looks to Continue OU Unbeaten Streak

The Cowboys were without Norman native Lindy Waters in their loss at OU last season, so when talking about back-and-forth trash talk with high school friends, Waters has the trump card.

“Every game I’ve played in, we haven’t lost,” Waters said.

In his only collegiate game in Norman, Waters scored 11 points on 4-for-5 shooting off the bench as a freshman during the 2016-17 season. Waters said he probably gets heckled a little more in games against OU, but he said it’s fun and he likes talking trash with his friends.

“Kids from Oklahoma, I’ve said this before, it means more,” Boynton said. “They understand it. I don’t have to talk about how hard it’s gonna be with the environment. Obviously, if a kid’s from the town, right, and there’s some history with their fans and him being from there. You can definitely tell he’s got a little bit more focus in his eyes.”