Oklahoma State @ Tulsa

Who will WIN this matchup?

Oklahoma State Cowboys (4-3)

@ Tulsa Golden Hurricane (5-3)

Current odds:

Oklahoma State Cowboys: (-125)

Tulsa Golden Hurricane: (+105)

•  The line for this game is Oklahoma State by 1.5 points.

• A string of tough non-conference games will continue for Oklahoma State on Wednesday when it travels 70 miles east to face instate rival Tulsa. The Cowboys and leading scorer Cameron McGriff are in the midst of seven straight games against quality opponents but this one with the Golden Hurricane will be their last true road game of 2018. The Cowboys have enjoyed mixed results with a win over LSU cancelled out by losses to No. 21 Villanova and most recently No. 25 Minnesota.

• The Golden Hurricane, who will face the Cowboys for the 112th time, opened the season with four straight wins over lesser competition only to drop three games to the likes of No. 6 Nevada, Southern Illinois and Utah.

• With the top three scorers gone from last season’s 20-14 squad it has fallen on McGriff, Waters III and Dziagwa to increase their output and the juniors have responded. McGriff has nearly doubled his scoring from 8.4 last season to 15.9 this season and is one of three Big 12 players averaging at least 15.9 points and 6.9 rebounds along with Dedric Lawson of Kansas and Michael Jacobson of Iowa State. Dziagwa went from a respectable 37 percent shooter from 3-point land last season to an other-worldly 54.5 percent this season – good for 12th nationally – and is up to 11.7 points per game after not cracking five per contest in his first two seasons in Stillwater. 

•  The Golden Hurricane won’t be able to match the Cowboys in 3-point shooting as they make 32.1 percent, but they will be tough to contend with from inside the arc. Led by Martins Igbanu (60 percent) and DaQuan Jeffries (75 percent), Frank Haith’s team hits 55.1 of its two-point attempts. Jeffries has struggled in Tulsa’s three losses, scoring a total of 17 points and going 6-of 21 from the field and has excelled in its wins, averaging 16.8 points and shooting 65.9 percent while Sterling Taplin is third on the team in scoring (10.9) and leads it with 5.5 assists per game.

• McGriff, Waters III and Dziagwa are 2-0 against Tulsa and 7-1 against teams from Oklahoma since joining the Cowboys in 2016-17.

• The Cowboys have won five of the last six meetings against the Golden Hurricane, including two straight in Tulsa, to increase their series lead to 73-38 and are 28-21 at Tulsa.

• The win over then-ranked LSU gave the Cowboys five wins over ranked teams in their last six opportunities, a mark shared by only seven other teams.