STILLWATER — The Oklahoma State basketball team hosts Oklahoma at 8 p.m. Wednesday in Gallagher-Iba Arena. OSU coach Mike Boynton met with reporters after the Cowboys’ Monday practice.
Read this original article at Pistols Firing Blog.
STILLWATER — The Oklahoma State basketball team hosts Oklahoma at 8 p.m. Wednesday in Gallagher-Iba Arena. OSU coach Mike Boynton met with reporters after the Cowboys’ Monday practice. Read this original article at Pistols Firing Blog.
0 Comments
STILLWATER — The Cowboys are on a three-game skid entering Wednesday’s Bedlam matchup, and all three of those games have come without the Big 12’s best rim protector. Moussa Cisse injured his ankle in Oklahoma State’s win against West Virginia on Jan. 2. After Monday’s practice, OSU coach Mike Boynton gave an update on Cisse heading into Bedlam. “Moving better today than he was at any point up until now,” Boynton said. “Got in a drill in practice today just to test it out. It was non-contact. “Making progress but still not comfortable saying that he’ll be ready to go Wednesday.” In 14 games this season, Cisse averaged 8.1 points and 9.9 rebounds a contest. Despite having missed OSU’s past three games, he still has a 10-block lead on the rest of the conference. He has 38 blocks this season; as a team, West Virginia has 45 blocks this season. The Cowboys are 1-1 in Big 12 games Cisse has played in this season, falling to Kansas 69-67 in Lawrence before beating West Virginia 67-60 in Stillwater. Kansas hasn’t lost a Big 12 game while West Virginia hasn’t won one. In two Bedlam games last season, Cisse averaged 12 points, 7.5 rebounds and two blocks a game. OSU and Oklahoma tip at 8 p.m. Wednesday in Gallagher-Iba Arena. Read this original article at Pistols Firing Blog. Four Candidates to Watch as OSU Looks to Hire Defensive Coordinator to Replace Derek Mason1/16/2023 For the second consecutive offseason, Mike Gundy is in the hunt for a defensive coordinator. With Derek Mason’s somewhat surprising retirement from college football, the Cowboys are now officially in the market again a little over a year after losing Jim Knowles to the other OSU. So which direction will OSU head this time? An in-house hire? An out-of-the-box, out-of-family hire? With Gundy he could go any direction, but here are four names to watch. 1. Doug Belk, HoustonBelk is a long-time Dana Holgorsen disciple who was elevated to DC and Associate Head Coach several years ago. Houston’s defense took a step back this past season but was top-10 in total defense last year and seems to be generally well-coached. If OSU wanted to out-resource the Cougs they could while taking down an incoming Big 12 member in the process. 2. Gary Patterson, TexasThis feels like a pipe dream on paper — GP is one of the best defensive minds the Big 12 has ever seen — but his salary at Texas as Assistant to the Head Coach with the Longhorns is reportedly peanuts compared to what OSU could offer. Patterson could probably pick his next spot, though, and money likely is not a major factor for him given how much he’s made over the years. 3. Joe Bob Clements, OSUClements has been a loyal lieutenant at OSU serving as defensive line coach and linebackers coach at Oklahoma State under Mike Gundy. He doesn’t have coordinator experience but, similar to the Kasey Dunn elevation on the offensive side, he has a good reputation and a ton of experience in-house. 4. David Reeves, UABUAB isn’t exactly a football powerhouse — the school quite literally cut the program before reviving it — which makes Reeves an interesting one to watch given how significant a promotion it’d be. Cody Nagel at 247Sports reports he was on the radar a year ago before hiring Derek Mason, so him again entering the picture might be possible. Read this original article at Pistols Firing Blog. Thanks for stopping by – here’s your daily dose of Oklahoma State sports news. OSU Bullets• Mike Gundy keeps restocking the depth chart at receiver, adding a commitment from a Texas high school receiver yesterday • The Pokes nearly doubled up an Ivy League school in wrestling yesterday, beating Columbia 23-12 • With a new starting quarterback likely coming this fall, the fact that Brennan Presley is returning will massively aid the cause • Fun piece zooming in on the car deals OSU players have been getting and the dealer behind them • Props to Tanner Brown for clinching the Hula Bowl yesterday: Non-OSU Bullets• Dealing with a talkative coworker Read this original article at Pistols Firing Blog. Class of 2023 receiver prospect Jalen Pope committed to Air Force just weeks ago right before Christmas, but on Sunday, he flipped his decision to Oklahoma State in a surprising twist that followed a weekend official