Thursday, March 11, 2010 – Free College Pick
Oklahoma State Cowboys (22-9) vs. #9 Kansas State Wildcats (24-6)
The seventh- seeded Oklahoma State Cowboys face off against the ninth-ranked and second-seeded No. 9 Kansas State Wildcats in the Big 12 Conference Tournament quarterfinals on Thursday night at the Sprint Center in St. Louis.
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The Cowboys beat the Wildcats in Manhattan in a 73-69 final during the regular season, but the Wildcats still own a 69-46 advantage in the all-time series. The winner of tonight’s contest will play either sixth-seeded Texas or third-seeded Baylor in the semifinal Friday night.
Oklahoma State finished 21-9 overall during the regular season, including 9-7 record in league play, and is coming off an impressive 81-67 first round victory over Oklahoma last night. Keiton Page scored 24 points, and Obi Muonelo tallied 15 points, eight rebounds and seven assists, while Cowboy’s leading scorer (32 ppg) James Anderson, the Big 12 Player of the Year, was held to just 11 points in the win. The Pokes shot 53.6 percent from the floor in the game and earned a 31-26 rebounding advantage. But after leading by 22 at the break, turned in a poor defensive effort in the second half allowing the Sooners to shoot 60 percent from the floor to climb back into the contest.
The Wildcats enter this year’s tournament with a 24-6 overall record, including 11-5 in league action and are serious threat to capture the title. KSU dropped its final two regular-season contests to in-state powerhouse Kansas and a mediocre Iowa State squad at home on Mar 6. Much of the ‘Cats success hinges on the All-Big 12 Conference backcourt duo of junior guard Jacob Pullen and senior guard Denis Clemente. Pullen paces the team with 18.9 ppg, and has dished out 109 assists to go along with a club-best 49 steals. Clemente follows closely with 16.0 ppg and whopping 118 assists. KSU is generating 79.9 ppg on 45.3 percent field goal efficiency, and are limiting their opponents to 69.3 ppg on 41.8 percent shooting. They are also outrebounding foes by a differential of 5.2 rpg.
The odds makers have the Wildcats as –4 ½ -point favorites in this one.
OSU has captured the Big 12 title twice, while Kansas State has never won the Big 12 Tournament and is just 7-13 all-time in the event. The Pokes will need to shore up their defense, as they cannot afford another second half meltdown against a much better Wildcats offense.
The teams are pretty evenly matched, but with better shooting and rebounding; this one should go to the Wildcats as they win by a close 3-points.
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