COWBOYS USING MULTIPLE DEFENSES
Oklahoma State has resorted to using several defenses throughout games due to its depleted roster
STILLWATER — Leading up to Saturday's game in Gallagher- Iba Arena, Kansas State guard Barry Brown studied Oklahoma State's defensive approach. Well, approaches.
Man-to-man. A 1-3-1 zone. A 2- 3. Whatever look OSU coach Mike Boynton felt could benefit his team down to more walk- ons on its bench than healthy scholarship players.
“One game, they changed defenses about 15 times in a half,” Brown said Saturday after his Wildcats trounced the Cowboys, 75-57.
Kansas State recorded assists on 19 of its 26 makes, 16 of which were 3-pointers.
In the three prior games that OSU had been using multiple defenses, the switches had been effective.
The Cowboys hope to regain that success when they visit TCU at 8 p.m. Wednesday.
“It's still a process,” Boynton said. “It was the first time that I felt like we didn't respond, though, the right way when the other team made a run, and it was mostly on the defensive end because they got just ridiculously uncontested shots, and to their credit, they made them all.”
The Cowboys have opened games in man in an attempt to start play aggressively, but they've switched to a zone look a few possessions in. Boynton will switch among as he feels necessary with the flow of the game.
The 1-3-1 look, which Boynton called OSU's most “efficient” defense, was something the Cowboys practiced regularly, but using it in games came “out of necessity,” after the dismissal of three players left OSU with eight scholarship players.
Since, Trey Reeves ( broken right foot, out for season) and Duncan Demuth ( back strain, day- to- day) have gone down with injuries, possibly giving Boynton only six scholarship players available Wednesday.
With such a limited roster, the zone better enables the Cowboys to avoid foul trouble or “hide” a player prone to fouls. Freshman center Yor Anei had at least four fouls in OSU's first five Big 12 games, but since the defensive switches were implemented, Anei has committed eight fouls total. He's found the changes beneficial.
“It comes pretty easy as long as there's good communication,” Anei said. “... (The communication has) been, shoot, probably the best it's ever been because we're a smaller group, so we've gotten closer.”
Boynton's background is in man defense, but he's aware of the success zone defenses have historically had, noting John Chaney's Temple teams and Jim Boeheim's Syracuse teams, in particular.
With 10 regular- season games remaining in a season that has been full of challenges, Boynton said he hopes to use that time to learn as much as he can about his players and what they're capable of doing.
“Sometimes, when you're forced into situations, you have an opportunity to learn,” Boynton said. “And for learning, you grow.”
OKLAHOMA STATE AT TCU
When: 8 p.m., Wednesday Where: Schollmaier Arena; Fort Worth, Texas TV: ESPNU (Cox 253/HD 718, Dish 141, DirecTV 208, U-verse 605/HD 1605) Radio: KXXY-FM 96.1
Three things to know
• TCU swept Oklahoma State for the first time last season, but the Cowboys hold a 25-6 advantage in the series.
• Horned Frogs guard Alex Robinson ranks fifth nationally with 7.3 assists per game. As a team, TCU records an assist on 63.1 percent of its made field goals, sixth in the nation per KenPom.
• OSU captains Lindy Waters, Cam McGriff and Thomas Dziagwa averaged a combined 11.0 points in last year's meeting with TCU, collectively shooting 37.8 percent.