visit to Stillwater. Pope announced the news himself on Twitter and tagged head coach Mike Gundy and offensive coordinator Kasey Dunn along with his high school coach. Pope comes to OSU via Aledo High School in Texas. At 5-foot-11 and 180 pounds, Pope might have been overlooked by bigger schools during the recruiting process because of his smaller frame. But OSU seems to have spotted big game from the senior talent late in the process. There was no reported offer prior to Sunday but it appears OSU made the move to swoop in and grab him during his visit. Pope led Aledo to a state title in 2022, catching 64 passes for 1,252 yards and 14 touchdowns. In Aledo’s state final win against College Station, Pope had eight catches for 229 yards and three touchdowns. Outside of his offer to Air Force, Pope also had offers to Tulsa, Columbia and Layfette, according to 247Sports. Pope’s commitment caps what was a big weekend for OSU on the recruiting trail after bleeding out in recent weeks via the transfer portal. He’s the fourth commitment of the weekend alongside Michigan State running back transfer Elijah Collins, Iowa receiver transfer Arland Buce IV and Enid receiver Tykie Andrews. The three receiver additions may shore up a thinned-out position group that lost Braylin Presley, Bryson Green, John Paul Richardson, Stephon Johnson Jr. and Langston Anderson to the portal. Read this original article at Pistols Firing Blog. Oklahoma State defeated Columbia 23-12 on Sunday. The comeback win moves the Cowboys to 6-1 on the season. Here’s how things went down. The dual opened up with Trevor Mastrogiovanni dropping a 6-0 decision to Nick Babin. Daton Fix then tied it back up with a 6-1 decision over Angelo Rino. At 141, Columbia got a lot of momentum as Carter Young was pinned by Matt Kazmir to put them up 12-6. The Cowboys would not gain a lead in the dual for a while. Victor Voinovich and Kaden Gfeller registered back-to-back decisions at 149 and 157 to tie the dual at nine before Columbia regained the lead with a 10-4 decision over Wyatt Sheets by Josh Ogunsanya at 165. This put Columbia up 12-9 heading into the final four matches. At 174, Dustin Plott was in a tight one before a late scramble led to a takedown and a 5-2 win. This tied up the dual at 12. Travis Wittlake was trailing and had given up a decent amount of riding time in the second period when he got a reversal and turn to retake the lead on Aaron Ayzerov. He had another dominant period on top in the third and ultimately won 9-3 to give the Cowboys their first dual lead of the day at 15-12. Luke Surber then put the dual away with a 21-6 tech fall over Javen Jovero, and Konner Doucet closed things out with a 1-0 decision over Dan Conley at HWT. The Cowboys wrestle Northern Colorado and West Virginia next weekend in Stillwater. Final Score Oklahoma State over Columbia 23-12.
Read this original article at Pistols Firing Blog. Thanks for stopping by – here’s your daily dose of Oklahoma State sports news. ScoresHoops: Cowboys 58, Bears 74 OSU Bullets• Oklahoma State got smoked by Baylor, no two ways about it. Check out Marshall’s Five Thoughts from Waco. [PFB] • Conversely, Mike Gundy had a productive Saturday. The Cowboys earned commitments from some much-needed reinforcements on the offensive side of the ball on Saturday: Iowa transfer WR Arland Bruce IV commits. [PFB] • Carson draws an interesting comparison between Mike Boynton and Scott Drew. • A look at incoming DIII wide receiver Leon Johnson III. • Can you read emoji? ? Non-OSU Bullets• Holy moly, what a deal. • Excuse me while I fan out for a minute. Read this original article at Pistols Firing Blog. WACO, Texas — The Oklahoma State basketball team got thumped by Baylor 74-58 on Saturday at the Ferrell Center. After the game, Mike Boynton, Avery Anderson and Caleb Asberry met with reporters to discuss the game. Read this original article at Pistols Firing Blog. WACO, Texas — The Cowboys played their worst game of an already tough season on Saturday. Oklahoma State fell to Baylor 74-58 at the Ferrell Center in a game the Cowboys never lead and trailed by as many as 28 points. Although it’s the Cowboys’ eighth loss of the year, it’s the first time OSU has been blown out. A woeful offensive performance was paired with Baylor shooting 38% from 3, and that was a bad concoction for the Pokes. Here are five thoughts on the game. 1. A Dreadful StartNot long after the pregame prayer at the Ferrell Center in Waco the Cowboys were down a baker’s dozen. For the final 36ish minutes of the game, OSU was -3 after spotting Baylor 13 points. Baylor started the game 4-for-4 from the field, hitting a trio of 3s. Meanwhile OSU was 0-for-5 to start the game, missing four 3s in that stretch. It’s going to be tough to win any game when you start down that many points. “A little bit of everything [went wrong],” OSU coach Mike Boynton said. “When you’re having scouting breakdowns against guys who you obviously highlight as you prepare, it doesn’t foster a whole lot of confidence moving forward. I think their first play was something that we worked on for three straight days. Simple baseline screen for LJ Cryer, he comes off wide open, makes a 3. It just sets a bad tone.” 2. 