Hunting For First Big 12 Win, Cowboys Enter The Phog

The road gets tougher before it gets easier for Brad Underwood’s Cowboys, who seek their first conference win on Saturday against No. 2 Kansas in Phog Allen Fieldhouse, a 1:00 p.m. CT tip.

Oklahoma State (10-6, 0-4) is mired in its worst-ever start to Big 12 play, despite having a mostly healthy roster. Junior Tavarius Shine has missed the last 10 games and freshman Lindy Waters III has missed the last three while he recovers from a concussion. Are those two the key to OSU’s success or has the formidable Big 12 competition been the biggest reason for the Cowboys’ slump?

The Jayhawks (15-1, 4-0) have rattled off 15-straight wins after falling in their opener against Indiana. Senior point guard Frank Mason III leads the Big 12 at 20.4 points per game and five-star freshman Josh Jackson fills the stat sheet with 15.4 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 3.1 apg, 1.5 spg and 1.4 bpg.

Senior center Landen Lucas has dominated the paint, averaging 12.7 points and 12.0 rebounds since conference play began. Bill Self spreads the floor by surrounding Lucas with snipers. Mason leads the Big 12 in three-point percentage (54.9 percent) and juniors Devonte’ Graham and Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk are also among the league’s top-5 in made threes.

That’s a big problem for the Pokes, who gave up 10 treys to Iowa State on Wednesday.

The good news? KU has a worse turnover margin than OSU and the Jayhawks are the worst free-throw shooting team in the Big 12 at 63.7 percent. The Cowboys lead the league at 74.5 percent.

Plus, Oklahoma State is the only Big 12 team to beat Kansas in each of the past four seasons and the only conference team to win in the Phog during that span.