USC-Oklahoma State basketball: How to watch, what to watch in SEC/Big 12 Challenge
Game info
Who: South Carolina (10-8, 5-1 SEC) at Oklahoma State (8-11, 2-5 Big 12)
When: 2 p.m. Saturday
Where: Gallagher-Iba Arena
TV: ESPNU
Radio: 107.5 The Game in Columbia area
Series: South Carolina leads 2-1
Last meeting: December 6, 2014 in Columbia — South Carolina 75, Oklahoma State 49
KenPom prediction: Oklahoma State 76, South Carolina 71
STORYLINES
1. Familiar face
Frank Martin doesn’t like playing these types of games, when a close friend of his is on the other side. He struggled facing Andy Kennedy at Ole Miss, Anthony Grant at Alabama and Allen Edwards at Wyoming, to name a few.
Enter Oklahoma State’s Mike Boynton, a former South Carolina player who spent a season on Martin’s staff.
“I am not going to enjoy coaching against Mike,” Martin said, “but it’s been a lot of fun to study his team and see his own flavor.”
Boynton is only dressing eight scholarship players due to recent dismissals. It’s the same for Martin, whose team has been hit by a variety of injuries.
“Depth is an issue for them,” Martin said, “but it is for us too so we’ll see what happens.”
2. Résumé opportunity
OSU, which has been hit with in-season attrition, has lost three in a row since winning at West Virginia on Jan. 12. The Cowboys, though, are still a team USC wants to beat to boost an NCAA Tournament profile.
NET, which has replaced RPI this season as a main metric for team evaluation, ranks OSU No. 75. A Carolina victory Saturday would give the Gamecocks a third “Quadrant 1” win. The more of those the better for Big Dance hopes. Carolina victories over Florida and Auburn serve as its current Q1 wins. Upcoming games with Tennessee (home and away), Kentucky (away) and Mississippi State (away) offer Carolina more Q1 opportunities.
3. Conference pride
South Carolina is 1-2 in the Big 12/SEC Challenge, including a 70-63 home loss to Texas Tech last season. Oklahoma State has won two of three in the series.
After the Big 12 took the first three years of the series, it split games with the SEC in 2016-17 and lost last year.
The Gamecocks only “Challenge” win came at home against OSU during the 2014-15 season. They lost in Sillwater a year earlier. OSU is 5-4 at home this season.
OKLAHOMA STATE
Coach: Mike Boynton (29-26 in two seasons at Oklahoma State)
Projected starters: G Isaac Likekele (7.3 points per game), G Thomas Dziagwa (10.1), G Lindy Waters (12.2), F Cameron McGriff (13.5), Yor Anei (6.6)
Last game: Lost to Oklahoma, 70-61, on Wednesday at home
KenPom ranking: 74 (No. 101 in offense efficiency, No. 82 in defense efficiency)
NET: 75
Notes: The Cowboys and Gamecocks share a common opponent: LSU. OSU beat the Tigers, 90-77, on Nov. 25. ... Mike Cunningham, who came to OSU from USC Upstate as a grad transfer in the offseason, left the Cowboys earlier this month. The guard was averaging 8 points and shooting 44 percent from the field. ... With Cunningham gone, OSU has no seniors on its roster. KenPom ranks the Cowboys as the 296th-youngest team in the country. ... Waters leads the country in free throw shooting percentage (96.1).
SOUTH CAROLINA
Coach: Frank Martin (240-152 in 12 seasons overall; seventh season at USC — 123-98)
Projected starters: G Tre Campbell (5.4), G A.J. Lawson (13.2), F Keyshawn Bryant (9.5), F Chris Silva (13.0), F Maik Kotsar (8.6)
Last game: Beat No. 16 Auburn, 80-77, on Tuesday at home
KenPom ranking: 100 (No. 123 in offense efficiency, No. 91 in defense efficiency)
NET: 102
Notes: Silva, coming off a milestone performance against Auburn, has moved into ninth place for most career rebounds at South Carolina. He’s four boards shy of passing Darryl Martin for eighth. ... Bryant has missed 10 consecutive free throws. He’s 2 of 15 at the line in SEC play. ... Four Gamecocks — Silva, Lawson, Hassani Gravett, Felipe Haase — are shooting better than 81 percent from the FT line during SEC play. ... Gravett entered this season with 43 career 3-pointers. The senior has 34 3s through 18 games.
