Cowboys Face Road Test At Wichita State

Oklahoma State gets its toughest remaining non-conference test on the hardwood against Wichita State and the 11th-ranked defense in the nation on Saturday inside INTRUST Bank Arena, a 6 p.m. CT tip.

This is the first meeting between the two in 14 years; Tony Allen led the Cowboys to a 68-58 win in the last meeting in 2002. The Shockers come to Stillwater in 2017. INTRUST Bank Arena isn’t WSU’s normal home venue, but the Shockers play one game annually at the downtown Wichita event center. Coach Gregg Marshall is 6-0 at the arena.

Oklahoma State scores 93.5 points per game, fourth in the nation, but WSU gives up just 59.5 a game and holds opponents to 34.6 percent shooting.

Both teams rely heavily on contributions from the bench. Wichita State is No. 2 in bench scoring at 48.4 points per game and Oklahoma State is fifth getting 40.7 points from non-starters.

The Shockers are led by versatile forwards Markis McDuffie and Darral Willis Jr., who combine for 20.7 points and 10.2 rebounds a night. Reserve Zach Brown brings 10.0 points and 3.5 rebounds per game off the bench.

Oklahoma State point guard Jawun Evans returned to the court after a one-game absence on Wednesday, scoring five points in 22 minutes. Evans averages 21.6 points, 4.8 assists and 2.7 steals per game and should have opportunities to score on WSU’s backcourt. The Shockers gave up 28 to OU’s Jordan Woodard last weekend.

The Cowboys continue to rely on their freshman fab five of Lindy Waters, Lucas N’Guessan, Brandon Averette, Cameron McGriff and Thomas Dziagwa.

On Wednesday, Dziagwa scored 14 on seven shot attempts, Waters had 13, McGriff shot 8-10 from the stripe and finished with 10 and Averette nearly reached double figures with nine.

After Wichita State, the Pokes take on Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Dec. 22nd before beginning conference play against West Virginia on Dec. 30th.