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Preview: Oklahoma State visits No. 1 Baylor

The Cowboys travel to Waco to face one of the hottest teams in men’s college basketball.

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NCAA Basketball: Oklahoma State at Baylor Ray Carlin-USA TODAY Sports

Fresh off its first Big 12 win of the season, Oklahoma State get rewarded by traveling to face No. 1 Baylor on Saturday at the Ferrell Center in Waco, Texas.

Despite the Cowboys (11-11, 1-8 Big 12) being over-matched in almost every sense of the word in their last meeting against the Bears (20-1, 9-0), OSU held a lead for most of the game before watching it slip away in the final minutes. The Cowboys will look to build on the momentum from their 72-57 win against TCU on Wednesday in Stillwater, but running into the buzz-saw that appears to be Baylor will no doubt present an incredibly tough test.


Who: No. 1 Baylor (20-1, 9-0)

Where: Ferrell Center | Waco, TX

When: 5 p.m. | Saturday, Feb 8

TV: ESPN2

Streaming: Watch ESPN

Radio: Cowboy Radio Network / TuneIn

Live stats: okstate.statbroadcast.com

ESPN Favorite: Baylor 91%

All-time series: Cowboys lead 30-21

Previous Result: 75-68 Baylor win


Projected Starters

Oklahoma State

No. 13 Isaac Likekele

No. 4 Thomas Dziagwa

No. 1 Jonathan Laurent

No. 12 Cameron McGriff

No. 14 Yor Anei

(Avery Anderson III, Lindy Waters III, Chris Harris Jr. all listed as questionable)

Baylor

No. 45 Davion Mitchell

No. 31 Macio Teague

No. 12 Jared Butler

No. 11 Mark Vital

No. 33 Freddie Gillespie


Previous matchup

Rob Ferguson-USA TODAY Sports

Last time these two teams met, OSU built a double-digit lead in the first half and went into halftime up 36-27. Baylor grabbed its first lead of the game with 8:45 left in second half and maintained control through the closing minutes to secure their 14th straight victory at the time. The Cowboys, who had been abysmal from deep leading up to that game (and still are), got a huge boost from McGriff, who went 4-for-6 from 3-point range. As a team, the Cowboys went 10-for-24 from beyond the arc, which helped them hang with the Bears for most of the game. Is that repeatable in Waco? Consider me dubious, but it is college basketball; anything is possible.

Baylor was led by No. 12 Jared Butler, a projected second-round pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, who had 17 points, six assists and three steals. Freddie Gillespie torched the Cowboys inside with 17 points and four blocks. The Bears lost the rebounding battle 30-37, but won the turnover margin 15-19.

Poll

What chance do you give the Cowboys of pulling off the upset in Waco?

This poll is closed

  • 72%
    No chance
    (16 votes)
  • 18%
    0-25%
    (4 votes)
  • 4%
    25-50%
    (1 vote)
  • 4%
    50%+ (for the homers)
    (1 vote)
22 votes total Vote Now