Page’s Play Helping Cowboys Down the Stretch

Originally Published: Feb 21, 2010 10:18 PM CDT

Kyle Dierking
Oklahoma Sports Mobile Journalist

STILLWATER, Oklahoma - There's always been those questions hanging out there when it comes to Keiton Page's basketball ability.

"I've always been the smaller guy,” Page said. “I heard it all growing up, so I just try to go out and let my game speak for itself."

Oklahoma State head coach Travis Ford knows what it’s like to be small in stature. He was a point guard at Kentucky in the mid-1990’s.

"When you're our size, you have to come with a little bit of spitfire to you," Ford said. "It may be a little fake, but it can help you mentally as well."

And that's one part of Page's game that Ford is trying to develop.

"He's such a humble guy and I've always said, 'you need to walk with a swagger when you come in because you back it up,'" Ford said. "I want him to have that chip on his shoulder."

Lately, Page has played with some of that swagger. He's helped take some of the load off leading scorer James Anderson. Page dropped 22 points and was 5-of-8 from beyond the arc in a win over Baylor on Saturday.

"We all know that we've had several games where James had to take all the load in the first half and it wears him down in the second half," Ford said. "(Page) has helped us early in the game to allow (Anderson) just to get in the flow and not have to feel the pressure of, 'I've got to do it all.'"