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Boy, did the Oklahoma State Cowboys miss Marcus Smart! Â Coming off his three game suspension for shoving a Texas Tech fan, Jeff Orr, Smart helped power the Cowboys to their first win in seven games.
Smart was a man on a mission and had a double-double, scoring 22 points and 10 assists along with six steals in the 84-62 blowout over Texas Tech. The Cowboys moved the ball well with superb passing and as a result were able to get easy baskets.
However, OSU will still face an uphill battle to make the field of 68 in next month’s tournament due to the recent struggles and the injury to Michael Cobbins.
In their last three loses to Texas, Oklahoma and Baylor, OSU shot 36%, 46% and 37% from the field and 26%, 40% and 33% from 3-pt. Playing Oklahoma at home was their best game, but still came up short. Against Texas Tech with the return of Smart, they shot a much improved .46 FG percentage and 38% from three.
The impact of Smart was not limited to the stat sheet. Smart ignited his teammates emotionally and they fed off his play.
Currently at 17-10, to make the tournament OSU will need to win games against their conference–A conference in which they have struggled against (5-9). They should win against 9-17 TCU but then will have to face tough games against #8 Kansas, Kansas State (18-9) and #17 Iowa State. Getting wins will put them right back in the mix come Big 12 Tournament time.
The key will be the play of Marcus Smart. If Smart plays anything like he played against Texas Tech, OSU will definitely have a chance to be one of the last four into the tournament.
