The morning after: Five thoughts after Oklahoma State's 73-67 win over Pittsburgh
Death, taxes and the Jeffrey Carroll bounce-back game
Credit to Dave Hunziker and John Holcomb on the OSU radio broadcast for catching this: Jeffrey Carroll has been tremendous when he’s coming off a bad scoring game.
He was held to single digits in scoring five times last season.
In the five games that followed, he averaged 21.6 points and five rebounds per game.
In Tuesday’s 73-67 win over a struggling Pittsburgh team, Carroll was the best player on the floor. With 29 points on 17 shots, he was efficient. He made all seven of his free throws. And he grabbed nine boards -- including six on the offensive end.
All in just 25 minutes.
The 29 points were a new career high. Carroll projects as a second-round pick in next year’s NBA draft, so it was good to see him respond after a game in which he couldn’t find the range.
Of course, there’s a devil’s advocate side to this performance, which is …
It shouldn’t have taken that to win by six
Pittsburgh isn’t far removed from the NCAA Tournament, but this year’s Panthers team is as far away from the postseason as a power-conference school gets right now.
It lost back-to-back games to Navy and Montana and got shredded by Penn State Monday in Brooklyn.
Yet, even with one of the best performances of Carroll’s career, OSU could not put Pittsburgh away.
Pittsburgh made 23-of-33 shots inside the 3-point line. The Panthers backdoored the Cowboys to death, which meant a big day for point guard Marcus Carr (12 points, 10 assists) and Shamiel Stevenson (16 points, absurdly, on 8-of-8 shooting). Carr had 10 assists total in Pittsburgh’s first four games.
It brings into question OSU’s interior defense when the competition gets tougher. Though the Cowboys were solid there in their first three games, Texas A&M and Pittsburgh combined to shoot 63.6 percent on 2s. The national average, per KenPom, is 49.7 percent.
Oklahoma State asserted itself on the boards, bringing in 20 offensive rebounds (Pittsburgh had 28 rebounds total). The Cowboys rebounded 46.5 percent of their misses. But they didn’t take advantage, managing only 17 second-chance points.
It was a similar story against Texas A&M. Seventeen offensive rebounds, but not enough production on the putbacks.
Pittsburgh is rated 160th in KenPom, alongside teams like Saint Louis, Massachusetts, Milwaukee and Colorado State. The entire Big 12 is in the top 61.
Getting out of the Barclays Center with a win was important. But Oklahoma State certainly left with a lot of places to improve.
McGriff brings the energy
Oklahoma State has to hope the efforts of Cameron McGriff will come back to Stillwater.
The 6-foot-7 sophomore attacked the glass with reckless abandon. He posted nine rebounds in 21 minutes Tuesday, including four on the offensive end.
While Brandon Averette has stood out among OSU’s large sophomore class for his scoring early this season, having McGriff’s athleticism on the court makes the team better.
He’s averaging 8.2 points and 5.4 rebounds in 22.2 minutes per game.
Too many 3s?
Oklahoma State could not have shot it as poorly as it did Monday against Texas A&M.
But the Cowboys weren’t too proficient Tuesday either. They hit just 25 percent (7-of-28) from 3-point range in the close win over Pittsburgh, including just 3-of-15 in the second half.
For the tournament, that means Oklahoma State shot 10-of-52. That’s a lot of 3-point attempts for a team that has yet to show the deep shot is a strength.
Oklahoma State is 30.8 percent for the season, which ranks 248th in the country. Perhaps the only player right now who looks like he should be pulling the trigger is Thomas Dziagwa. He hit four 3-pointers in 14 minutes Tuesday after playing sparingly against Texas A&M.
With 16 3-pointers (on 29 attempts) in five games, the sophomore might be forcing Mike Boynton’s hand in terms of playing time. He can be instant offense if OSU can diagram ways to get him open. And he had five of OSU’s 10 3s in Brooklyn.
History would suggest some players -- Carroll and Lindy Waters, especially -- will start making shots eventually. But take out Dziagwa, and the numbers are bleak: The rest of the roster is 23.9 percent (26-of-109) from 3.
An opportunity to jell awaits
The start of this season has been tumultuous on the court for Boynton and OSU. They did not anticipate playing without Carroll for three games, and spent the last two games incorporating him off the bench.
Eventually -- perhaps Sunday against Houston Baptist -- Carroll will move back into the starting lineup. And Boynton can begin to formulate his favorite lineups as his roster gets closer to full strength.
There’s still the unknowns surrounding Davon Dillard, who is indefinitely suspended, and center Yankuba Sima will miss the next four games until his expected debut Dec. 16 at Florida State.
But for the roster Boynton has, the next three games are important. Oklahoma State faces three teams -- Houston Baptist, Austin Peay and Mississippi Valley State -- rated 290th or worse in KenPom. After that come two tests against Wichita State (test is an understatement for that one) and Florida State.
Right now, Oklahoma State has nine players averaging between 16.2 minutes (Dziagwa) and 28 minutes (Tavarius Shine) per game. When Big 12 play begins, playing time will seemingly be distributed less evenly -- that’s how it always happens.
The next three games could help determine who demands the most of those minutes.
