Iowa State-Oklahoma State Preview and Prediction
By Ross
Date: February 7th, 2012
Time: 6:00 CST
Where: Gallagher-Iba Arena
TV: ESPN2
Spread: Oklahoma State (-1)
Know the Foe: Iowa State hasn’t won in Stillwater in a really long time. How long? ISU last won at Oklahoma State in 1988. Oklahoma State impressed me when they were at Hilton, but they currently have a losing record (11-12) and are 4-6 in Big 12 play (which isn’t awful). This game scares me as a fan because the Cowboys have been impressive in their last two home games. They beat #2-ranked Mizzou at Gallagher-Iba and then demolished Tech by 17. I think this game and the Cowboys should scare other Cyclone fans and after all, Vegas does have Oklahoma State as the favorite.
Keiton Page is Oklahoma State basketball. The 5’9, senior guard leads the team with 14.3 points per game. Keiton Page is one of the best pure shooters in the country; he can knocks down almost any shot. Against Iowa State the first time, Page scored 21 points and was 5 out of 8 from behind the arc. Look for ISU’s best defender, Chris Babb, to be locked in on Page tonight. Also scoring 21 points against the Cyclones was Le’Bryan Nash. Nash is second for the Pokes in scoring; averaging 13.2 per game. After Nash, no other Cowboy averages in the double-digits for points. However, Oklahoma State likes to spread out the scoring as six others all average between 5 and 10 points.
Prediction: Like I’ve said, this game scares me. The last time these two teams played, it took a late comeback and a banked-in 3 -pointer by Scott Christopherson for the Clones to win the game. If Iowa State falls behind by 6 points late in the game, don’t expect them to repeat their performance from earlier in the year. Some fans are worried that the Pokes will be playing inspired to get revenge for their loss to State earlier in the year. But as Kirk Haaland of enCYCLONEpedia.com points out in his preview, Cyclone Nation should be more worried about the Saturday-Tuesday back-to-back road games. The last time that happened to Iowa State, they beat Tech but then lost to the Horns and the Clones came out and shot poorly (Texas had some part of the poor shooting).
For the Cyclones, the offense needs to go through Royce White. Against Oklahoma State earlier this year, White had 17 points. If the Pokes want to do what their in-state rivals did to White, Royce can kick it out to 3-point shooters like he did against the Sooners. Anyways, I think the Cyclones sneak by the Cowboys.
Iowa State 65, Oklahoma State 61
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