Back in the preseason, Oklahoma State men’s basketball coach Mike Boynton had his team do every preseason he did: practice cutting nets. Each player climbed on the ladder with scissors and cut a piece of the net.
For freshman Cade Cunningham, it was the first time he had done so at university. For junior Isaac Likekele, it was not new, but it felt different.
“There was actually a vision,” Likekele said. “I do not know how to explain it, it was a different feeling this year … When this year came in, everyone had one to 15 of the same faith.”
After Friday night’s 83-74 upset over Baylor, the top seed in the Big 12 tournament and the No. 2 team in the country, the Cowboys are now 40 minutes from fulfilling the fall vision.
“I believe in the law of attraction,” Boynton said. “You have to believe that something can happen and you have to see that you do it before you can put it into action. I wanted to give a tone with this team pretty early on about what I expected us to be able to do. “And then we go to work … and here we are.”
The state of Oklahoma has continued its run as one of the hottest teams in the country, winning eight of its last nine games and starting Saturday for a Big 12 tournament championship and possibly a 2-series NCAA tournament fight. .
The Cowboys have fallen short of Baylor during their two previous appearances this season, the first without Cunningham and the second without Likekele. With both players on Friday in Kansas City, Missouri, Boynton finally has a full lineup of players ready to tackle the Bears.
Cunningham, the predicted no. 1-choice in the NBA draft of this year, showed why he is such a sought-after talent at the next level. He finished with 25 points, eight rebounds and five assists, 20 of which came in the second half.
“He’s the best player in the country,” Boynton said. “I do not think it is close.”
After the game, Baylor players expressed their frustrations over their defense against Cunningham and his teammates. MaCio Teague said Cunningham got ‘free’ too often.
“They scored like 80 points on us,” he said after the game. ” [We have] bigger problems than shooting. ‘
Mark Vital said he wants Davion Mitchell to have the defensive allotment at Cunningham, suggesting he may not have agreed to the rotations late in the game. And Baylor coach Scott Drew said his team needed more practice, something they have been missing since their three-week hiatus, so the Bears can ‘return to’ elite ‘in defense.
Yet he is not convinced that any team would have had answers for the predicted number 1 pick.
“Cade is one of those guys where you can do everything right and he’s still getting a bucket,” Drew said.
Avery Anderson, with 20 points, was a key factor along with Cunningham, and two other players passed in double figures. The Cowboys also closed in on the defensive side, keeping Baylor one of its least effective offensive outings of the season. Drew’s team shot just 6-for-28 from behind the arc, their worst shooting attempt since a Jan. 2 victory over Iowa.
“I hope we keep expelling the idea that we’re Cade and a bunch of dolls out there,” Boynton said.
There are few teams in the country that currently play better than Oklahoma State, and if they exclude an incredible turnaround from the NCAA in the next 48 hours, the Cowboys could play in the NCAA Tournament. They were banned for a year after the season in the summer, but they appealed against the decision and the NCAA has not yet responded to the appeal.
Assuming they play next week, the Cowboys are a team no one will want to face.
“I think [it’s] our togetherness as a unit, “Cunningham said of the team’s recent game. Everyone is acting. Everyone is trying to find ways to perfect the role, whatever. The staff gives us great game plans and only we buy them in, which really translates to winning more. Once we won some big games, our confidence just grew. It’s through the roof now. It’s still going on. We’re trying to see how far we can take it. ‘
But before that, the state of Oklahoma will face Texas in the Big 12 title game on Saturday.
“We did not come here to win a semi-final,” Boynton said. “We came here to win a championship.”
And if the Cowboys do, it may not be the only time they’re chopping nets this month.
ESPN’s Myron Medcalf contributed to this report.