Tulsa Preview: Can OSU Ride a Wave of Momentum over the Golden Hurricane?

The Cowboys (8-2), fresh off of a statement win over then-No. 19 Florida State in the Orange Bowl Classic, welcome the Tulsa Golden Hurricane (7-4) to Gallagher-Iba Arena on Tuesday night for an 8 p.m. tip.

How To Watch/Listen

TV: Fox Sports Oklahoma

TV crew: Mike Wolfe, Bryndon Manzer, Allison Gappa

Webcast: FoxSportsGo.com or the FoxSportsGo app

Radio: Cowboy Radio Network (Dave Hunziker and John Holcomb)

Satellite Radio: None

By some chance scheduling, Oklahoma State will be 13 games into the season before it plays its first true road game on January 3 for Round 1 of Bedlam in Norman. The Cowboys are 6-1 at home and 2-1 in neutral site games.

Tulsa is 0-1 in true road games, 2-2 in neutral site games and is riding a three-game winning streak which started with a 61-54 win over Kansas State. TU also come up just short 80-78 to Iowa State.

Let’s see how these two teams matchup on either side of the court and specifically through the lens of KenPom’s Four Factors.

Offense

Tulsa’s offense is No. 97 in adjusted offensive efficiency and 128th in tempo, averaging 77.5 points per game (135th nationally). OSU comes in at No. 73 in AdjOE and 91st in tempo and the Cowboys are scoring 78 points per game (120th).

Tulsa shoots it at a better clip (47 percent to OSU’s 43.9 from the floor). It relies heavily on senior power forward Junior Etou, who is shooting 58.1 percent from the field, including 60.5 percent on 2-point field goals and leads the team with 18.1 points per game.

Etou also gets help from junior point guard Sterling Taplin (11.8 points per game) plus his 4.3 assists and 4.5 rebounds per game. Edmond native DaQuan Jeffries transferred from Oral Roberts two years ago and is seeing his first action for Tulsa and paying it off with 11.4 points, 5.8 rebounds and a team-leading 1.3 blocks per game.

Defense

The Golden Hurricane is ranked 147th nationally in adjusted defensive efficiency and are allowing 73.5 points per game (212th). Oklahoma State is No. 34 in AdjDE and is allowing just 64.6 points per contest (43rd).

It will be interesting to see how Boynton attacks Tulsa’s zone defense and if Oklahoma State can improve its 3-point shooting that has slumped as of late. The Pokes haven’t reached 40 percent from behind the arc in four games and were a combined 15 of 49 against Wichita State and Florida State.

The Cowboys have proven to be at least a good defensive team in their own right through 10 games this season and have done so by forcing turnovers, which Tulsa has a knack for committing. OSU has won the turnover battle each of its last four game including forcing ranked Florida State into 22 turns, nearly twice its average coming in.

Key for OSU: Avoiding Foul Trouble

Frank Haith’s team has gotten to the free throw line a ton, ranked 6th above in FT rate. And its led by Etou, who’s attempting 8.5 charity shots per game and shooting 69.1 percent. As a team, Tulsa is forcing the opposition into committing 22 personal fouls per game.

Fortunately, Mike Boyton has done a pretty good managing foul trouble with his players through his 10-game tenure. Mitchell Solomon who fouled out four times in his first 10 games as a junior (and nine times all season) has only done so once, against Wichita State. In fact, only three times has a Cowboy been disqualified this season. The others were Kendall Smith against Wichita State and Lucas N’Guessan against Charlotte.

Certainly, some of that credit is due to Solomon, the senior leader who Boynton calls his MVP. And Oklahoma State will need Solomon’s defensive acumen against Etou as well as that of newly-eligible center Yankuba Sima.

Predictions

The Cowboys, hot off of the biggest win of Mike Boynton’s young career, are a 12.5-point favorite according to Bovada and KemPom gives the Pokes an 82 percent chance of success at home against the in-state visitor.

If Oklahoma State can take care of business against Tulsa and then against Texas-Rio Grande Valley on Friday, it will have plenty of momentum to ride into a brutal Big 12 slate. League play starts with West Virginia in GIA on December 29.