Game Preview: Big 12 Tournament Edition, Cowboys and Wildcats

Oklahoma State is 11-0 all-time in the Big 12 tournament opening round. Kansas State hasn't won a conference tournament game since 2013. This should be good news for Cowboys fans.

The No. 9 seed Cowboys look to keep their season alive against the No. 8 seed Wildcats tonight in Kansas City. The last time these two teams met was also the last time Oklahoma State won a game. Since then, the Pokes have lost six straight while K-State has lost four of its last six. It was Leyton Hammonds and Jeff Newberry who led OSU to a 58-55 overtime win in Stillwater on Feb. 13. Hammonds went for 13 points, while Newberry posted a double-double with 10 points and 10 boards. The Cowboys also received a big boost from Tavarius Shine in overtime, as the sophomore scored five of the Pokes' six points in the extra five minutes.

Kansas State is led by senior guard Justin Edwards, who is averaging a team-high 12 points to go with nearly six boards a contest. Newberry did an respectable job on Edwards in the two teams' last meeting, holding him to 14 points in nearly 40 minutes of play. The Cowboys will also have to keep an eye out for Wesley Iwundu, although Hammonds did a stellar job on the 6-7 junior last time around. Averaging nearly 12 points a game, Iwundu was held to a mere five points in Stillwater. The Wildcats are going to have a hard time winning tonight if they don't get more production out of their second leading scorer. Even though Kansas State wouldn't be considered "deep" by any means, they do a good job of spreading out where the points come from. Four other Wildcats are averaging a little over nine points a game to complement Edwards and Iwundu. Meanwhile, the Cowboys have two consistently above average scorers, but not a lot of depth.

This is the third matchup between these two teams this year, as the Pokes and ‘Cats split the season series. Both teams are fighting to keep their post-season hopes alive, with the winner getting a chance at No. 1 seed Kansas in the next round. You can catch the game on ESPNU at 6:00 p.m. tonight.