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OSU Bullets

• Cade’s comeback did not disappoint. Oklahoma State topped Arkansas, led by a big second half from No. 2.

Ice cold.#GoPokes | #NewEra pic.twitter.com/aTdAWzVLb1

— OSU Cowboy Basketball (@OSUMBB) January 31, 2021

• As always, Marshall’s Five Thoughts are required reading.

• Jacob Unruh wrote about Eddie Sutton’s time at Arkansas with a first-hand account from Scott Sutton.

Scott, the youngest of three, spent his formative years in Fayetteville. Scott was 4 when Eddie was hired and 15 when Eddie left for Kentucky.

“Probably looking back, he probably wished he hadn’t left,” Scott said. “I think he was a great fit at Arkansas, just like he was at Oklahoma State.”

[NewsOK]

• The Cowgirls made it three in a row with their big 75-51 win at Kansas on Saturday. The Cowgirls will try to make it back-to-back KU wins as they host the Jayhawks on Tuesday at Gallagher-Iba Arena.

• In double-header fashion, OSU wrestling earned a victory over UNI early on Saturday before heading to Ames and edging out the Cyclones.

Non-OSU Bullets

• If you’ve got some time, this longform article was great. Are ghosts haunting the British Museum? [The Economist]

• If you’ve ever thought about moving to Italy, there’s a town in Sicily that will sell you a house for about $1 and then is offering roughly $30k in restoration grants. [Mental Floss]

• Are you always late? Does someone you know always keep you waiting? It’s not personal. [Discover Magazine]

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Oklahoma State finished off its Iowa road trip on Saturday night in Ames with a victory over Iowa State.

Trevor Mastrogiovanni found himself down early against Kyle Terukina. With just a few seconds left he took down Kyle Terukina to tie things up 4-4 at the end of regulation. In OT he picked up another takedown to win 6-4. OSU rolled with Reece Witcraft instead of Andrew Nieman again at 133 and Witcraft fell 6-0. OSU dropped the next one as Dusty Hone took on Ian Parker and lost 12-6.

At 149, Boo Lewallen got the one bonus point win that ended up deciding the dual in favor of the Cowboys. Boo methodically worked to a 10-1 major decision over Ben Monroe. This was the only bonus point win of the dual and that one point kept Oklahoma State undefeated.

Wyatt Sheets, who currently has a heavily braced knee, fell to David Carr at 157 before Travis Wittlake came back at 165 and beat Isaac Judge 6-2. This put the Cowboys up 10-9 heading into 174.

At 174 OSU rolled with Anthony Montalvo over Dustin Plott, who has been the starter at 174 for most of this season. Montalvo went into overtime with Julien Broderson. After no scoring in sudden victory, the match went to rideouts. Broderson rode Montalvo out then got an escape and took Montalvo down to win 4-1.

Dakota Geer beat Tate Battani then AJ Ferrari had what ended up being his toughest test this season with Yonger Bastida. Bastida is a U23 World medalist in freestyle and is still making adjustments to folkstyle wrestling. He creates a unique matchup for Ferrari though as Ferrari doesn’t do a lot of mat wrestling, which is the main difference in folk and freestyle wrestling. Ultimately, Ferrari picked up two takedowns and a 5-2 decision over Bastida, but did give up his first points ever this season that were not from an escape when Bastida got a reversal on Ferrari in the third period.

At heavyweight, Austin Harris just needed to avoid giving up any bonus points vs. Top 10-ranked Gannon Gremmel for the Cowboys to win the dual. He did that and OSU pulled out a close one 16-15 over the Cyclones.

• OSU-16 Iowa State-15
• 125 Trevor Mastrogiovanni (OSU) WBD Kyle Terukina (ISU) 6-4 OT
• 133 Reece Witcraft (OSU) LBD Zach Redding (ISU) 0-6
• 141 Dusty Hone (OSU) LBD Ian Parker (ISU) 6-12
• 149 Boo Lewallen (OSU) WBMD Ben Monroe(ISU) 10-1
• 157 Wyatt Sheets (OSU) LBD David Carr (ISU) 4-8
• 165 Travis Wittlake (OSU) WBD Isaac Judge (ISU) 6-2
• 174 Anthony Montalvo (OSU) LBD Julien Broderson (ISU) 4-1 OT
• 184 Dakota Geer (OSU) WBD Tate Battani(ISU) 6-2
• 197 AJ Ferrari (OSU) WBD Yonger Bastida (ISU) 5-2
• 285 Austin Harris (OSU) LBD Gannon Gremmel (ISU) 6-2

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BOX SCORE

Cade Cunningham is back, and he is still just as dominant.

