Cowboy Basketball Offering Free Admission Against TCU

It's the second match up of the season for Oklahoma State and TCU.

Oklahoma State (10-11, 0-8 Big 12) vs TCU (13-8, 4-4 Big 12)
Date / Tipoff: Feb. 5, 2020 / 7 p.m. CT
Site: Gallagher-Iba Arena (13,611)
Series: OSU leads 26-8 (OSU leads 10-2 in Stillwater)
Last: TCU won 52-40 on Jan. 11 in Fort Worth, Texas
Streak: TCU won last 2 meetings
Watch: ESPN+ (Mark Neely, Lance Blanks)
Radio: Cowboy Radio Network (Dave Hunziker, John Holcomb)
Satellite Radio: XM 389

STILLWATER – The Cowboys are looking to right the ship as the TCU Horned Frogs come to town for the second round between the two teams this season. The good news is that due to the snow storm that hit early Wednesday morning, admission is now free in GIA. However, the parking rules are still in place and the doors open at 6 p.m.

The last time out against TCU, the Cowboys fell 52-40 in Fort Worth, TX. Point guard Isaac Likekele led the Pokes in scoring with 12 points on 5-of-11 shooting, but it was TCU senior Desmond Bane that killed the Pokes as he scored 20 points on 6-of-15 shooting from the field, 4-of-8 from beyond the 3-point line.

“[Desmond Bane’s] played well against us,” said coach Boynton. “Pretty much ended our season last year too in the conference tournament after we made a pretty strong comeback. He made a three in the corner I remember like it was yesterday, so he’s a really good player. He’s a senior and experienced.”

Bane continues to lead the Horned Frogs as he’s averaging 16.3 points, 6.2 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game. TCU is also getting great play from guard R.J. Nembhard and center Kevin Samuel. Nembhard is having 12.2 points, 4.1 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game, while Samuel is averaging nearly a double-double on the season with 11.4 points, 8.7 rebounds and 2.8 blocks per game.

The Cowboys have now entered desperation mode as they’re looking for their first win in conference play. The Pokes have started 0-8, the worst start to conference play since the 1971-72 season when they started 0-9.

“I would say probably; more desperation, that’s a fair word to use” head coach Mike Boynton said of his team preparing for the second game against TCU. “We were 0-2, I think, when we play them. Obviously, still haven’t won in league play, so I would think [desperation] is a fair word.”

Something that’s plagued the Pokes recently has been communication. After the Bedlam loss, coach Boynton mentioned how the communication was a real issue on the defensive end if the court. Throughout practice on Monday, the coaching staff was really getting on the guys and trying to get them to be more vocal on the defensive end.

“I think it’s more complicated than it seems,” said coach Boynton. “It sounds like ‘hey, just talk to each other,’ but basketball creates situations that are specific, and you’ve got to be able to communicate in an instant how you’re going to execute. Football, I always say, has an advantage because every seven seconds you get to stop and talk about one play and everybody gets to know what they’re job is in that play. We don’t have that and sometimes the game can get going and guy’s actually get fatigued and the first thing that goes is the mental and the game plan. So, the point I’m getting to is you really can’t simulate [communication] in practice because you don’t know exactly what the situation is. You can show them what the [other] team’s going to try to do; you can tell them ‘Hey, this is what we’ll try to do when they try to do this,’ but then they’ll make an adjustment and we’ll make an adjustment and now those things have to be verbalized throughout the action. That’s the part we’re struggling to get through.”

Again, tipoff is Wednesday night at 7 p.m. in GIA and will be broadcasted on ESPN+.