The morning after: Five takeaways from Oklahoma State's season-opening win over Campbell
by Sports Writer Mark Cooper
@mark_cooperjr/markcoopertw
Posted: Saturday November 12, 2016 8:45 am
The 2016-17 Oklahoma State season began with a fast-paced, 102-point effort. The Cowboys got great individual efforts from Jawun Evans (34 points), Jeffrey Carroll and Phil Forte (22 points apiece) and Cameron McGriff (13 rebounds), but were often sloppy as a team.
Five thoughts that lingered as I drove back to Tulsa last night:
The tempo is going to beat teams
Campbell hung around, and hung around some more, using the 3-point ball and the skills of its best player, guard Chris Clemons, to try and keep pace.
But halfway through the second half, Clemons went to the ground and stayed down. A trainer came out to assist him.
Clemons was on the floor for a couple minutes. With cramps.
In Oklahoma State’s 102-65 win over the Camels Friday, the Cowboys had 87 possessions. That is a ton. To put it in perspective, OSU has not had 87 possessions in a non-overtime game since the 2009-10 season opener. It’s more than Stephen F. Austin had in any game last season.
Oklahoma State’s pace and pressure was relentless. Campbell had trouble maintaining it.
The Camels turned the ball over 23 times. They committed 29 fouls. Oklahoma State attempted 15 more shots than the opponent.
“You have to face that in 40 minutes, and we had them with long possessions, dribbling the basketball,” OSU coach Brad Underwood said. “I'm very happy with that.”
Jawun and the free-throw line
The sophomore version of Jawun Evans got off to an incredible start, with 26 points in his first half of action since last February.
He ended up scoring 34 points in 27 minutes on an efficient 18 shots.
He also showed a much-emphasized improvement in his game: The ability to get to the free-throw line.
Rather than trying to lean around contact, as Evans did often last season, the sophomore absorbed it. He hit a couple and-ones, and when he didn’t, he was accurate at the line.
The 11 free-throw attempts were a career high. He made 10.
Underwood wants that to continue and more.
“I need Jawun to shoot 200 to 250 free throws this year,” Underwood said “When he can do that, he's going to be really a very difficult guard.”
Solomon’s got to be better
Mitchell Solomon fouled out with an ugly statline Friday: One point, one rebound, five fouls.
It was not the confidence-inspiring performance many were hoping for from the 6-foot-9 junior, who started last season but never looked confident enough to be productive on the floor. The Bixby alumnus, typically a fundamentally sound rebounder, wasn’t in the right position often.
Underwood said after the game he thought Solomon would be fine. He praised him for his work in guarding ball screens correctly, something most of the team did not.
But with the Maui Invitational less than two weeks away — and some formidable post players who could be opponents in the field — OSU needs to see more positive signs on the glass and in the statsheet.
N’Guessan might help more than we thought
It was a slight surprise to see Lucas N’Guessan as one of the first three players off the bench for Oklahoma State.
The 7-footer from the Netherlands got to OSU just as classes started. That set him back with the team, but especially in the weight room. N’Guessan still looked slight running with players from Campbell Friday.
Still, he showed a spark and a reason to believe he can give OSU minutes in short spurts when needed. He had three blocks and three rebounds in 11 minutes.
After the game, Underwood said N’Guessan had as strong a week of practice as anyone.
At the end of the day, a 37-point win on a night like Friday’s is a positive
Connecticut lost to Wagner. Tulsa lost to Jacksonville State. Tennessee lost to Chattanooga.
Texas survived a scare against Incarnate Word.
For all of Oklahoma State’s flaws Friday — and the coaching staff will find plenty — at least there is this: The Cowboys won comfortably on a night when quite a few teams are wishing for a do-over. First games are always difficult to gauge where a team will be, but now OSU has film to look at and two games — Monday against Central Arkansas and Wednesday versus New Orleans — to improve before Maui.
