Big 12 Tournament: Texas vs. Oklahoma State Preview, Prediction
Here is everything you need to know about Texas and Oklahoma State in our Longhorns vs. Cowboys Big 12 Tournament men’s basketball preview.
Game 5: No. 2 Texas (23-8, 12-6) vs. No. 7 Oklahoma State (18-14), 6 p.m. CT, ESPN2
Season series (Texas 2-0): Texas def. Oklahoma State, 56-46, in Stillwater, Okla., on Jan. 7; Texas def. Oklahoma State, 89-75, in Austin, Texas, on Jan. 24.
Big 12 Tournament results: Texas: First game. Oklahoma State: def. No. 10 Oklahoma, 57-49.
Winner gets: a semifinal game against the winner of Game 6 at 8:30 p.m. on Friday.
Projected starting lineups
Texas: G Marcus Carr, G Tyrese Hunter, F Timmy Allen, F Dylan Disu, F Dillon Mitchell
Oklahoma State: G Bryce Thompson, G John-Michael Wright, G Caleb Asberry, F Moussa Cisse, F Tyreek Smith
Player to watch
Texas
G Sir’Jabari Rice: Texas’ most consistent scorer of late isn’t a starter. It’s Rice, the former New Mexico State guard who transferred to Texas and became the Big 12 Sixth Man of the Year, selected by both the Big 12 coaches and by Heartland College Sports. At 12.6 points per game, he’s the highest-scoring bench player in the Big 12, and that average went up in Big 12 action. In his last five games he’s averaged 18 points, including dropping 23 points on Kansas in the finale.
Oklahoma State
G Caleb Asberry: Wednesday’s win was an ugly one for the Cowboys, but Asberry had a fine outing scoring 15 points and eight rebounds, including a trio of 3-pointers. Asberry has emerged as a solid option in the backcourt as the season has evolved, as he was averaging 9.3 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.8 assists going into the Big 12 Tournament. But, in his last five games he’s averaged nearly 16 points per game.
Key storylines
Texas
The Longhorns went through a coaching change at mid-season when Texas fired Chris Beard after he was charged with domestic assault. The charges were dropped, but by then Rodney Terry was the interim head coach and had the Longhorns in the race for the Big 12 regular-season title. At one point, Texas won five of six in January. The Longhorns ended the season with a 4-4 record in their final eight games, but the wins included victories over then-ranked Iowa State and No. 3 Kansas.
Oklahoma State
Oklahoma State was uneven to start Big 12 action and found itself slipping out of contention before a victory over Ole Miss in the Big 12-SEC challenge sparked a five-game winning streak. But, just as quickly, it went away. The injury to guard Avery Anderson III seemed to take the life out of the Cowboys as they lost five straight games down the stretch. The Cowboys ended the regular season with a win over Texas Tech, and their victory over Oklahoma certainly enhanced their resume a bit more. But does Oklahoma State need one more win to get in as an at-large?
Prediction
Texas 74, Oklahoma State 66. The problem for Oklahoma State isn’t the defense. It’s the offense. And the Texas defense is solid enough to beat the Cowboys for a third time. But expect one of Texas’ guards to have a big game.
You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard.
