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Oklahoma State Cowboys Smell Another Upset, Against Texas

The No. 13 Texas Longhorns look for a fifth straight online betting victory when they face the No. 12 Oklahoma State Cowboys in the championship game of the Big 12 tournament on Saturday in Kansas City, Mo. The third-seeded Longhorns advanced to the final when Kansas was unable to play its semifinal contest due to COVID-19 protocols.

While Texas (18-7) has the longest current winning streak, it’s the Cowboys (20-7) that come into this one red-hot, having won eight of its last nine. Oklahoma State has defeated six ranked teams in the last 19 days, the second-shortest span for that many wins over ranked opponents.

Cade Cunningham
JAMIE SQUIRE / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA

The Cowboys’ only loss over that span was to Baylor, which it avenged in the semifinals with an 83-74 victory over the top-seeded Bears. Texas and Oklahoma State met twice in the regular season, with each prevailing at home, though both were close games. The Longhorns won by three in Austin in December, while the Cowboys earned a double-overtime victory in Stillwater in early February.

Looking at the college basketball odds for this one, Despite being ranked before the Cowboys, Texas is a 2½-point favorite, with the over/under set at 144.

Not A One-Man Show

While freshman Cade Cunningham garners a lot of the headlines when it comes to Oklahoma State — and rightfully so — the Cowboys aren’t just a one-man show. Yes, Cunningham became just the fourth player to earn Big 12 Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year honors in the same season (Kevin Durant, Michael Beasley, Marcus Smart), but it’s as much for his facilitating of the offense as it is for his own scoring.

Cunningham does lead the Cowboys in scoring (19.8 points), assists (3.6), 3-pointers (51), and steals (1.4), but he does it all without dominating the ball. Still, he’ll be the focus of the Longhorns’ defense — or he’d better be.

Guard Avery Anderson III has been outstanding over the last three games, averaging 22.6 points, including 20 in the win over Baylor on Friday. His aggressiveness to push the ball and drive to the hoop leads to easy baskets for himself and his teammates.

Sophomore forward Kalib Boone also had a huge game against the Bears, finishing with 10 points, six rebounds and six blocked shots. Boone had 22 points and 15 rebounds in the Cowboys’ win over Texas earlier in the season.

Forgotten Team?

The Longhorns eked out a win over Texas Tech in the quarterfinal round, then got a day to rest and recuperate when the Jayhawks were forced to withdraw from their semifinal date. Amazingly, in the 23 previous Big 12 tournaments, there has never been a champion from the state of Texas, so the Longhorns would like to make some history.

To do so, they’ll need contributions from everyone against a very strong Oklahoma State squad. Junior guard Andrew Jones leads the way in scoring with 14.7 points, but there are a number of weapons that coach Shaka Smart can count on.

In the win over Oklahoma State earlier in the season, freshman forward Greg Brown (10.0 points, 6.6 rebounds) had the best game of his career, going for 24 points, 14 rebounds, and three blocks. He’ll need to play strong inside against the athletic front line of the Cowboys.

Guards Matt Coleman III and Courtney Ramey will also be counted on, as they average 12.7 and 13.0 points, respectively. And everyone will be expected to help on Cunningham, both in stopping him from getting to the hoop and taking away his passing lanes to teammates.

Another Hard-Fought Battle

Neither of these teams is sweating the NCAA Tournament bubble, but a conference tournament crown is certainly something they’re going to be fighting for. Both have pulled out close victories so far, and this one should have plenty of intensity from the get-go.

Oklahoma State has been one of the better teams in the country in recent weeks, and it has the best player on the floor in Cunningham, who is a freshman in name only at this point. The hope is that the win over Baylor didn’t take too much out of the Cowboys to not be able to repeat that effort on Saturday.

It says here that it didn’t. When you’re making your college basketball picks, go with the hot team, which is Oklahoma State, to win this one outright for the title.

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