The NCAA Tournament has not been kind to the Big 12 through one day of play. Texas, Baylor and Iowa State all went down on day one of March Madness which means history is not favoring Oklahoma State at the moment. Entering as a No. 9 seed, the Cowboys are preparing for a very intense matchup against the No. 8 seed in Oregon who comes in after a successful 25-9 season in the Pac 12.
The Cowboys and Ducks are very familiar with one another, facing off in the NCAA tournament just two years ago. Oregon does not have a single player on their roster from that season while Travis Ford remains on the Cowboys team. Ford recognized that both teams have similar styles in how they execute which should make for a very interesting second-round matchup. Oregon and Oklahoma State excel in perimeter shooting while they normally score in bunches. However, each roster lacks size which makes scoring in the paint difficult along with rebounding. Both teams also looked at risk of falling out of tournament contention thanks to rough points this season.
Oregon had a slow start to the year. They lost three of their first five games as many counted them out for the season. Joseph Young comes in leading the Ducks in his senior year. The star is currently averaging 20.2 points per game while shooting 44 percent overall. The Ducks have struggled on defense, holding opponents to just 70.7 points per game while the Cowboys have excelled in that area, keeping teams to just 62.3 points per game.
Oklahoma State entered the tournament two seasons ago against the Ducks with heavy expectations. They were a No. 5 seed and expected to make a deep run. Instead, the Ducks upset them as the No. 12 seed. Le'Bryan Nash, the leading scorer for the Cowboys, is counting on history not repeating itself, confident these two teams are evenly matched for a good game. Nash was expected to be in the NBA right now after one successful season as a freshman. Instead, he opted to stay put and now comes into the tournament as an experienced senior. Michael Cobbins is the same having missed the tournament last year after tearing his Achilles tendon. Looking for redemption, the Cowboys will rely heavily on Cobbins' rebounding which led the team.
