Bedlam Battle adds another chapter, as Sooners host Pokes

Jan 17, 2015 - 3:50 PM Norman, OK (SportsNetwork.com) - A Big 12 Conference showdown is on tap as in- state rivals, 24th-ranked Oklahoma State and 18th-ranked Oklahoma, get together at the Lloyd Noble Center on Saturday evening.

The Sooners may be the higher-ranked team in this meeting, but they are also the ones who have lost two straight after riding a four-game win streak. After going down to Kansas State in overtime last weekend by just three points, Oklahoma was blown away by 16th-ranked West Virginia in Morgantown four nights ago in an ugly 86-65 final.

Of the five defeats registered by the Sooners, three have come against opponents that were ranked in the top-20.

As for the Cowboys, they too have hit a rough patch now that conference play is here, especially since the Big 12 is made up of top-quality opponents. The team has dropped two of the last three outings, the most recent loss coming against 12th-ranked Kansas earlier in the week by a score of 67-57 on the road. Of the four defeats logged by OSU, all but one (South Carolina) has come against nationally-ranked foes.

According to Oklahoma sources, the Sooners own a 131-95 advantage in the all- time series and won the most recent encounter in Stillwater last season by a narrow 77-74 score in the middle of February.

Both OSU and Kansas had trouble finding the basket in the first half of their meeting earlier this week at Allen Fieldhouse, but after converting a mere seven field goals through the opening 20 minutes, the Cowboys improved to just nine after the break and missed all seven chances behind the 3-point line in the frame. Le'Bryan Nash dropped in a game-high 21 points and pulled down seven rebounds for the visitors, followed by Phil Forte with 18 points as the duo combined to make 20 of the team's 22 free throws.

Nash and Forte are one of the best one-two scoring combinations in not just the Big 12, but the nation as they generate 17.9 and 17.8 ppg, respectively, the former focusing his efforts in the paint as he also collects 6.1 rpg and the latter connecting on 41.3 percent of his 3-point attempts. At the defensive end, the Cowboys are holding opponents to just 59.1 ppg based off 37.2 percent accuracy from the floor and being bedeviled at the free-throw line with 66.6 percent shooting.

The Sooners fell behind West Virginia right out of the chute and never recovered, trailing by 13 at the break before losing all composure and watching the Mountaineers run away with the 21-point home win. Shooting 42.0 percent from the field didn't help matters, but the biggest problem for Oklahoma was an inability to maintain possession as it turned the ball over a staggering 22 times, leading to 17 points for WVU.

Buddy Hield managed to tally a game-high 21 points and pull down eight rebounds, followed by Isaiah Cousins and Ryan Spangler with 14 and 10 points, respectively, but the OU reserves responded with just eight points, compared to a whopping 55 for the WVU backups.

Hield, who averaged 16.5 ppg in two games against OSU last season, is putting up 17.1 ppg overall in 2014-15 thanks to his 47 3-pointers. Cousins checks in with another 12.8 ppg and is the other reliable perimeter shooter (31-of-68), which means the pair have accounted for all but 30 of the team's 108 triples through 16 games. Spangler, who averaged 15.0 rpg in the series last season, is currently clearing eight boards per outing.