Oklahoma State’s star freshman led the Cowboys to an 81-77 victory against Arkansas on Saturday in the Big 12/SEC Challenge despite having not played in 18 days after going into COVID protocol. The game was tight throughout, and here are five thoughts from it.

1. We Are All Witness

Cade Cunningham is the best college basketball player in the country.

After not having played since Jan. 12, the future No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft had 21 points, seven rebounds, five assists and three steals in 31 minutes Saturday. But it wasn’t that he did it. It was how he did it.

He scored 14 points on 63% shooting in the second half.

In the final 21 seconds of the game, Cunningham hit an assassin-like step-back over former OSU commit Davonte Davis to give OSU a 79-77 lead.

Then he pulled down a defensive rebound on an attempted game-winning 3-point shot from Connor Vanover. Cunningham got fouled. He was at the line with a 1-and-1 and hit both foul shots, essentially icing the game because OSU had a 4-point lead with 3 seconds to play.

But for good measure, Cunningham also stole Arkansas’ inbound heave down the floor.

He is a closer. When the game is on the line, there isn’t a question which Cowboy Mike Boynton is going too, and Cunningham oftentimes finds a way to get it done.

And he did that after having limited physical activity for 18 days.

“Boring,” Cunningham said of his time off. “It’s been boring being in the house. I haven’t been able to do nothing. Just sitting in there, no basketball, no physical activity like that, it’s been boring. I just had fun today. I’m glad to be back.

“I think early on, just the first couple up-and-downs kind of had me winded, just kind of getting accustomed to the pace of the game, but after a while, my adrenaline got flowing, things like that. I really wasn’t too worried about my fatigue or the fact that I missed so many days. I just tried to feel myself and be in the moment. I did that, and eventually I got comfortable again.”

2. Are Turnovers Becoming a Trend?

The Cowboys’ 14 turnovers a game are middle-of-the-pack in the Big 12, but things haven’t exactly been pretty in the Pokes’ past two outings.

Against Iowa State on Monday, OSU had a season-high 24 turnovers. Some started sounding alarm bells, but I thought it would make some sense that without Cunningham, OSU’s primarily ball-handler, that OSU would have some issues.

But then the first half happened Saturday where OSU gave the ball away 15 times, and it looked as if OSU was on pace to give Arkansas the ball 30 times.

Luckily for the Cowboys and the orange-clad fanbase pulling its collective hair out, OSU had only four turnovers in the second half.

OSU coach Mike Boynton said the group needed to slow down a bit. The Cowboys are a running team, so slowing down can seem counterintuitive. But, there is a line of control and out of control that needs to be walked.

A couple of the turnovers also came from some tough (bogus?) offensive foul calls.

“Yeah, we need to slow down,” Boynton said. “I watched the [Iowa State] game after we got stuck in Ames. I watched it in the hotel that night, and I immediately told one of the managers to take it off my computer and never put it on because I couldn’t watch again.

“I usually watch a game like three or four times. That one I did not. But, I knew that we had to clean up offensively. Part of it was they were changing defenses. You have to give them credit. They were pretty scrappy. They are pretty active length wise, just like we are, and a lot of turnovers were forced, but some were sloppy, and we’ve got to clean those up as we move forward.”

3. Stealing Points

According to Boynton, the Cowboys have two sideline inbound plays, and one of them stole the Cowboys 2 points at the end of the first half.

With a 7-foot-3 center guarding him, Cunningham through a half-court lob to Matthew-Alexander Moncrieffe with 0.6 seconds to play. Moncrieffe coolly tapped the ball into the hoop, and the Cowboys went into the locker room with a 38-34 lead.

It spawned a lot of questions. How did Cunningham get it over the 7-3 Vanover? Why was Vanover on the ball and not defending the rim when all OSU could do is throw the ball at the rim? Was it designed or was it done on the fly?

“I could kind of see coach over there scanning the court and I was like, ‘What is he thinking?’” Cunningham said. “And then he just told Bryce [Williams] go screen for MA. So I knew he was going to go to the rim. They put the big fella, 7-3 on the ball instead of under the rim. So I was like, ‘It’s going to the rim.’ Threw it up there, and MA’s so athletic I just tried to — I wanted to put it as close to the rim as I could and MA went and got it.”

