Taking a Peak at the Oklahoma State Cowboys

The West Virginia Mountaineers face an Oklahoma State Cowboys team that just knocked off the No. 13 Texas Tech Red Raiders.

The No. 14 West Virginia Mountaineers (8-3, 1-2) meet the Oklahoma State Cowboys (7-2, 1-2) Monday night at 9:00 EST on ESPN2. The Mountaineers fell to Oklahoma on Saturday, 75-71, while the Cowboys upset 13th-ranked Texas Tech on the road. 

Oklahoma State head coach Mike Boynton has a young talented roster that is third in the Big 12 in scoring (77.3), second in team rebounds (41.1), third in field goal defense (40.0%) and has his squad sitting just outside the AP Top 25 at 30. 

Freshman guard Cade Cunningham (6’8”, 220-lbs) is second in the Big 12 Conference in scoring, averaging 18.4 points per game, nearly maintaining that average in the first three conference games (18.3 ppg), and leads the team in assists at 3.8 per game. He was the top high school prospect in the 2020 class, earning 2020 Naismith High School player of the year, and is undoubtedly the top 2021 NBA Draft prospect.

Oklahoma State Cowboys guard Cade Cunningham (2) goes to the basket against the Texas Tech Red Raiders in the first half at United Supermarkets Arena / Michael C. Johnson-USA TODAY Sports

Guard Isaac Likekele (Jr. 6’5”, 215-lbs) is coming off a season-high 17 points in the Cowboys win over No. 13 Texas Tech on Saturday. He leads the team in rebounds at 8.1 per outing and is just a notch below Cunningham in assists per game at 3.7. As a freshman, Likekele put up 23 points in his first game versus the Mountaineers, but he has only averaged six points in the last three meetings.

Avery Anderson III (6’3”, 170-lbs) is working his way back from an injury that sidelined him in the early portion of the schedule. Still, the sophomore appears to be finding his groove, putting up 17 points against Texas Tech and went for 11 in the previous matchup versus Texas.

Oklahoma State has a guard-heavy lineup, albeit big guards, but only have two forwards listed on the roster in Matthew-Alexander Moncrieffe (Fr. 6’7”, 2`5-lbs) and Kalib Boone (So. 6’9”, 210-lbs). Moncrieffe is part of the starting five, averaging 7.8 points and 3.9 rebounds per game, while Boone averages 6.7 ppg and 4.2 rpg.

West Virginia is 9-8 all-time against Oklahoma State and got the season sweep over the Cowboys last season after losing the previous three meetings. 

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