Good Time For Time Off

Originally Published: Feb 3, 2010 1:6 AM CDT

Saturday’s game at Texas Tech is the only one for the OSU Cowboys between Monday’s loss to Texas and their February 13^th Bedlam date with OU.  That’s one game in 12 days and the sparse scheduling couldn’t come at a better time.

Ray Penn has to get healthy.  The Cowboys as a team need their floor general and Keiton Page needs a break.  Page is not a natural Big 12 point guard and the necessary shift to the point in Penn’s place has impacted Page’s shooting touch.

Page averages 31 minutes per game for the season.  But over the last four games, with Penn out, Page is averaging 36 minutes per game.  He’s shot just 4 of 29 from the floor over that span.

The Cowboys must find a consistent scoring option to go with James Anderson.  Most nights it will be Obi Muonelo, but they need to get the kind of consistent offensive play from Marshall Moses that they began to get at this time last season when the Cowboys went on their run to the NCAA tournament.

I don’t make much of the Moses-Matt Pilgrim confrontation during the Texas game.  It was unfortunate that it played out on national television and the Longhorns, for whatever reason, began to assume control of the game after the incident.

But I’ve been around the team a good deal this season.  Moses and Pilgrim are the most emotional players on the team.  They’ll hug it out and move on.  Part of what makes each player good is the ability to channel that emotion into their play on the floor.  They can’t let the emotion get the better of them as they did Monday night.