In the postgame news conference, Kalib Boone asked Cunningham how he got it around the 7-3 Vanover. If you notice in the clip, Cunningham is as far away from the out-of-bounds line as the ref would allow him.

It ended up being a big bucket in a game that ended 81-77. Without it, Cade’s game-winner would’ve just tied the game.

4. Moncrieffe Sends Layup Attempt to the Shadow Realm

Speaking of Moncrieffe, the Canadian freshman had the nastiest block I’ve seen at an OSU game since Yor Anei was sending shots into the stands.

Desi Sills, the victim, tried to take the action to Moncrieffe, but the freshman more than got the better of the junior. Moncrieffe smacked the ball so hard it sounded like a microphone was in it.

To add injury to the insult, Sills then smacked hard off Eddie Sutton Court. His head jerked back. And Isaac Likekele promptly scored at the other end.

5. A Pointless Stat

OSU is 7-0 this season when Isaac Likekele makes a 3-pointer.

He made a 3 Saturday with 7:52 to go. It cut an Arkansas lead to 64-62, but considering OSU was 6-0 in games he made one entering the Arkansas tilt, it might have iced the game.

Likekele is 7-for-15 (47%) from beyond the arc this season. It’s an area that he isn’t elite at but something he has been able to keep defenses honest with this season.

His seven makes on the year are the most he has made in a college season.

OSU was 2-1 when he made a 3 last season and 2-4 when he made one his freshman year.

This all means next to nothing, but I found it interesting.

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We had to wait until the second half for things to really heat up, but we got the showdown between projected lottery picks that we wanted.

Cade Cunningham led the Cowboys to an 81-77 victory in his return, scoring 21 points (7-of-13 shooting, 2-of-5 from 3). He also grabbed seven rebounds and dished out five assists.

His former Montverde teammate, Moses Moody, led the Razorbacks with 17 points and grabbed four boards, but Cade got to take home bragging rights in what will likely be their only college meeting.

It was a choppy first half for the Cowboys. A series of runs were interrupted by some sloppy turnovers and sporadic droughts.

Avery and Anderson and Bryce Williams each started perfect, taking (and making) the Cowboys’ first five field goal attempts and pushing them to a 13-6 lead.

But after turning in an ugly 24 turnovers in the win over Iowa State, the Cowboys coughed it up 15 times in the first half. OSU ended the day with 19 turnovers, leading to 22 Arkansas points.

OSU was still able to go into halftime with a four-point lead thanks to the Pokes shooting 55 percent from the field and outrebounding the Razorbacks 25-11. (I wonder what that looks like without all the unforced errors.)

Returning after a two-game absence, Cunningham checked in for the first time at the 16:38 mark. He took a few minutes to shake off the cobwebs but added seven points, six rebounds and two assists in the opening period.

Here was the last one before half.

But Cade’s time is crunch time.

After Arkansas was able to put together multiple runs in the second half and threatened to ruin his return, Cunningham turned it on, scoring 14 in the final frame.

It was over when… Cade took over

Cade finished it.

Arkansas still had a chance to take the lead when Connor Vanover got an open look at 3. But he missed and Cade Cunningham collected the rebound and was fouled, giving OSU’s star the chance to ice it. Cade knocked down both free throws to seal the win.

Kalib Boone came in on a streak of 11-straight made field goals and then proceeded to make his first five on Saturday. Boone did finally miss, but not many. He finished with 16 points and 12 rebounds. He hauled in half of the Cowboys’ 12 offensive boards. Avery Anderson and Matthew-Alexander Moncrieffe chipped in 13 and 11 respectively.

Next up

Oklahoma State heads to Ft. Worth next Wednesday for a late night matchup with TCU.

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The Cowboys kicked off a weekend road trip through Iowa at the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls, Iowa.

UNI got the ball rolling in their direction early at Brody Teske gave Trevor Mastrogiovanni his first loss of the season. The match was even on their feet in the first but the second was all Teske as he rode Mastro for the period and got one four-point turn that ended up deciding the match.

The Cowboys changed things up at 133 by moving up Reece Witcraft to replace Andrew Nieman. Witcraft gave up a full second period ride and fell 0-2 to Kyle Biscoglia.

