Oklahoma State's Poor Start to the Season is No Reason to Panic
A poor start to the season is concerning, but not a death sentence for Oklahoma State.
OSU men’s basketball is not the program it once was, but under Mike Boynton, the team has been competitive in the Big 12. While the end results do not paint that picture, Boynton has led OSU into NCAA Tournament contention after poor performances in nonconference.
As recently as last season, the Cowboys recovered from a rough loss to Southern Illinois at home in the second game. The Cowboys followed that a couple of games later with an overtime loss to UCF in the Bahamas.
OSU stumbled a bit more through the next few games to get to 6-4 through 10 games. If it can take care of business against Oral Roberts at home on Sunday, OSU will be 5-5, just a game back from its start last season.
The Cowboys have three more winnable games in Gallagher-Iba Arena to potentially head into conference play at 8-5. As the Cowboys look to win their final four nonconference matchups, having their players available consistently could be the key to building momentum into Big 12 play.
“It’s been harder this year with, just, so many guys in and out,” Boynton said in his press conference Thursday. “My plan actually was to try to get more closer to a rotation earlier, like now, and be kinda at seven and a half, eight, maybe nine (players).”
Among the key injured players was guard Javon Small, who missed the Cowboys’ opening loss to Abilene Christian. His scoring punch has been a bright spot for the Cowboys this season, averaging 17.1 points and shooting 41.9% from 3-point range with the most attempts on the team.
While the Cowboys’ nonconference performance will not be helpful for their NCAA Tournament resume in a few months, their Big 12 play will determine their fate. Last season, the Cowboys looked like they were headed for an at-large bid with a 7-5 start in conference.
However, a five-game losing streak all but ended OSU’s postseason hopes. With an even tougher conference slate this season, a non-losing record in Big 12 games could be enough to overcome a 3-5 start to the season.
While OSU’s offense under Boynton has never been particularly pretty, getting enough production from Small and company to complement the defense will be the key to turning the season around. Although there is no guarantee that OSU will be able to view this season as a success, past seasons have shown that rough starts do not have to hold the team back.
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Ivan is a sports media student at Oklahoma State University. He has covered OSU athletics since 2022 and also covers the OKC Thunder for Inside The Thunder and Thunderous Intentions.