Connect with us

#okstate

Three Numbers to Know for Oklahoma State-Michigan

Published

on

Two weeks ago, Oklahoma State was the hottest team in the country.

After starting out conference play on an 0-6 skid, they won 10 of 11 and were receiving top 25 votes. The three-game stretch that followed saw a trip to Ames for another does of Hilton Magic, a loss to No. 1 Kansas on senior night and an ugly rematch with Iowa State in the Big 12 tournament. Iowa State went on to win the conference tournament, by the way.

So now the Cowboys find themselves a 10-seed matched up against a white-hot Michigan team who knows a thing or two about a winning streaks. They went 3-1 to finish conference play — including a win over 4-seed Purdue — and followed that with four straight wins in a Big 10 Tournament championship (including another win over Purdue as well as Wisconsin).

As we start to dissect the matchup a few things stick out. So, let’s look at three numbers to know about these two teams.

76.75

That’s Michigan’s average points scored over its last eight games — of which the Wolverines have won seven. It’s almost two points higher than its season average of 74.9 which ranks 135th out of 351 teams. OSU ranks 8th at 85.5 points per game.

It doesn’t sound like an astronomical number. If the Cowboys only had to top 77 in their nine Big 12 losses, it would have been a completely different season. In only three of their conference losses — the two Baylor games and the conference opener against West Virginia — did the Cowboys fail to reach that mark.

But Michigan brings a different style of offense than what OSU is used to playing. While it is 135th in points per game, Michigan is 5th in adjusted offensive efficiency, adding up to 121.6 points per 100 possessions. OSU is 1st at 124.8.

The Wolverines and Cowboys just get there differently. OSU is 64th in tempo while Michigan comes in ranked 339th. The Wolverines are also 335th in average length of possession while OSU comes in at 87th.

38.0

That’s Oklahoma State’s offensive rebounding percentage which is good for 6th nationally. It’s been a key strength for Brad Underwood coached teams and the Cowboys have one of the best in biz in Mitchell Solomon who is third nationally in KenPom’s player offensive rebounding percentage metric at 17.2 percent.

Michigan is on the other end of this stat at 25.3 percent which ranks it 294th according to KenPom. If OSU can win that battle on the offensive glass they will take even more time away from a slow Michigan offense.

56.9

Michigan’s effective field goal percentage (56.9 percent) is the 8th best in the country. This shooting stat gives more credit for 3-point makes than 2-pointers. OSU is not bad at 53.8 percent (46th). Neither team is very good at slowing down opponents with the Wolverines allowing 51.7 percent (218th in the nation) and the Cowboys allowing 52.8 percent (275th).

The percentage of Michigan’s points (37.6) that come from beyond the arc is No. 20 in the nation. They shoot a respectable 38.1 percent which is good for 46th nationally. Oklahoma State is a better 3-point shooting team by percentage (No. 8 at 40.3 percent) but threes only accounts for 31.8 percent of their points (181st nationally).

Either team can catch fire and that’s why offensive rebounding is going to play such a huge role in the outcome on Friday. OSU needs those extra possessions and both defenses will be desperate to gain an edge wherever they can.

Most Read

Copyright © 2011- 2023 White Maple Media