SIU looks for the sweep in their 2 away, 1 home 3 game series against Oklahoma State on Thursday.
Meet the Cowboys:
Oklahoma State fired Mike Boynton after last season after just 1 tournament appearance in 7 seasons. In comes Steve Lutz who spent 7 seasons as an assistant for Greg McDermott at Creighton and 4 seasons as an assistant for Matt Painter at Purdue before landing a head coaching job at Texas A&M Corpus Christi. All Lutz has done as head coach is win so far. He made the NCAA Tournament in both of his 2 seasons at Texas A&M Corpus Christi and then made it in his first and only season at Western Kentucky last year. In all 3 seasons, Lutz significantly outperformed their team's preseason KenPom rank.
Coming into the season, the Cowboys were picked 14th in the Big 12 out of the 16 teams. Like Nagy, Lutz likes his teams to push the tempo. Last season at Western Kentucky, the Hilltoppers were 1st in the country in adjusted tempo and 4th in the country in average possession length on the offensive end. So far this season, the Cowboys are 8th in the country in adjusted tempo.
The Cowboys have played 2 home games so far and beat Doug Gottlieb/Foster Wonders and Green Bay 89-76 and St. Thomas 80-71.
The leading scorer so far this season for the Cowboys is 6-6 Senior Bryce Thompson averaging 16.5 points per game. Thompson was a 5 star recruit and former McDonald's All_American out of Tulsa, OK and started his collegiate career at Kansas where he spent 1 season. Thompson came into the season ranking 21st all-time in OSU history in 3 pointers made.
The leading rebounder for Oklahoma State is 6-10 Senior Abou Ousmane averaging 8 rebounds per game. Ousmane spent 3 years at North Texas leading the Mean Green to a combined 74-24 record during that span. He transferred to Xavier last year where he started 29 games and was the leading rebounder for the Musketeers. Ousmane was 39th in the country last season in offensive rebounding %. In their win over Green Bay, Ousmane had 16 points and 8 rebounds. He sat out the previous St. Thomas game due to violation of team rules.
The leader in assists and steals for the Cowboys is 5-11 Junior Arturo Dean averaging 4 assists per game and 2.5 steals per game. Dean spent his first 2 seasons at FIU and earned All-CUSA 3rd Team recognition last year when he led FIU in scoring with 13.4 points per game, 5.1 rebounds per game, 4 assists per game, and 3.35 steals per game. Dean was 1st in the country last season in steal % (6.4%) and 83rd in the country in assist rate (29.0%).
6-8 Senior Marchelus Avery spent 2 seasons at New Mexico State and 1 season at UCF before transferring to Oklahoma State this offseason. In their win over St. Thomas, Avery led the Cowboys with 23 points on 8-12 shooting.
Links:
SIU Game Notes
Oklahoma State Game Notes
While I certainly look forward to watching this game, I always fear an embarrassing loss to a Power 5 opponent. I hope we are at the very least competitive, and have a chance at the end of this contest. Play with composure!
GO DAWGS!!!
KenPom has it 83-73 Oklahoma State. Guessing the line is around 8-10. Cowboys got a huge coaching upgrade with Lutz. Hoping SIU keeps this close and maybe steals another one but it's all about getting better for January-March for me right now.
Between Southern not playing particularly well so far and the law of averages/revenge factor for Oklahoma State (even with a new coach), it’s hard to feel great about this. Also, Southern’s uptempo style has the potential to lead to more blowout losses when outmatched in these high-possession games.
But … if Nagy wants to make an early statement and finish what Mullins started in this series, I’m here for it, as they say.
I’ll be curious to see if Moo can make it a tougher night for Bryce Thompson if they’re matched up a lot.
If we keep it within 10 with this new team, that will be an accomplishment I think.
We would catch a break if Ousmane is still suspended, but I think it was just a 1 game thing. He is a pretty dominating big man, which appears to be an early season weakness for us. Their other post players aren't nearly as intimidating.
This game should be competitive. Just my opinion, but Oklahoma State has looked the part of their pre-season expectations so far, even with Ousmane. I'd wager Charleston is a better team.
I certainly wouldn't be surprised by a loss, but I would be if its not competitive.
--Insert something witty here--
This game should be competitive. Just my opinion, but Oklahoma State has looked the part of their pre-season expectations so far, even with Ousmane. I'd wager Charleston is a better team.
I certainly wouldn't be surprised by a loss, but I would be if its not competitive.
Agreed. Lutz has been a winner everywhere and Oklahoma State has some talent, but it's nowhere near a top-tier Big 12 program at this point (and that's probably more of a commentary on the Big 12's strength than Oklahoma State's weakness). So I also believe SIU will keep it competitive. It's also SIU's first true road game, and it will be interesting to see how this new group handles it.
Lutz announced today that he expects Ousmane to play.This game should be competitive. Just my opinion, but Oklahoma State has looked the part of their pre-season expectations so far, even with Ousmane. I'd wager Charleston is a better team.
I certainly wouldn't be surprised by a loss, but I would be if its not competitive.
Agreed. Lutz has been a winner everywhere and Oklahoma State has some talent, but it's nowhere near a top-tier Big 12 program at this point (and that's probably more of a commentary on the Big 12's strength than Oklahoma State's weakness). So I also believe SIU will keep it competitive. It's also SIU's first true road game, and it will be interesting to see how this new group handles it.
I can’t find the game on +
Oops ! I’ve been in the hospital for 6 days. Tomorrow
