Oklahoma State Set to Face Minnesota in Tulsa at the BOK Center
STILLWATER – Entering last Sunday’s game against game against Houston, Oklahoma State was riding a two-game losing streak without starting point guard Isaac Likekele. He’s been sick since the beginning of December and his presence and dominance on the court has been sorely missed. But he was court-side for the Houston game and you could almost sense a boost of confidence from the Cowboys, so much so that they rolled to a 61-55 win over the Cougars, even after Houston made a strong second-half run.
The question that everyone has been asking is ‘When are we going to see Isaac Likekele again?’ Well, Ice was on the bench in Houston, albeit in street clothes, but Mike Boynton said there was a few times that he didn’t even have to say anything in a timeout huddle.
“Yeah, there were three timeouts where I didn’t talk in the [Houston] game the other day,” head coach Mike Boynton said about Likekele being in Houston. “It was Ice kind of leading the charge getting the other guys to talk about what they’re seeing out there. So, that’s what you were missing. Not only his ability, the 15-5-5 [stat line] speaks for itself, but that presence and confidence that he gives to other guys. Can always kind of communicate a little bit more effectively to a guy, more than coach to a player. So, just understanding that value and having that back around us has been great for us.”
Likekele was also at the practice in Tulsa on Wednesday earlier this week and was incredibly vocal. He was shouting out the time remaining on the shot clock, he was telling freshmen Chris Harris and Avery Anderson what their roles and assignments would be in certain situations. There’s no doubt that Oklahoma State is success with Ice on the court, but they’re also more confident just with him present, the game against Houston last Sunday was proof enough.
As for Likekele coming back, coach Boynton said during the Wednesday availability that he wouldn’t be available until he practiced, but that they still have a few more days before they’d know anything for the Minnesota game.
As for Minnesota, Oklahoma State has another tall task ahead of them this coming Saturday. While the Golden Gophers are 5-5 to start the season, there are a couple of problem players the Pokes are going to have to prepare for: point guard Marcus Carr and center Daniel Oturu.
Carr is averaging 15.2 points, 5.4 rebounds and 6.7 assists per game, while Oturu is averaging 17.6 points, 11.2 rebounds and 3.4 blocks per game.
“[Minnesota’s] really good,” said coach Boynton. “Obviously, they have one of the elite big men in the country. We believe that Yor [Anei] is one of the elite shot blockers, but their big has like 10 more blocks than Yor does. So, he’s a very effective defensive player. He’s averaging, I think, a double-double, so somebody that we’ll have to contend with. Then they have a guard, who we played against when he was a freshman at Pittsburgh, who’s gotten a lot better. I think he had 35 [points] against Ohio State the other day to lead them to a win. Then they’ve got two guys who can really shoot. Obviously, Richard Pitino as been there awhile. He’s got an established system, but it’s an opportunity for us to play another high caliber team, Power Five conference, on a neutral court to give us another example of what postseason basketball is come late February and early March.”
When I mentioned that the Pokes seemed to get a boost at Houston just by having Isaac Likekele on the sidelines, one of those guys was Yor Anei. He got into foul trouble early in the loses to Wichita State and Georgetown, but didn’t pick up his first foul into well into the first half against Houston. He led the Pokes in points with 18 and he also hauled in eight rebounds and had one blocked shot.
Anei’s going to be one of the main keys in getting past Minnesota. They’ll especially need him to stay out of foul trouble like he did at Houston.
The game against Minnesota is being played at the BOK Center in Tulsa and tipoff is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. It’s being televised on EPSN2 and will feature Mark Neely and Jon Crispin on the call, but you can listen to the Cowboy Radio Network call with Dave Hunziker and John Holcomb.