Dusty Hone, who replaced Kaid Brock this week, got the Cowboys in the win column and turned the momentum back to the Oklahoma State side as Boo Lewallen followed that up with a 14-8 decision then Wyatt Sheets picked up the first bonus point win of the day with a 15-4 major decision over Cayd Lara. This was Sheets’ first start in the last few weeks after some injury issue. He wore a large brace on his knee.

After intermission, OSU picked back up at 165 where Travis Wittlake picked up OSU’s second major.

Then came some fireworks. Dustin Plott had a back and forth battle with Lance Runyon that was still tight in the final minutes before Plott picked up a takedown with short time left to win 8-5.

Dakota Geer had a battle with Parker Keckeisen. Keckeisen got the first takedown and Geer got two escapes throughout the bout. Regulation ended at 2-2 and Keckeisen won a quick takedown in overtime.

At 197 AJ Ferrari took on former Cowboy Keegan Moore, who transferred to UNI after his RS freshmen season at OSU. Moore held Ferrari off for a bit, but after time Ferrari wore him down and picked up a few takedowns to win 10-4. Things got a little chippy at the end of the bout.

UNI closed out the dual with a win at heavyweight as 11th ranked Carter Isley gave Austin Harris his first loss of the season.

The Cowboys now move onto Ames where they’ll wrestle Iowa State Saturday evening for the second half of a double-header.

• OSU-20 Northern Iowa-12
• 125 Trevor Mastrogiovanni (OSU) LBD Brody Teske (UNI) 0-5
• 133 Reece Witcraft (OSU) LBD Kyle Biscoglia (UNI) 0-2
• 141 Dusty Hone (OSU) WBD Drew Bennett (UNI) 4-2
• 149 Boo Lewallen (OSU) WBD Triston Lara (UNI) 14-8
• 157 Wyatt Sheets (OSU) WBMD Cayd Lara (UNI) 15-4
• 165 Travis Wittlake (OSU) WBMD Patrick Schoenfelder (UNI) 12-4
• 174 Dustin Plott (OSU) WBD Lance Runyon (UNI) 8-5
• 184 Dakota Geer (OSU) LBD Parker Keckeisen(UNI) 4-2 Sudden Victory
• 197 AJ Ferrari (OSU) WBD Keegan Moore (UNI) 10-4
• 285 Austin Harris (OSU) LBD Carter Isley(UNI) 8-2

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OSU Bullets

• The Pokes have been solid in the SEC challenge – second in the league with five wins. Beat the Hogs.

These teams get Ws in the @SEC/@Big12Conference Challenge

Who is going to add another W this weekend? pic.twitter.com/COuMsUtRgu

— FOX College Hoops (@CBBonFOX) January 28, 2021

• Arkansas is a good pairing for the Pokes, but playing Auburn and seeing this showdown would have been fun:

Sharife Cooper vs. Cade Cunningham? Yes, please. Cooper has played just five games since getting cleared but has been spectacular, averaging 21.2 points and 9 assists while emerging as the frontrunner in a pack of star prospects to be the SEC’s Freshman of the Year.

[CBS Sports]

• NBA decision makers still have Cade Cunningham as their No. 1 pick at this time – it like he’s had a bit of a quiet year but here’s a short, impressive resume of his time in Stillwater:

Nailing a game-winning three-pointer with a defender in his face against Wichita State. Using his 6’8” size to block a shot against Kansas late in the second half, then passing the ball ahead for a fast-break bucket to snag a win.

Still, it’s hard to appreciate Cunningham’s true impact on Oklahoma State until he’s not there. The Cowboys found out just how valuable Cunningham is in an 81-66 loss to Baylor.

[HCS]

Two Quotes

• Cade Cunningham is back!

In his media Zoom call Friday, Oklahoma State coach Mike Boynton said he anticipates Cunningham will be available for Saturday’s game against Arkansas. Boynton did say he wasn’t sure how much Cunningham will be able to play.

[PFB]

• Pretty cool video here with folks at OSU and Arkansas talking Eddie:

Two programs. One legacy. This weekend we play for a coach, teacher, father and husband. This weekend we play for Eddie.#NewEra I #GoPokes pic.twitter.com/ESSK4WGqWZ

— OSU Cowboy Basketball (@OSUMBB) January 29, 2021

One Question

• The Pokes landed a transfer defensive back – what position would you rather the Pokes land in the portal? My take: offensive linemen.