Mark Cooper
918-581-8387
mark.cooper@tulsaworld.com
by Sports Writer Mark Cooper
@mark_cooperjr/markcoopertw
Posted: Saturday November 12, 2016 8:45 am
The 2016-17 Oklahoma State season began with a fast-paced, 102-point effort. The Cowboys got great individual efforts from Jawun Evans (34 points), Jeffrey Carroll and Phil Forte (22 points apiece) and Cameron McGriff (13 rebounds), but were often sloppy as a team.
Five thoughts that lingered as I drove back to Tulsa last night:
The tempo is going to beat teams
Campbell hung around, and hung around some more, using the 3-point ball and the skills of its best player, guard Chris Clemons, to try and keep pace.
But halfway through the second half, Clemons went to the ground and stayed down. A trainer came out to assist him.
Clemons was on the floor for a couple minutes. With cramps.
In Oklahoma State’s 102-65 win over the Camels Friday, the Cowboys had 87 possessions. That is a ton. To put it in perspective, OSU has not had 87 possessions in a non-overtime game since the 2009-10 season opener. It’s more than Stephen F. Austin had in any game last season.
Oklahoma State’s pace and pressure was relentless. Campbell had trouble maintaining it.
The Camels turned the ball over 23 times. They committed 29 fouls. Oklahoma State attempted 15 more shots than the opponent.
“You have to face that in 40 minutes, and we had them with long possessions, dribbling the basketball,” OSU coach Brad Underwood said. “I'm very happy with that.”
Jawun and the free-throw line
The sophomore version of Jawun Evans got off to an incredible start, with 26 points in his first half of action since last February.
He ended up scoring 34 points in 27 minutes on an efficient 18 shots.
He also showed a much-emphasized improvement in his game: The ability to get to the free-throw line.
Rather than trying to lean around contact, as Evans did often last season, the sophomore absorbed it. He hit a couple and-ones, and when he didn’t, he was accurate at the line.
The 11 free-throw attempts were a career high. He made 10.
Underwood wants that to continue and more.
“I need Jawun to shoot 200 to 250 free throws this year,” Underwood said “When he can do that, he's going to be really a very difficult guard.”
Solomon’s got to be better
Mitchell Solomon fouled out with an ugly statline Friday: One point, one rebound, five fouls.
It was not the confidence-inspiring performance many were hoping for from the 6-foot-9 junior, who started last season but never looked confident enough to be productive on the floor. The Bixby alumnus, typically a fundamentally sound rebounder, wasn’t in the right position often.
Underwood said after the game he thought Solomon would be fine. He praised him for his work in guarding ball screens correctly, something most of the team did not.
But with the Maui Invitational less than two weeks away — and some formidable post players who could be opponents in the field — OSU needs to see more positive signs on the glass and in the statsheet.
N’Guessan might help more than we thought
It was a slight surprise to see Lucas N’Guessan as one of the first three players off the bench for Oklahoma State.
The 7-footer from the Netherlands got to OSU just as classes started. That set him back with the team, but especially in the weight room. N’Guessan still looked slight running with players from Campbell Friday.
Still, he showed a spark and a reason to believe he can give OSU minutes in short spurts when needed. He had three blocks and three rebounds in 11 minutes.
After the game, Underwood said N’Guessan had as strong a week of practice as anyone.
At the end of the day, a 37-point win on a night like Friday’s is a positive
Connecticut lost to Wagner. Tulsa lost to Jacksonville State. Tennessee lost to Chattanooga.
Texas survived a scare against Incarnate Word.
For all of Oklahoma State’s flaws Friday — and the coaching staff will find plenty — at least there is this: The Cowboys won comfortably on a night when quite a few teams are wishing for a do-over. First games are always difficult to gauge where a team will be, but now OSU has film to look at and two games — Monday against Central Arkansas and Wednesday versus New Orleans — to improve before Maui.
Mark Cooper
918-581-8387
mark.cooper@tulsaworld.com
