The Rundown: Mike Boynton Talks Charleston, Upcoming Signing Period

STILLWATER — Mike Boynton’s squad is prepping for its first road trip of the season.

Oklahoma State travels to Charleston for a 8 p.m. tip Wednesday night. Boynton met with reporters before the Cowboys’ Monday practice. Here is a breakdown of what he said.

• “I feel like we’re in a good place, specifically as to how it relates to how we preformed from Game 1 to Game 2. We’re still in a mode of we want to be better every day. That’s our focus: how do we improve? I thought we improved drastically rebounding-wise, taking care of the basketball better from Game 1 to Game 2. We were obviously able to show that we can be a team that doesn’t have to live and die by the 3-ball. We can play inside. So, I was encouraged by that.”

• Boynton said he won’t call as many fouls Monday in practice because you don’t get as favorable whistles on the road. He said that’s just the way it goes.

• On Charleston: “We schedule pretty aggressively. Got a lot of respect for their program. If anybody knows the history of their program, they’ve been good for a long time, had a couple down years, but for the most part have always had really good players. They’ve always been a team that’s played well in their league. (Coach) Earl Grant has done a tremendous job of instilling what he believes in. Obviously, they have one of the best players in the country (Grant Riller), and I’m not just talking about mid-major. I’m talking about one of the best players in the country.”

• On defending Riller, who has averaged 24.5 points a game in Charleston’s first two contests: “I don’t know if we have to do anything special. Our focus will be on trying to limit his efficiency, throwing a lot of different bodies at him, trying to wear him down over the course of the game. A lot of times with a guy like that, he’s gonna score because he’s gonna have so many opportunities. You just want to make him work for everything he gets. We don’t want to leave him open in transition or give him too many baskets that really make him feel good, and then he’s making difficult shots later in the game because of that. Early on, we gotta be really dialed into making sure we know where he is. But, we can’t totally focus on him. Zep Jasper, who starts at point guard for them, is really good. He was a freshman when they came in here last year, and Brevin Galloway, who is a kid I’ve know for a really long time, can really, really shoot the basketball. We got a pretty good opponent. I’m excited for our guys rise to the challenge.”

• On the freshmen two games in: “They’re starting to understand better. Film always helps because sometimes they think they’re doing something that they may not necessarily understand where small differences can be made. They’re definitely getting more accustomed to our language and the terminology we use on both ends of the court. I think they’re starting to get more comfortable just playing with the rest of the guys consistently instead of playing against them every day in practice.”

• This group of freshmen values defense as good as any group of freshmen Boynton has been around. “They’re all basketball kids. They grew up with the game. It means a lot to them. They have a lot of pride in performing and working hard at it. They’ve taken coaching well, taken some criticism well and they’ve listened to the older guys, which is the most important thing.”

• The first road game will be something “totally different” for all the freshmen.

• Hidde Roessink is doing better but won’t practice Monday.

• Riller is good enough to start at OSU.

• Boynton said he is more nervous coaching than he was as a player.

• On scheduling these road games at smaller schools: “Everything is by design in terms of the big picture. We make plans with the big picture in mind. We don’t talk about the big picture much because we can only focus on what we can control now, but I want our guys to not go into, I think our first league road game is in Lubbock. Not that Charleston is gonna be Lubbock, but it won’t be foreign completely to them, that they’re playing in front of a hostile crowd against a team that’s expected to be really good. I think all these experiences in November and December are in order to help us prepare for what we’ll see come January, February.

• On being on the road for signing day: “Technology kinda covers all that. I’ll either get text messages or I won’t or I won’t or emails or I won’t. We’ll move forward like normal. The only difference is we play, so I’ll be more probably focused on the game than what’s happening locally, nationally, whatever it is. I’m excited about both (the game and signing day).

“The work’s done. Everything we’re supposed to do at this  point, we’ve done. On that day, I’m just worried about trying to win one game.”