Oklahoma State, Arizona State meet amid rigors of Big 12 season
In his second season in the Big 12 Conference, Oklahoma State coach Steve Lutz is getting accustomed to how the ball can bounce.
His Cowboys took down then-No. 16 BYU 99-92 last Wednesday. Three days later, they had to visit the No. 1 team in the country, and Arizona ran them out of the building, 84-47.
Oklahoma State completes a two-game stay in the state when it visits Arizona State on Tuesday in Tempe.
The Cowboys (16-7, 4-6 Big 12) are on the NCAA Tournament bubble with the weeks dwindling down in the regular season. The uncompetitive loss to Arizona could be excused at season's end, but it didn't help their case to shoot 15 of 61 (24.6%) while allowing 33-of-64 shooting (51.6%) and a 56-35 rebounding disparity.
"It's tough in the Big 12. You're talking to the wrong guy that's gonna make excuses for my team, our team not performing (Saturday)," Lutz said. "We did not play our best, and Arizona had a lot to do with that, and that's on us.
"But you know what, we gotta go across the state here in 2 1/2 days and we better be hooked up and ready to go because I'm sure that Arizona State's not gonna take it easy on us. I watched both the games that (the Wildcats) played Arizona State. They gave you a game."
To his point, Arizona State (12-12, 3-8) pushed Arizona to the brink on the road in an 89-82 loss back on Jan. 14 before losing 87-74 at home on Jan. 31.
The Sun Devils have dropped three of their past four games, most recently falling 78-70 at Colorado on Saturday. After the Buffaloes bullied Arizona State 40-26 on the boards, Sun Devils coach Bobby Hurley made his frustration clear in the postgame press conference.
"We got seven games left, so if we can't rebound by now, then chances are we're not gonna be able to rebound," Hurley said.
Arizona State ranks dead last among Big 12 teams with an average of 32.8 rebounds per game and a minus-3.2 differential. Oklahoma State may have been outmatched by the Wildcats, but the Cowboys still get 38 rebounds per game, fifth in the Big 12.
Anthony Roy, who dropped 30 points on BYU and paces Oklahoma State with 17.8 points per game, was held in check by Arizona at 10 points (3-of-11 shooting, 3-of-10 success from 3-point range).
Maurice Odum leads Arizona State with 17.2 points and 6.2 assists per contest. He had 23 and five, respectively, in the Colorado game.