Cowboys Looking to Carry Momentum Into Big 12 Tourney

Oklahoma State has been on a role the past month winning seven of the past 10 games and will be looking carry that momentum into the Big 12 Tournament this week.

STILLWATER – Going into the game against Texas this past Saturday, Oklahoma State and the Longhorns were two of the hottest teams in the conference. Two hours and a butt kicking later, the Cowboys emerged as the winners of what seemed like their easiest outing. They beat UT 81-59 and easily dominated from start to finish.

That win was coming off another win, this one a difficult one, 69-63, that went down to the wire against Kansas State in Stillwater.

The month of February, and so far, the month of March, has been rather exciting for the Pokes. They’ve won seven of the last 10 games and will be looking to carry that momentum into the Big 12 Tournament in Kansas City starting Wednesday against Iowa State.

“You’ve got to practice well,” coach Boynton said of carrying momentum into the Big 12 Tournament. “Everything goes to mindset and preparation and we prepare really well. Thursday was probably the first time that we’ve had two opportunities to prepare for a team that we didn’t take it. It was a physical game Wednesday and felt like, especially our older guys, needed a little bit of a physical break from practice. We practiced, but we only went probably 40 minutes. I told them that we could only do that if they would understand why and they’d still be mentally engaged and that we’d be able to come in Friday, with one day of preparation, and still get it done. They prepared well Friday; we had a good shootaround yesterday and if we don’t do that for the next two days, then we won’t probably play well on Wednesday. Everything goes to the process. Do you do your job every day to the best of your ability and put yourself in position to help your team.”

As mentioned above, the Cowboys will be facing Iowa State in the opening round of the Big 12 Tournament on Wednesday. Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. on ESPNU and could be a challenging game for the Pokes.

The Cowboys lost to the Cyclones in late January up in Ames, 89-82, but turned around and beat ISU in Stillwater in late February 73-71.

“There’s always some tactical things you’ve got to be mindful of,” Boynton said of preparing for Iowa State. “They beat us up there [in Ames] and we made some adjustments here. They’ve got a really good coach who’s been to a Sweet 16 or two already; I’m sure he’ll make some adjustments and we’ll have to be ready to counter that somehow. There’ll be maybe some small differences, but the teams won’t change from an identity standpoint.”

This could very possibly be a different Iowa State team than Oklahoma State’s seen either time this season. They had one of the best players in the conference in Tyrese Haliburton in game one, but were without him in the second game.

Well, according to ISU head coach Steve Prohm on the Big 12 teleconference Monday morning, the Cyclones could be without Rasir Bolton and Prentiss Nixon as they’re both questionable for Wednesday’s game. Bolton missed Saturday’s game against Kansas State due to a concussion while Nixon injured his ankle on Saturday.

We’ll have our game preview out tomorrow, so we’ll keep an eye on that situation as it would definitely impact the game.