Three Things to Know Before Oklahoma State Squares Off against West Virginia

Oklahoma State lost its Big 12 opener (in convincing fashion) to a Top 15 Houston team on Monday. Now the Cowboys head to Morgantown to face a team that just made history in Lawrence.

OSU will face West Virginia in its first conference road game Saturday morning with several storylines at play, not least of which includes a former Cowboy facing his old team for the first time. Here are three things I think you should know before the Pokes and Mountaineers square off this weekend.

The Mountaineers Are Kansas Killers

The Mountaineers were picked 13th in the preseason conference rankings — one spot ahead of the Cowboys — but in the early goings, they’re punching above their weight under new head coach Darian DeVries.

West Virginia is fresh off a 62-61 win over No. 7 Kansas, the Mountaineers’ sixth-straight win, and did so without its Nos. 2 and 3 scorers in Tucker DeVries and Amani Hansberry. It was the Jayhawks’ first loss in a conference opener since 1991 and their first home loss all year.

On top of that, WVU’s leading scorer — a player OSU fans will be painfully familiar with — was held to just 13, but did make the game-winning free throw with 1.8 seconds left. The status for both DeVries and Hansberry for Saturday is still uncertain, but you can bet Javon Small will do his best to be active.

Speaking of…

The Javon Small Invitational

These things probably don’t mean as much in the current landscape of college sports, especially with OSU’s new coaching staff and an almost entirely retooled roster. But it won’t likely be lost on Cowboy fans that their leading scorer from last year is now the Big 12’s leading scorer for a different team.

Javon Small will face his former team for the first time, fresh off that hero moment in Lawrence. Despite being held somewhat in check in Lawrence, Small is off to the best start of his career and is laying groundwork for an All-Big 12 season.

Small is leading the Big 12 in scoring at 19.2 points per game, is 10th in the league in assists (4.9 per game) and is 10th in steals (1.9). He’s also still a knock-down foul shooter (see above) ranking fifth in the league at 86.6%.

WVU’s Defense is Legit

Early on in the Steve Lutz era at OSU, it’s obvious that defense is meant to be the Cowboys’ calling card. Early on in the DeVries era at West Virginia, it is.

The Mountaineers come into this weekend ranked third in the Big 12 in scoring defense (63.6 points per game), second in opponent shooting (37.4%), third in opponent 3-point shooting (28.5%) and first in blocked shots (5.9).

Maybe the most surprising part of the win at KU — especially given all the abovementioned qualifiers — is that the Mountaineers looked ready to boat-race the Rock Chalk contingent on its heralded home floor, and they did it with defense.

WVU took an early 9-0 lead, led by 13 at halftime and was up 18 early in the second. Kansas was eventually able to turn it on and nearly force overtime, but the Mountaineers were able to stifle the Jayhawks’ offense so much so that Bill Self called it “as miserable of offensive team I’ve seen play in this building in 22 years. That was horrid.” Self was turning the screws on his own team, no doubt as motivation, but it was West Virginia’s defense that held them to their second-lowest shooting night of the season.

The Cowboys and Mountaineers tip off at 11 a.m. CST Saturday on CBS Sports Network.