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Oklahoma St.-Texas A&M Preview

Mar 2, 2010 - 9:29 PM By KATE HEDLIN STATS Writer

Oklahoma State (20-8) at Texas A&M (20-8), 9:00 p.m. EDT

With another outstanding offensive effort at home, Oklahoma State took down the top-ranked team in the country last weekend. The Cowboys, though, haven't played at that level on the road.

Coming off their first win over a No. 1 opponent in 21 years, the Cowboys will try to build on that momentum when they visit 23rd-ranked Texas A&M on Wednesday.

Oklahoma State (20-8, 8-6 Big 12) has struggled with consistency at times but has won four of five, with two victories coming against ranked teams. The Cowboys shocked then-No. 1 Kansas 85-77 on Saturday, shooting a season-high 60.4 percent while connecting on 10 of 19 3-pointers.

It was the program's first win over a top-ranked team since beating Oklahoma on Feb. 4, 1989.

"That was a great feeling," said guard Keiton Page of students rushing the floor. "I was claustrophobic. I was getting hot, so when they picked me up, I got a little breather. I was pretty excited when they did that. I thought I was going to pass out there for a little while."

Page scored 15 points, going 4 of 4 from beyond the arc, while James Anderson, who left practice last week with back spasms and skipped the pregame shootaround, had 27 points.

"I was going to play regardless," said Anderson, who leads the conference with 22.6 points per game. "I could have been with a broken leg. I was going to drag it all the way down the court."

Anderson needs 19 points to become the team's career scoring leader in conference games. He has 811 points against Big 12 opponents.

Anderson and the Cowboys are averaging 81.6 points and shooting 52.0 percent in home conference games, but they've averaged 68.9 points while shooting 39.4 percent in Big 12 play on the road.

Oklahoma State, which is playing its fourth straight game against a Top 25 team, put up big numbers against Texas A&M (20-8, 9-5) in a 76-69 win Jan. 27. The Cowboys shot 57.9 percent and hit 12 3-pointers. It was the second-most points Texas A&M has allowed in a conference game this season.

The Aggies, though, have held three of their last four opponents to fewer than 60 points and are coming off a 74-58 win over then-No. 21 Texas on Saturday. Texas A&M held the Longhorns to 36.8 percent shooting and outrebounded them 40-29.

"Getting 20 wins is good, especially with the schedule we have had," said guard Donald Sloan, who had 19 points. "We have a lot of season left, and we just need to take care of business."

Texas A&M will likely be without B.J. Holmes, who left Saturday's game with a sprained right foot. Coach Mark Turgeon said the junior guard was on crutches and in a boot Monday.

Holmes is averaging 9.1 points off the bench and has provided big defensive help recently.

"I'm not going to rush him back," Turgeon said. "I'm going to do what's best for B.J. and his foot and for our team in the end. ... It's bad timing."

Texas A&M hasn't lost both regular-season games against Oklahoma State since 2004-05.