© Ray Carlin-USA TODAY Sports
Cowboys to Host No. 2 Baylor
STILLWATER -- Oklahoma State is set to play the second of two games this week as No. 2 Baylor comes to town this weekend. Tipoff is scheduled for 11:00 a.m. and is being televised on ESPN2.
Oh, and if that's not enough to get you to GIA, you can get a free breakfast as well.
Over the course of the season, Baylor has easily become one of the best teams in the country. They've been ranked opponents in Villanova, Arizona, Butler, Texas Tech and they went into Lawrence a beat a higher-ranked Kansas team 67-55.
This is going to be one of Oklahoma State's toughest challenges all season long. Baylor's the last undefeated team in Big 12 play, they're riding a 13-game winning streak and their the No. 1 ranked team in the N.E.T. Rankings. However, Oklahoma State currently has the highest all-time home percentage against ranked teams in the country at 62.5 percent.
(This paragraph was provided by Oklahoma State Athletics Media Relations)
While Baylor has taken seven of the last eight meetings with Oklahoma State, the games typically come down to the wire regardless of location. Ten of the last 14 games between these two schools were decided by nine points or less, including nine two-possession ballgames and two in overtime. Despite OSU's 12-20 record last season, the Cowboys and Bears split the regular-season meetings and the games were decided by four and three points. Even when Baylor was ranked in the top-5 for both games in 2017, those meetings were decided in the final minute and by two possessions.
The Bears are led by sophomore guard Jared Butler who's averaging 16.9 points, 2.9 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game. They're also getting great play out of center Freddie Gillespie, point guard Davion Mitchell and guard MaCio Teague. Gillespie's averaging 9.3 points, 9.3 rebounds and 2.2 points per game, while Mitchell's averaging 10.1 points and Teague's averaging 13.8 points per game.
The Bears enter Saturday's game averaging 73.3 points per game, while they're defense only allows 57.9 points per game. That gives them the sixth-best scoring margin in the country.
There's no doubt that this is going to be a difficult game for the Pokes. After Wednesday's game against Texas, head coach Mike Boynton said that he believed Baylor was the No. 1 team in the country and it's hard to argue with him.
If Oklahoma State comes out and plays like they did to start the season, especially in the NIT Season Tip-Off in Brooklyn, then this is going to be a fun game to watch. If not, then it very well could be a long afternoon in GIA.