3s Not FallingThe Cowboys had their worst 3-point shooting performance Saturday since being in The Bahamas in November. OSU was 7-for-33 against the Bears. At 21.2%, the Pokes haven’t shot worse since shooting 2-for-20 in an overtime loss to UCF. At the half alone, OSU was an impressive 7-for-11 (64%) on 2-point shots, but a gross 3-for-20 (15%) from 3. A lot of the 3s the Cowboys shot Saturday were 3s you have to shoot. A lot of open looks that just didn’t fall. “I thought we shot relatively good shots,” Boynton said. “I’ll have to go back and watch it to really assess where it came from, whether they came from the right people, the right places on the floor. But I didn’t look up and feel like, ‘Man, we’re taking a bunch of bad shots.'” It was extra noticeable by the fact that Baylor was a ridiculous 8-for-15 from 3 in the first half. Nine minutes into the second half, the lights shut off as Keyonte George was at the foul line — Baylor legitimately shot the lights out. And as a one Twitter user said, OSU built the house (with bricks) that Baylor shot the lights out in. 3. Early Fouls Bust Boone’s RhythmKalib Boone has been the Cowboys’ offense the past few games, but after picking up two early fouls and playing only seven first-half minutes Saturday, he didn’t get going. He finished Saturday with eight points (all of which came in the final three minutes when the game was already well in-hand) after averaging 16.3 points a game during OSU’s past three. “They double-teamed him, too,” Boynton said. “I think from the very start of the game, a part of their game plan was to not allow him to be an anchor offensively. And in that case, that’s going to lead you to shooting more shots from the perimeter.” Elsewhere in the post, Moussa Cisse missed his third straight game with an ankle injury. Like the past two games, Cisse dressed but wasn’t all that active in pregame warmups. “There’s no doubt that [Cisse not playing] is a factor, but that’s a part of the game,” Boynton said. “Injuries are an inevitable part of the game. You hope it doesn’t happen to your best defensive anchor and a guy who can create open shots for other guys because he’s a threat to score at the rim, but when that happens, a really good team has someone else or a few guys step up and play a little bit better and coalesce around that and maybe we can find something that we didn’t know about our team before. Today was a step backward in that regard.” It was the imperfect storm for the Cowboys in that their two starting bigs weren’t on the floor and they had one of their worst shooting performances of the season. 4. Avery Plays Well, Asberry Stacks Good GamesAvery Anderson had scored only five points in the Cowboys’ past two games, and — though he didn’t go nuclear — he scored 11 against Baylor. It’s just his second game in double figures in Big 12 play. Anderson scored a lot of his points at the rim as he got aggressive to try to ditch his offensive slump. He has, however, struggled mightily from 3 this season, hitting just 18% of his shots from long range. In OSU’s past five games, he is 0-for-13 from deep. Texas State transfer Caleb Asberry was seemingly the only Cowboy with a chance to hit from 3 Saturday, going 4-for-11 from deep while the rest of the Cowboys went just 3-for-22. Asberry finished with 14 points — his second straight game in double figures. He also played some solid defense, finishing with, seven rebounds, two blocks and a steal. 5. Bedlam Feels like a Must-WinOklahoma State will enter Bedlam on Wednesday in the bottom three of the Big 12 standings. The Sooners are no world beater — having an ugly finish in a win against West Virginia on Saturday — so in the middle of this chaos that is the Big 12, beating another potential bubble team feels like a big deal. As it just so happens that other team is your biggest rival. The Cowboys host the Sooners at 8 p.m. Wednesday in Gallagher-Iba Arena. With their win Saturday, the Sooners are 2-3 in Big 12 play. The only teams below OSU in the Big 12 standings are 0-5 West Virginia and 0-4 Texas Tech (the Red Raiders are playing Texas as of writing). There has been talk of the possibility of all 10 Big 12 teams making the NCAA Tournament. That seems