Here’s an insight into my mind as I prepared to write about what took place inside GIA this afternoon:

“I will not overreact. I will not overreact. I will not—forget it, THIS TEAM IS TOP 25 MATERIAL!”

I couldn’t help but think to myself, “this looks familiar, doesn’t it?” Finally, for the first time in a month, Oklahoma State looked dominant and in control, stifling their opponent for 40 straight minutes. Now then, I get it. Southeastern Louisiana is not good. Pretty much any Power 5 school could beat them, soundly. But despite the quality of opponent, the Cowboys showed up in a big way.

From the beginning, OSU was the more aggressive team. They outscored the Lions 47-19 in the first half and 35-12 in the second. It was encouraging to see them finish the game the same way they started it, and the production didn’t drop off much at all once the starters were subbed out. Having a reliable bench is crucial come conference play, and the reserves added a nice addition to what ended up being the most lopsided game so far this year.

Stat Sheet Breakdown

Thomas Dziagwa lead the scoring effort for the Pokes with 14, while going 4-7 from deep.

Likekele, in his first game back, logged 20 minutes and recorded a 9/3/4 line. While that might not sound too impressive, his presence had an obvious effect on the performance of the whole team. The defense was sharper, more disciplined.

Jonathan Laurent had a nice afternoon, scoring 11 points to go along with 6 rebounds.

The Lions went 1-20 for deep (5%).

Ty Brewer, the most skilled player for SELA, finished the contest with 14 and 12. He scored nearly half of his team’s points.

3 Questions Reviewed

1. How does Likekele look after a near month absence? #13 looked pretty good in limited minutes. He was an obvious mismatch for the Lion’s undersized backcourt, and made smart decisions throughout the course of the game. Getting to go against lesser competition in his first game back was hopefully just what he needed going into conference play.
2. Can Anei stay on the floor? Thankfully, his services were not required as much in this one, leading to just 18 minutes for the Sophomore big man. What I like to see is him ending a game with 1 personal foul and not missing a single shot all day.
3. Can anyone other than Lindy Waters be consistent on the offensive end? Dziagwa lead the team in scoring while Lindy struggled from the field, going 2-8 and finishing with 4 points. Again, his services were not required in ordered to secure the victory, but you still would have preferred to see the ball go in the basket a few more times for the Cowboys leading scorer on the season.