Bedlam goes to Oklahoma State, but is Big 12 win enough for March Madness? Takeaways
Oklahoma State’s 57-49 triumph over Oklahoma gave the Cowboys a three-game sweep of the regular season series and sends them to a Big 12 quarterfinal meeting with second-seeded Texas on Thursday.
Here are three takeaways from Bedlam:
Right side of the bubble?
Oklahoma State took care of business by beating the Sooners to keep its NCAA Tournament hopes alive.
The Pokes’ postseason case was the league’s biggest bubble question heading into the tournament. Oklahoma State entered the event ranked No. 43 in the NET rankings. That’s bubble territory. In the Cowboys’ favor is six Quad 1 victories. Only 13 programs have more.
The overall record (18-14) doesn’t sparkle, but at-large teams have made the field with worse marks.
Coach Mike Boynton looks for his second NCAA trip in seven seasons. But NCAA probation and the COVID-19 pandemic scrapped two of those postseasons.
OSU has a Texas problem
The Cowboys owned their rival this season, but now they must avoid a taste of their own medicine. The Cowboys dropped two games to Texas by double digits.
“We have our hands full,” Boynton said.
One difference between those meetings and this one: Oklahoma State didn’t have big man Moussa Cisse available in either game. The 6-10 Cisse finished with eight points, 11 rebounds and two blocks against the Sooners. He was selected to the Big 12’s All-Defensive team.
Sherfield, Sooners go cold
On a tough night for both offenses, Oklahoma and its leading scorer Grant Sherfield got the worst of it. Sherfield, who entered the game averaging 16.1 points, finished with eight. He missed 14 of 16 shots from the floor.
During one first half stretch, the Sooners went more than eight minutes without a field goal. For the game they shot 25 percent (14 for 56).
Oklahoma struggled against the Cowboys’ size throughout the game. The Sooners dropped to 15-17 and are the only Big 12 team with an overall losing record.