Oklahoma State Basketball: Cowboys face West Virginia in first Big 12 tilt

The Oklahoma State Cowboys at 10-2 face the no. 11 West Virginia Mountaineers at 11-1, in the first Big 12 game of the season for the Pokes.

Conference play finally arrived for the Big 12. Two of the better teams in the Big 12 meet today in Stillwater, OK. The no. 11 West Virginia Mountaineers travel to Gallagher-Iba Arena against the Oklahoma State Cowboys. OK State enters with a record of 10-2, and 6-0 at home. WVU enters with a record of 11-1. The Mountaineers won their only game away from home against the no. 6 Virginia Cavaliers.

According to Odds Shark, WVU is favored by three points and the over/under sits at 168. Tip-off is at 3:00 p.m. CT at Gallagher Iba-Arena in Stillwater.

West Virginia Mountaineers

The Mountaineers expect a top-three finish in the Big 12 this season. Leading scorer Esa Ahmad averages 12.9 points per game, 4.7 rebounds, and 1.3 steals. Ahmad looks to match up with OK State forward Leyton Hammonds who can draw defenders out as far as three-point range, so he will have to be strong on defense.

Senior guard Jevon Carter is a nuisance to any offense running against WVU. Carter averages 3.3 steals per game. His hands will be full with the OK State backcourt between Jawun Evans and Phil Forte.

WVU has not played a competitive game since their matchup with UVA. Their last game came against Northern Kentucky ending in a 92-61 victory. However, there is little doubt about the preparedness for the Mountaineers.

Oklahoma State Cowboys

This is the Cowboys first game since a 92-70 victory over Texas A&M Corpus Christi on Dec. 22. Forte finally found his groove against A&M-CC with 19 points, shooting 5-10 from three-point range. Evans cooled off recently after a hot start averaging 11 points in the last three games. Junior forward Jeffrey Carroll should provide some secondary scoring. Carroll averages 16.2 points per game and 7.3 rebounds.

Head coach Brad Underwood gets his first chance in the Big 12 spotlight. He made the most of his opportunity with OK State in out of conference play. Winning his first Big 12 conference game would be huge.

Oklahoma State 80, West Virginia 77