Both the Houston Cougars and Oklahoma State Cowboys seek a signature non-conference win to add to their respective resumes.
TV Schedule: Sunday, December 15, 2019 at 3:00 PM ET, ESPN
Location: Fertitta Center, Houston, Texas
Entering the final stretch of play before the holidays and conference play, the Houston Cougars and Oklahoma State Cowboys are both about where they were expected to be.
The Cougars are 6-2, with their sole losses coming at the hands of BYU (in a one-point thriller) and at Oregon, one of the best teams in the nation. They also banked an impressive 20-point throttling on the road at South Carolina.
The most important early-season development for Houston has been the play of Quentin Grimes, who has been as good as advertised since coming over from Kansas on the transfer market. He leads the Cougars at 16.9 points per game, dishing 3.1 assists per game as well. If he can improve upon his 34.2 percent shooting from 3-point range, the Cougars will be even more dangerous.
Oklahoma State, meanwhile, quickly separated themselves as one of the early darlings of the college basketball season, highlighted by a neutral court thrashing of Ole Miss that announced the Cowboys as a legitimate player in the year 1 BCC (Before Cade Cunningham).
Since then, the shine surrounding the Cowboys has dulled. First, Oklahoma State lost to a Georgetown team that should’ve been reeling in the wake of defections and accusations off the court. Then, they were walloped by Wichita State, meaning they’re entering the pivotal Houston contest with two straight losses on the docket.
On paper, these two teams appear to be relatively evenly matched. Oklahoma State surrenders 63.3 points per game, while Houston gives up 68.4. Both teams are dishing at similar rates (13.9 assists per game for Houston, 12.3 for Oklahoma State). The only place where a team has an obvious statistical edge is in steals, which probably doesn’t provide as big of an advantage as the Cowboys (8.4 per game) would hope.
The two areas where there are clear favorites are location and momentum, both working in favor of the Cougars.
Houston is a solid 4-1 at home, with that defeat being the strange loss to their fellow Cougars from BYU. Prior to that, Houston’s last loss at home was on December 23, 2016 against Harvard, back when the Fertitta Center was known as Hofheinz Pavilion.
Meanwhile, the Cowboys haven’t given themselves the opportunity to get comfortable on the road yet. They’ve played just one true road game so far, a win over Charleston over a month ago. Enjoying the comforts of home and building a solid record are good foundations, but Oklahoma State is going to be in for a rude awakening on the road, especially when Big 12 play picks up in the new year.
Additionally, the selection committee isn’t going to be impressed that the Cowboys played just two true road games in non-conference play.
They’ll be even less impressed that Oklahoma State only went 1-1 in those true road games, which will be their record when they succumb to the hot Houston Cougars on Sunday.
Prediction: Houston 71, Oklahoma State 62