It isn't always the case, but records in non-conference play often lie, and sometimes, they lie badly. That's the case with the Oklahoma State Cowboys, who are 9-4 at this point but probably won't even finish with a .500 record on the season. They haven't played a legitimate road game this season, and their first taste of away life is going to come on Tuesday against the Baylor Bears, not exactly the foes you want to be seeing in your first go-around of the season on an enemy's court.
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HOW THE OKLAHOMA STATE COWBOYS CAN COVER THE SPREAD
Last year, Oklahoma State had some really huge scorers in Phil Forte III and Le'Bryan Nash. Now though, Nash is gone, Forte is injured, and the team's third and fourth scorers from a year ago, Anthony Hickey and Michael Cobbins have both graduated.
Jeff Newberry was always the favorite to step up and become a big scorer this year for the Pokes, and he's done just that, leading the team in scoring at 12.0 points per game. Newberry isn't your typical 6-foot-2 guard, knowing that he rebounds the basketball incredibly well and doesn't often dish the rock, but either way, he can flat out score at times. He had 23 against TCU in his first conference game of the year, and he'll have to have a bananas game in this one to give Okie State a chance.
The other real key to beating up on Baylor is not getting dominated in the post. This is a big problem, though. The Cowboys don't really have a player on the court taller than 6-foot-8 for the most part who can matchup with Rico Gathers. Anthony Allen Jr. puts in some good minutes every now and again, and though he isn't going to be on the court a ton, he could be the X-Factor for Oklahoma State. He's the only 7-footer on the team, and if anyone is going to keep Gathers from posting a huge double-double in this one, he's the man to do it.
HOW THE BAYLOR BEARS CAN COVER THE SPREAD
The Bears are still amongst the cream of the crop in the Big XII, and we think that's going to show even though they were just beaten by 28 in Lawrence. Al Freeman isn't going to score just seven points most nights, and Taurean Prince will have louder 17-point games for sure than the one he had on Saturday.
Baylor's trio in the backcourt of Freeman, Lester Medford and Ishmail Wainright might be one of the best in the conference, and that's high praise considering the fact that Oklahoma and Kansas have All-American caliber players all over their roster. Medford and Wainright have combined for 135 assists against just 44 turnovers this season, and if that ratio keeps up to around 3 to 1 in this game, we don't see a way that Oklahoma State can win.
Prince and Gathers are going to do their thing for sure, and the only way we see the Cowboys really managing to keep this one interesting is if the Bears shoot themselves in the foot.
ANALYSIS AND ODDS PREDICTION
Oklahoma State's main focus for this year should really just be to get better for 2016-17. This is a young squad which probably should've played some legit road games in the non-conference season to get some experience of what it's like to play on enemy courts.
Instead, we think this is going to be culture shock. The Bears are angry after a huge defeat, and they're going to want to take out that rage on some poor unsuspecting foe. Oklahoma State just happens to be getting in the way of a team which is out for blood. This one won't be pretty.
Baylor 92, Oklahoma State 66
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Real-time spreads, totals, props and moneyline odds are all available by clicking here, so start betting with BookMaker today! The Oklahoma State Cowboys and Baylor Bears will square off Sunday, January 5, 2016, at 8:00 p.m. ET at the Ferrell Center. The matchup will be televised live on ESPN2.