- By Mark Cooper Tulsa World
Sports Writer Mark Cooper
Death, taxes and the Jeffrey Carroll bounce-back game
Credit to Dave Hunziker and John Holcomb on the OSU radio broadcast for catching this: Jeffrey Carroll has been tremendous when he’s coming off a bad scoring game.
He was held to single digits in scoring five times last season.
In the five games that followed, he averaged 21.6 points and five rebounds per game.
In Tuesday’s 73-67 win over a struggling Pittsburgh team, Carroll was the best player on the floor. With 29 points on 17 shots, he was efficient. He made all seven of his free throws. And he grabbed nine boards -- including six on the offensive end.
All in just 25 minutes.
The 29 points were a new career high. Carroll projects as a second-round pick in next year’s NBA draft, so it was good to see him respond after a game in which he couldn’t find the range.
Of course, there’s a devil’s advocate side to this performance, which is …
It shouldn’t have taken that to win by six
Pittsburgh isn’t far removed from the NCAA Tournament, but this year’s Panthers team is as far away from the postseason as a power-conference school gets right now.
It lost back-to-back games to Navy and Montana and got shredded by Penn State Monday in Brooklyn.
Yet, even with one of the best performances of Carroll’s career, OSU could not put Pittsburgh away.
Pittsburgh made 23-of-33 shots inside the 3-point line. The Panthers backdoored the Cowboys to death, which meant a big day for point guard Marcus Carr (12 points, 10 assists) and Shamiel Stevenson (16 points, absurdly, on 8-of-8 shooting). Carr had 10 assists total in Pittsburgh’s first four games.
It brings into question OSU’s interior defense when the competition gets tougher. Though the Cowboys were solid there in their first three games, Texas A&M and Pittsburgh combined to shoot 63.6 percent on 2s. The national average, per KenPom, is 49.7 percent.
Oklahoma State asserted itself on the boards, bringing in 20 offensive rebounds (Pittsburgh had 28 rebounds total). The Cowboys rebounded 46.5 percent of their misses. But they didn’t take advantage, managing only 17 second-chance points.
It was a similar story against Texas A&M. Seventeen offensive rebounds, but not enough production on the putbacks.
Pittsburgh is rated 160th in KenPom, alongside teams like Saint Louis, Massachusetts, Milwaukee and Colorado State. The entire Big 12 is in the top 61.
Getting out of the Barclays Center with a win was important. But Oklahoma State certainly left with a lot of places to improve.
McGriff brings the energy
Oklahoma State has to hope the efforts of Cameron McGriff will come back to Stillwater.
The 6-foot-7 sophomore attacked the glass with reckless abandon. He posted nine rebounds in 21 minutes Tuesday, including four on the offensive end.
While Brandon Averette has stood out among OSU’s large sophomore class for his scoring early this season, having McGriff’s athleticism on the court makes the team better.
He’s averaging 8.2 points and 5.4 rebounds in 22.2 minutes per game.
Too many 3s?
Oklahoma State could not have shot it as poorly as it did Monday against Texas A&M.
But the Cowboys weren’t too proficient Tuesday either. They hit just 25 percent (7-of-28) from 3-point range in the close win over Pittsburgh, including just 3-of-15 in the second half.
For the tournament, that means Oklahoma State shot 10-of-52. That’s a lot of 3-point attempts for a team that has yet to show the deep shot is a strength.
Oklahoma State is 30.8 percent for the season, which ranks 248th in the country. Perhaps the only player right now who looks like he should be pulling the trigger is Thomas Dziagwa. He hit four 3-pointers in 14 minutes Tuesday after playing sparingly against Texas A&M.
With 16 3-pointers (on 29 attempts) in five games, the sophomore might be forcing Mike Boynton’s hand in terms of playing time. He can be instant offense if OSU can diagram ways to get him open. And he had five of OSU’s 10 3s in Brooklyn.
History would suggest some players -- Carroll and Lindy Waters, especially -- will start making shots eventually. But take out Dziagwa, and the numbers are bleak: The rest of the roster is 23.9 percent (26-of-109) from 3.
An opportunity to jell awaits
The start of this season has been tumultuous on the court for Boynton and OSU. They did not anticipate playing without Carroll for three games, and spent the last two games incorporating him off the bench.
Eventually -- perhaps Sunday against Houston Baptist -- Carroll will move back into the starting lineup. And Boynton can begin to formulate his favorite lineups as his roster gets closer to full strength.
There’s still the unknowns surrounding Davon Dillard, who is indefinitely suspended, and center Yankuba Sima will miss the next four games until his expected debut Dec. 16 at Florida State.
But for the roster Boynton has, the next three games are important. Oklahoma State faces three teams -- Houston Baptist, Austin Peay and Mississippi Valley State -- rated 290th or worse in KenPom. After that come two tests against Wichita State (test is an understatement for that one) and Florida State.
Right now, Oklahoma State has nine players averaging between 16.2 minutes (Dziagwa) and 28 minutes (Tavarius Shine) per game. When Big 12 play begins, playing time will seemingly be distributed less evenly -- that’s how it always happens.
The next three games could help determine who demands the most of those minutes.