Most Viewed of the Week

• No. 1 Dick Vitale calls the NCAA’s ruling out of line

• No. 2 Cade and Rondel were out for the Baylor game

• No. 3 Five Thoughts on the Iowa State win

• No. 4 Bracketologists say the Pokes are comfortably in

• No. 5 J.W. Walsh always wanted to get back to Stillwater

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Non-OSU Bullets

• Pretty cool to read about America’s newest national park – maybe nice to see if you go to a game in Morgantown (2 hour drive)

The OKC Thunder are apparently terrific at covering the spread, per this NBA newsletter I read:

Through 17 games, the Thunder has been an underdog in every single one, and it has covered 10 of the 17 spreads for a 58.8 cover percentage, fifth in the league. 

This is a continuation of last season, when OKC finished a ridiculous 48-31 against the spread, first in the NBA.

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The Cowboys go on the road to wrestle Iowa State and Northern Iowa. Here are five of the biggest storylines of the weekend’s matches.

1. Freshmen Get Their Toughest Tests

One of the most talked about things of this season for Oklahoma State is its No. 1 recruiting class and the fact that we’ve seen three of those newcomers in the starting lineup so far this season. Trevor Mastrogiovanni has been the starter at 125, Dustin Plott has been the starter at 174 and AJ Ferrari at 197. All three are undefeated and, for the most part, have comfortably worked their way through this season without a ton of resistance.

Howeva, Mastrogiovanni will wrestle UNI’s Brody Teske (who is currently ranked No. 5 in the country), Dustin Plottwill see Julien Broderson and Lance Runyon who are both nationally ranked. Ferrari will still be favored in both of his matches, but has a really intriguing one with Iowa State’s Yonger Bastida who was a U23 World Medalist for Cuba.

2. Can Austin Harris Keep the Magic Going?

Austin Harris has surprised almost everyone by going undefeated to this point and turning a number of heads in the wrestling world in the process, but he hasn’t seen a lot of highly ranked competition to this point. He will see two Top 10-ranked seniors this weekend. If he can knock off either one of them, he would insert himself as a problem in the heavyweight division this season.

3. No Kaid Brock 

When John Smith was asked about Kaid Brock this week, this was his response.

“We’ll discuss that a little bit more next week,” Smith said. “He won’t be travelling with us this weekend.”

Not something most Oklahoma State fans probably wanted to hear.

We’ll learn more next week, but we’ll see Dusty Hone against fifth-ranked Ian Parker for Iowa State and UNI’s Drew Bennett. Hone performed well last season but Parker will provide quite the test for him this weekend.

4. Jalin Haper Still Possibly Filling In

When speaking with John Smith this week at the media availability, it sounds like Wyatt Sheets will still be out of the duals this week and Jalin Harper will get the start again at 157. He’ll have a tough test with Iowa State’s David Carr and a winnable match vs. UNI’s Derek Holschlag. Both duals could be close, so whatever happens here might play a role in who wins the dual.

5. OSU’s Toughest Duals Left This Season?

The Big 12 and Cowboy Challenge Tournament’s later in the season will be the toughest wrestling this OSU team, as a whole, will deal with before the NCAA tournament. These are probably OSU’s two toughest remaining duals this season. Both programs bested OU last week and the Sooners and Little Rock are all that remains on the schedule for the Cowboys this season.

UNI starts at 1 p.m. on FloWrestling. Iowa State will be on ESPN+ at 7 p.m.

I went on a podcast with the Des Moines Register’s Cody Goodwin to discuss the duals early this week. You can check it out here.

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As juniors at Montverde, if Cade Cunningham and Moses Moody woke up looking a certain direction, the two were eye to eye.

The two are now superstar freshmen at Oklahoma State and Arkansas, respectively, but they shared a small room that year at Montverde Academy in Florida where there wasn’t much room between their beds.

The Oklahoma State and Arkansas basketball programs have a handful and links throughout time, the biggest being Eddie Sutton having coached at both programs. OSU holds a 36-15 record against Arkansas since the programs’ first meeting in 1925, but when the two teams face off Saturday in the Big 12/SEC Challenge, there will be new ties between the programs.

Cunningham and Moody being former roommates and teammates is one, as is Arkansas freshman Davonte Davis, who was committed to OSU for about a year before decommitting and eventually staying in-state at Arkansas.

Davis picked OSU early, committing to the Pokes in of his junior year of high school. That was before Arkansas hired Eric Musselman, who eventually kept the Jacksonville, Arkansas native in state.

