Cowboys Look For Fifth-Consecutive Big 12 Road Win In Underwood's Return To K-State

Oklahoma State looks to keep it rolling in Brad Underwood’s return to his alma mater. The Cowboys go to Kansas State on Wednesday for an 8 p.m. CT tip.

Underwood played for Jack Hartman at Kansas State and later spent six seasons in Manhattan coaching alongside Bob Huggins and Frank Martin. He and the Cowboys lost 96-88 at home to the Wildcats earlier this season.

Since that game, Oklahoma State is 8-1 and has clawed back to the middle of the Big 12 pack. With four games remaining in the regular season, the Cowboys sit fifth at 7-7. That’s a game ahead of TCU and K-State with a chance to create some breathing room by winning tonight.

The Wildcats have gone 3-6 since the last meeting, beating West Virginia, Baylor and Texas but losing their last three at home. Senior Wesley Iwundu leads the team in scoring at 12.6 points per game and he’s joined in double figures by Barry Brown (12.3), Kamau Stokes (12.3) and D.J. Johnson (11.4).

Freshman guard Brian Patrick is one to watch off the bench. Patrick is perfect from the field and 6-for-6 from deep in K-State’s past three games.

Oklahoma State continues to get consistent production out of Jawun Evans and Jeffrey Carroll. The pair has combined to score 50 percent of the Cowboys’ points in the last two games. Evans shot just 7-of-17 in the first meeting with the Wildcats. He played just 26 minutes in that contest after picking up a third foul early in the second half.

A win in Manhattan likely solidifies OSU’s NCAA Tournament chances and a loss doesn’t hurt too bad; K-State is No. 51 in RPI. Beyond tonight’s contest, the Cowboys face Texas Tech at home (Feb. 25), go to Iowa State (Feb. 28) and get Kansas (Mar. 4) at home.