unlikely at the current time. This current iteration of the Big 12 hasn’t gotten more than seven teams in the dance, so hanging out in the eight, nine and 10 spots isn’t where you want to be. “The process can’t change,” Boynton said. “Whatever went into today happening, we’ve got to own it. I’ve got to take personal accountability as the head coach, myself. Each player also has to look in the mirror and figure out what more or what better they can do for the group. At the end of the day, that’s what it’s gonna take. It’s gonna take everybody digging down a little deeper, finding a little bit more and bringing it in a confident way, in a way that can translate into success. “It’s probably a double-edged sword in that there are probably still a lot of good opportunities out there for us, but no one is gonna fix it for us. No one is gonna feel like, ‘Oh those guys are struggling. They lost of tough one early. They’re without their starting five man.’ No one cares. So we gotta get back to the drawing board and figure out how to fix this stuff.” Read this original article at Pistols Firing Blog. The Cowboys were able to dig themselves out of an early first-half hole, but they might have left their shovels in the locker room. Oklahoma State lost to Baylor 74-58 in Waco, and it really wasn’t that close. The Cowboys lose their third straight game without Mosse Cisse and fall to the bottom three of the Big 12’s standings. It couldn’t have started much worse for the Cowboys on the road. OSU missed its first five shots while Baylor was a perfect 4-for-4 from the field as the Bears built a 13-zip lead with less than four minutes gone. But then the Cowboys’ reserves dug them out of it. The Cowboys rattled off a 13-10 run that included a 10-0 over four minutes to pull back within 17-15. Thirteen of those 15 points came from bench contributors led by Caleb Asberry’s eight points including knocking down a pair of early deep balls. Unfortunately for OSU, Cowboys not named Caleb Asberry were not so effective from deep. The Cowboys shot just 3-of-20 from 3-point range in the first half. Meanwhile, the Bears took back control of the game with an 8-of-15 effort from behind the arc, building their lead to 16 by the half. Baylor’s LJ Cryer led all scorers with 16 and was 4-of-5 from deep. While the Cowboys were able to dig themselves out of the early first-half hole, they must have left their shovels in the locker room. The Bears, on the other hand, came out of the half still on fire. Baylor’s lead ballooned to 20 just over two minutes into the second and was as high as 28 midway through the period. With 11:00 on the clock, the lights in the arena went out causing a stoppage of around 20 minutes. When the lights came back on there were still some technical difficulties. At one point, the ESPN crew was calling play-by-play through a cell phone. But even an extended stoppage in time didn’t cool off the Bears’ hot hands. The Cowboys got shot out of the gym, finishing the night with a 3-point shooting disparity of 21 percent for Baylor’s 38 percent while tying a season-high 33 attempts from deep. You could point to the deep hole they were in but 20 of those came in the first half, many before things were that out of hand. This is the third game that OSU has been without Moussa Cisse, the league’s best rebounder and shot-blocker, who had become a double-double machine this year. The Cowboys’ offense can get stagnant and predictable, especially without Cisse, and they definitely aren’t the same type of defensive team with him sidelined. A bright spot came from Caleb Asberry who led the Cowboys in scoring off the bench. He followed up his OSU-best 15 points against Kansas State with 14 more in Waco, including four made 3s. OSU’s leading scorers Bryce Thompson and Avery Anderson had their best outings since Cisse went down. In the previous two games, the pair combined for just 15 points on 5-of-30 shooting. Against Baylor, Anderson scored 11 points on 5-of-12 shooting and dished out three assists. Thompson scored nine on 10 shots. It wasn’t quite as ugly but it also wasn’t as much as the Cowboys needed from their two best bucket-getters. Kalib Boone, who has excelled in Cisse’s absence, was limited due to foul trouble. He followed up a career-high 23 points — and three-straight double-digit scoring outings — with eight points (3-of-4 shooting), three rebounds and a block in just 18 minutes. With the loss, the Cowboys fall to 9-8 and 1-4 in conference play. Next up, the Cowboys are back home for Round 1 of Bedlam on Wednesday night. Read this original article at Pistols Firing Blog. |
Gundy's OSU Keeping up with Head Coach Mike Gundy and the OSU football team. Archives
June 2024
Categories |