NCAAB Odds, Pick for Oklahoma State vs Kansas

In another season loaded with Big 12 stalwarts, Mike Boynton and the Oklahoma St. Cowboys are searching for answers.

Finding those answers in Allen Fieldhouse against a Kansas team coming off a loss seems unlikely.

Kansas will be looking to avoid consecutive losses, while Oklahoma St. has a rare opportunity to string consecutive wins together in the gauntlet that is the Big 12 schedule.

The Big 12 is full of experienced rosters and the Cowboys will be going up against one of the most experience on Tuesday night.

Unfortunately, Oklahoma St. lacks that valuable veteran presence. Javon Small, John-Michael Wright and Mike Marsh are upperclassmen, but all three transferred to Oklahoma State after playing at low-major programs and are still adjusting to the quality of play displayed throughout the Big 12. Nicolas Timberlake, a Towson transfer who will be playing for the Jayhawks, is experiencing the same growing pains as those on Oklahoma State's roster.

Oklahoma State's freshmen are talented and have already being given an opportunity to play significant minutes. Eric Dailey and Brandon Garrison's commitments further proved Boynton's ability to recruit. Unfortunately for Boynton, his inability to transfer great recruiting into on-court success is causing Cowboys' fans to grow impatient.

These teams met in Stillwater two weeks ago. The Jayhawks controlled the game from start to finish in what was their most impressive offensive output in any Big 12 game thus far. I expect Kansas' offense to continue to click as it has since Johnny Furphy entered the starting lineup. Any chance of Kansas overlooking Oklahoma State was wiped away when Kansas dropped another road game to Iowa St. this past weekend.

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Kansas hasn't played itself out of Big 12 contention yet, but is certainly behind the 8-ball again. The Jayhawks have won the Big 12 a whopping 17 times in 20 tries with Bill Self at the helm. Many times Kansas has struggled in January only to put the pieces together in time to close the gap and win the league. With the addition of Houston, BYU and even Cincinnati, making a late charge this year will be tougher than in the past.

Furphy, the young freshman from Australia, was given an opportunity to start in place of Elmarko Jackson back on January 13th. Kansas had just lost at UCF, a game in which the Jayhawks stalled mightily in the second half after UCF turned to a zone defense. The hope was that Furphy's perimeter shooting would help space the floor.

It's worked.

Furphy has provided energy and scoring in nearly every game since his insertion into the starting lineup. In fact, Furphy opened the game in Stillwater by scoring 15 first-half points, including going 3-for-3 from 3. Furphy lacks some of Jackson's quickness on the defensive end, but certainly isn't giving up enough to take him off the court.

Kansas has become slightly worse defensively since giving Furphy the lion's share of minutes in the fifth spot. Still, Furphy's offensive production and energy has seemingly made Kansas a more threatening and complete team.

Kansas shot the ball well in Stillwater, maybe even above a reasonable level of expectation. Even without the level of shooting the Jayhawks displayed on that night, I expect them to score efficiently at home in a "get right" spot.

Self will emphasize additional defensive intensity and look to force an inexperienced Oklahoma State team into turnovers. Turnovers create transition opportunities, which is where Kansas excels. Take Kansas to exceed its expected point total and keep the recent offensive improvement rolling.

Pick: Kansas Team Total Over 77.5  (Bet to 79.5)

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