Oklahoma State aims to keep eye on ball vs. Oral Roberts

Field Level Media|published: Sun 22nd December, 08:17 2024

Oklahoma State coach Steve Lutz gestures during a men's college Bedlam basketball game between the University of Oklahoma Sooners (OU) and the Oklahoma State University Cowboys (OSU) at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, Saturday, Dec. 14, 2024. Oklahoma won 80-65.

A lack of scoring depth and shoddy ball security can put any team in peril, no matter the opponent.

Just ask Oklahoma State.

After surviving a scare from Tarleton State on Wednesday night, the Cowboys know they must accelerate their focus and execution on Sunday when in-state foe Oral Roberts visits Stillwater.

Marchelus Avery will look to be a building block for Oklahoma State (7-3) after notching his first double-double of the season. Avery contributed 18 points and 10 rebounds against Tarleton State, providing a steady hand in the second half as the Cowboys turned a 12-point deficit late in the first half into a 66-61 victory.

"I love it that he has ambition and fire and he's playing hard and he's having fun," Cowboys head coach Steve Lutz said. "But we also have to be disciplined with what we're doing. But we need him to score. He rebounded the ball well (Wednesday), which he's gotten better at."

While he might not blossom into a reliable offensive option for a time, freshman reserve Andrija Vukovic is slowly making his presence known for the Cowboys.

The 6-foot-10 Vukovic tallied his first career field goal while playing two minutes late in the first half against Tarleton State. The Serbian also is helping facilitate the attack by providing screens.

"He went from coming here not being able to make a sprint, having to redo it and redo it," teammate Abou Ousmane said. "To see him actually being able to produce, play hard and play our brand of basketball, it's beautiful to see."

Oral Roberts, meanwhile, continues to look for growth from its own freshman. JoJo Moore paced the Golden Eagles (3-8) during Monday's 86-50 loss at Texas Tech, scoring 19 points on 8-for-10 shooting.

Moore is working to complement leading scorer Isaac McBride (15.4 points per game), who is coming off a season-low, six-point effort Monday.

Entering the season, Oral Roberts head coach Russell Springmann said the program was "excited to welcome a lot of newcomers into our program" and felt "this group has done a really good job connecting with each other and playing extremely unselfishly."

--Field Level Media