“I love Devo Davis,” OSU coach Mike Boynton said. “He’s truly one of the kids that I enjoyed recruiting the most because he’s such a humble kid. I don’t know if Devo thought he was as good as I thought he was, to be perfectly honest. He committed to us pretty early, and, I don’t know how it changed, but I’m happy if he’s happy. At the end of the day, the guys in our program, I want to want to be here and want to be a part of what we’re doing.”

Davis isn’t the only recruiting similarity on the two teams.

Boynton also went after Moody. Arkansas coach Eric Musselman pointed out Thursday that he recruited Rondel Walker hard. Arkansas freshman Jaylin Williams also made visits to Stillwater and at one point was thought to maybe join Davis at OSU. Boynton also said he recruited Arkansas’ JD Notae out of the transfer portal before Notae ended up in Fayetteville.

Boynton said his staff knew their 2020 class was going to be a big one, so they wanted to get an early commit, which the Cowboys got with Davis, in hopes to close on guys like Williams. But both ended up at Arkansas.

With the two schools being about a three-hour drive away from each other, it makes sense that the two would have some crossover in recruiting. Boynton said he hadn’t recruited against Arkansas that much until the 2020 class, when Musselman brought his aggressive playstyle and recruiting to Fayetteville.

“I really don’t focus on who’s recruiting a kid to be honest,” Boynton said. “If we’re recruiting him, I try to get him, and if we don’t get him, wish him well. And if we get a chance to play against them, try to kick his butt.”

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One of the most intriguing SEC/Big 12 Challenge matchups on Saturday among unranked teams will feature Oklahoma State and Arkansas: two teams Eddie Sutton coached, and on a court that bears his name.

We should be in for a good one, too.

The Pokes (10-4) are just a narrow favorite over the Hogs (13-4), but both have been playing great ball of late. Here’s how our team sees the game shaking out.

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Picks

• Spread (KenPom): Oklahoma State -2

Marshall Scott: Arkansas and Oklahoma State are similar in that they are both highly talented young teams. With that said, I think OSU has it a little more together right now, and that probably comes from playing in the Big 12. With Cade Cunningham back and MA Moncrieffe and Kalib Boone in newfound form, I think the Pokes take this one.

Prediction: Oklahoma State 84, Arkansas 77

Kyle Boone: Bit nervous about this one. Arkansas has some dudes, not just with potential lottery pick Moses Moody but across its entire backcourt. The top four scorers are guards. But I’m riding for the brand here in hopes that OSU gets Cade Cunningham back to combat that edge. Should be a pretty evenly-matched game, so I’ll take the best player to be on the right side of things. Pokes need it and get it.

Prediction: Oklahoma State 78, Arkansas 74

Kyle Cox: I’m assuming that Cade is available and doesn’t take long to shake off the cobwebs. He’s been watching fellow freshmen Matthew-Alexander Moncrieffe and Rondel Walker light it up for the last two games and I think he comes out with a purpose. On the other hand, Arkansas won its last two, over Vanderbilt and Ole Miss, by an average of 18. The Razorbacks are good on both sides of the court but I think a Cade-led Cowboys team is just a little better.

Prediction: Oklahoma State 80, Arkansas 72

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Viewing information

• Tip time: 3 p.m. Saturday

• Location: Gallagher-Iba Arena

• Channel: ESPN2

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After a two game absence, it sounds like Cade Cunningham will be back Saturday for the Cowboys.

In his media Zoom call Friday, Oklahoma State coach Mike Boynton said he anticipates Cunningham will be available for Saturday’s game against Arkansas. Boynton did say he wasn’t sure how much Cunningham will be able to play.

Cunningham missed the Cowboys’ most recent games against Baylor and Iowa State with what is believed to be COVID protocol. He was cleared for physical activity last Saturday ahead of the Baylor game, but with the the games coming so soon after his clearance, he was unavailable as the staff tried to safely bring him back.

Cunningham, the projected No. 1 pick in the 2021 NBA Draft, leads the Big 12 in scoring with 17.8 points a game. As a 6-foot-8 point guard, Cunningham also ranks 10th in the conference in rebounding at 6.2 boards per game.

An exciting part to Cunningham returning against Arkansas is that he will face off against a former teammate. Arkansas freshman Moses Moody was Cunningham’s roommate at Montverde academy, where the duo went 25-0 as high school seniors last season.

The Cowboys and Razorbacks tip off at 3 p.m. on ESPN2.

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