In the final game of this year’s Big 12-Big East Battle, Oklahoma State will visit Seton Hall on Sunday afternoon in Newark, N.J.
Oklahoma State was picked to finish 14th of 16 teams in the Big 12 preseason coaches’ poll, and Seton Hall was voted 10th of 11 by the Big East coaches.
So far, those projections generally have been prophetic.
The Cowboys (5-2) earned their first four wins by an average of just 8.8 points before throttling Tulsa 76-55 on Wednesday. Oklahoma State lost to both Florida Atlantic and Nevada at the Charleston Classic.
Seton Hall (5-4) also participated in the Charleston Classic and went 2-1 there, but the Pirates have suffered discouraging losses to Fordham, Hofstra and Monmouth. They’re No. 132 overall on KenPom.com; only Boston College and Virginia Tech rate worse among teams from the power conferences.
“Moving forward, I need everybody to be on the same page,” Seton Hall coach Shaheen Holloway said after the Pirates defeated NJIT 67-56 on Wednesday. “I need the guys who could score to score, guys who can defend, defend, guys who rebound, rebound. I think once we do that, I think we’ve still got a chance of being a good team.”
Prince Aligbe broke out against NJIT for a career-high 19 points and a game-best eight rebounds for the Pirates. Chaunce Jenkins, who averages 13.1 points per game, and Isaiah Coleman (10.9) are the team’s double-digit scorers.
But Seton Hall continues to rank near the bottom of Division I in scoring (58.3 ppg) while sitting tied for third in points allowed (56.6).
For the Cowboys, Bryce Thompson led four players in double figures with 15 points as they opened a 13-point halftime lead at Tulsa and led by as many as 26 down the stretch.
Oklahoma State forced 22 turnovers, a season high.
“I thought that was probably our best defensive effort for an extended period of time thus far on the short season,” coach Steve Lutz told the Oklahoma State student newspaper.
Marchelus Avery (13 ppg), Thompson (12.6) and Abou Ousmane (12.2) lead the Cowboys in scoring this year.
Sunday’s game likely will be won in the interior. Seton Hall ranks 343rd with just 17.1 3-point attempts per game. Oklahoma State attempts 20.1 per game and went just 3-for-8 from the arc against Tulsa.
–Field Level Media
