Amid his stated goal of “staying in the moment,” Oklahoma State coach Mike Boynton also is using a history lesson as motivation for the Cowboys this season.
Boyton contends the Cowboys, who will open their season Monday night by hosting Abilene Christian in Stillwater, Okla., were the best team not to make the 68-team NCAA Tournament last season.
“We were team 69. They told us it was on the board. We were the first team to miss the cut, and that’s really gut-wrenching because when you think back, that’s one more game, which really means three more good possessions somewhere, right? Maybe one less turnover in a game or a couple more free throws. That’s how thin the line is, the margin,” he said.
The Cowboys posted a 20-16 overall record last season and were 8-10 in the Big 12. They fell to North Texas in overtime during an NIT quarterfinal game.
Boynton has his starting backcourt returning in Bryce Thompson (team-best 11.8 points per game) and John-Michael Wright (9.8).
“It’s a guard’s game, you know?” Boynton said. “We love our bigs. They protect the rim and rebound for us, but guard play really is the deal, and (if) you get your guards to play well, with confidence, they can take you a long way. We saw that with K-State last year. Markquis Nowell took them to a place that they hadn’t even dreamed about.”
Nowell led Kansas State to the Elite Eight last season.
Abilene Christian finished 13-17 overall and 7-11 in the Western Athletic Conference last season.
Third-year coach Brette Tanner has three of his top four scorers returning, though he hopes to spread the points around more this season. Immanuel Allen led the way at 10.8 ppg, and Airion Simmons and Ali Abdou Dibba finished at 9.6.
“We could see those guys’ numbers maybe go down a little bit. That’s a good thing. We don’t need those guys to score as much and play as many minutes,” Tanner said last week. “For the first time in a long time, new guys are going to have to play a lot.”
–Field Level Media