Texas Preview: Can OSU Rebound Against the Surging Longhorns?

The Cowboys (11-5, 1-3) look to rebound from a tough road loss to Kansas State after in effort their head coach called “gutless.” The visiting Longhorns (11-5, 2-2) are fresh off of a double-overtime win over No. 16 TCU and view the trip to Stillwater as a chance to go over .500 in Big 12 play.

If you’re not going to join the Rowdy in GIA, here’s how you can watch the game.

When/Where: Saturday, January 13 at 4 p.m., Gallagher-Iba Arena, Stillwater, Okla.
TV/crew: ESPNews (Brett Dolan, Bryndon Manzer)
Webcast: ESPN3.com or ESPN app
Radio: Cowboy Radio Network (Dave Hunziker and John Holcomb)
Satellite Radio: Sirius 132, XM 199 (OSU radio call)

The Longhorns and Cowboys are trending in opposite directions. OSU laid an egg in Manhattan on Wednesday, in one of the more winnable road games left on its slate. The ‘Horns on the other hand held strong at home, fending off the 16th-ranked Horned Frogs in Austin after an extra 10 minutes of play.

When Shaka Smart looked at the schedule a week ago I’m sure this date screamed trap game to the third-year head coach. The Longhorns’ four-game stand included home games against No. 16 TCU (win) and No. 8 Texas Tech and then a trip to No. 2 West Virginia. And oh yeah, a trip to Stillwater to split the two in-state opponents.

Let’s take a closer look at the two teams as they stack up with KenPom’s Four Factors and see where Oklahoma State might be able to gain the edge and play spoiler to an upward-trending Texas squad.

Offense

The Longhorns are now without their Nos. 2 and 4 scorers in sophomore guard and former McDonald’s All-American Andrew Jones who was recently diagnosed with Leukemia (more on that below) and junior guard Kerwin Roach Jr. who is out indefinitely with a fractured left hand.

But Texas has still found a way to churn out plus-100 offensive rating in three of its last four games including a 120.7 showing in the 99-98 double-OT win over TCU.

Defense

The ‘Horns are ranked No. 6 in the nation in adjusted defensive efficiency and are holding teams to the 19th-lowest effective FG percentage. OSU comes in at 65th and 64th in those two categories and has shown a knack for allowing career games from unexpected foes as of late. Basically, Boynton’s team wears “DEFENSE” on their shorts and Smart’s team spells it out on the hardwood.

Keep an Eye On: Eric Davis Jr.

The junior shooting guard scored a career-high 22 points on 15 shots (included four made 3s), playing Longhorn hero in the TCU win. Look for UT to lean heavily on Davis and UT’s leading scorer junior forward Dylan Osetkowski (15.3 points, 7.8 rebounds).

Prediction

Oklahoma State is given a 53 percent shot of beating Texas according to KenPom, the highest over the next 10 games and one of just two predicted Ws for the Cowboys during that stretch. To call this a must-win might be strong for a team with this low of a ceiling — and even lower expectations — in Year 1 of a rebuild … But I think it’s really need-win.

I’ll take the Cowboys to pull one off. They need it and have some added motivation to come back after Boynton’s comments. Add in the fact that UT is short-handed and I will begrudgingly predict a W for the more favorable shade of orange for the second game in a row. Let’s hope I’m right on this one.

#OneBig12

Texas will be without its second-leading scorer on the season, Andrew Jones who has missed the last two games since being diagnosed with Leukemia.

Players and coaches around the Big 12 and the nation showed their support for Jones during his struggle including a couple of Cowboys.

Gut wrenching news to read about another player in our league. @OSUMBB sends thoughts and prayers to him, his family and all of their support system. #OneBig12 ?

— Mike Boynton (@thacoachmike) January 10, 2018

My thoughts & prayers go out to you & your family, bro. Stay strong throughout this process. Gonna miss competing against you. #OneBig12 @DrewdotCash

— Jeffrey Carroll (@J30Carroll) January 10, 2018

I can’t even begin to imagine what it must be like for Jones and his family to go through something like that. Especially for someone his age who was contemplating declaring for the NBA Draft last offseason. Talent and stature shouldn’t make us care more about these things but they do — it’s human nature I suppose. Thoughts and prayers to the Jones family.