Cade Cunningham and Oklahoma State Basketball up against Liberty Flames
By Karl Heiser
Push the Pace, Get in Transition
This will be a very interesting game when it comes to pace of play. The Cowboys like to run in transition, ranking 43rd in Adjusted Tempo. On the other side, Liberty is one of the nation’s slowest teams – 347th of 357 teams in Tempo.
The Flames like to run a lot of half-court sets that end with a three-pointer. Oklahoma State can survive a half-court game with Cunningham running the point, but they have a much better chance of winning when they play at the pace they are comfortable with.
As mentioned previously, the Cowboys force more turnovers per game than the Flames. Keeping to this trend will help OK State get out in transition and score easy buckets. Playing their style of defense and stealing some of the relatively few possessions Liberty has per game will be a huge step in establishing the pace of the game.
Allowing Cunningham to run in transition makes him all the more dangerous and will give him the opportunity to pick apart the Flames’ defense.