Getting it done in Gallagher-Iba!

What an incredible win for the Cowboys Wednesday night, as they overcame a 9-point deficit with 3 minutes remaining, tied it with Keiton Page's 3-pointer with 23 seconds left, and ran past Iowa State 96-87 in OT. The Pokes needed this win to generate some momentum and confidence heading into a stretch of 3 tough games in their next 2 weeks (with a freebie game @ Texas Tech thrown in there, too).  JP Olukemi continues to make a splash on the college basketball scene as a serious talent, and will only continue to make it difficult for teams to figure out how to guard him when he can fill up a stat sheet like this:

29 points

12-for-12 from the stripe

8 rebounds

3 assists

4 steals

2 blocks

1 bag of popcorn sold at concession stand.

Those are the kind of numbers that get you noticed by NBA scouts and GMs.  Those are the kind of numbers that could potentially lift #0 to a lottery pick.  If he can put together similar games against Baylor, Texas, and Missouri in the next 14 days, the rest of the nation will be well aware of this young man.

Keiton Page and Marshall Moses were both huge again for the Cowboys, which I have said all along will determine just how good this team will be.  Another double-double for Moses (18 pts, 10 rebs), and 19 points for Page (he still needs to shoot better from behind the arc) were vital to the Cowboys fighting back into this game after falling behind by as many as 10 in the second half, and trailing by 9 with just over 3 minutes left.    Another big stat from the game is that Ray Penn had only 1 turnover.  When your starting point guard doesn't give the ball away and is efficient in the role he's asked to play in the offense, good things will happen.  As a counterpoint, Diante Garrett was without question the best player on the floor for Iowa State, but he also had 7 turnovers by himself.  That's a huge number for a guard, especially one who handles the ball as much as he does.

Up next for the Pokes is a big game in Waco and another opportunity to prove they can play with anyone this league.  Baylor has thus far underperformed mightily to the expectations that were placed on them coming into the season, but this is still a team that can put 100 points on the scoreboard in a hurry.  They won't play much in terms of defense, but have more than enough capable weapons on offense to make matchups difficult. 

Off-the-court issues aside, I still think Baylor's best player is Lacedarius Dunn.  I know superstar All-Everything true Freshman Perry Jones has the potential, but this team will go as Dunn goes.  Baylor stands at 2-2 in conference play right now (tied with the Cowboys) but their two wins are against doormats Texas Tech and Oklahoma.  Both wins were by more than 10 points, while both losses were by more than 10 as well, as Iowa State beat them in Ames by 15 and Kansas blasted them in Waco by 20. I expect Baylor to be down on themselves a little, as they were probably expecting to be 17-0 or 16-1 at worst at this point in mid-January, instead of the 12-5 record they have. 

Hopefully the Cowboys can build upon the success of Wednesday night's win and make the trip to Waco and put another one in the W column.

GO POKES!