McGusty continues to grow for Sooners

Oklahoma State coach saw plenty of future Oklahoma standout

in high school, as the then-Stephen F. Austin coach was recruiting and eventually landed one of McGusty’s teammates.

Monday, Underwood saw just how far McGusty has come since then, as the freshman scored 22 points to keep the Sooners in Bedlam before Underwood’s Cowboys escaped with a 68-66 win.

“He really had his way with us the first half,” Underwood said. “He got whatever he wanted, jumped over us, made good shots.”

Monday was McGusty’s third 20-plus point performance in OU’s last eight games.

“It’s been fun to see him grow,” Underwood said. “He’s stepping into threes now and is just so confident.”

Underwood values Kruger friendship

Underwood finished his playing career at Kansas State in the spring of 1986.

Soon after, took over as Wildcats coach, replacing

whom both he and Underwood had played for at K-State.

It was then that their relationship began.

“He took over right after my senior year,” Underwood said of Kruger. “I was working toward finishing my degree in December. He allowed me to be around.”

When Kruger was at UNLV and starting up the Coaches vs. Cancer project, he reached out to Underwood.

Big 12 Men’s Standings

“I’ve been with it from its conception,” Underwood said. “And through that, our relationship has grown. When I got the head coaching job at Stephen F. (Austin), I’ll never forget how much it meant to me to get a fax from him saying, ‘Have a great year. Congratulations. Best of luck.’

“That’s a gentleman. You follow those people. You want to be where they’re at — and I do. And yet, he’s achieved so much, his record speaks for itself. Great, great friend.”

Up next, OSU: at West Virginia

Halfway through the conference schedule and having played everyone in the Big 12 once, the Cowboys make the turn against the team they faced to open league play: West Virginia.

The Mountaineers won in Stillwater, 92-75, back on Dec. 30, handing OSU its worst Big 12 loss.

West Virginia, 17-4 overall and 5-3 in league play, has been up and down in January, but up of late. The Mountaineers beat Kansas and Texas A&M last week, jumping 11 spots to No. 7 in the latest Associated Press rankings.

Along with wins over No. 2 Baylor and No. 3 Kansas, as well as OSU, TCU and Texas, West Virginia has lost to Oklahoma, Texas Tech and Kansas State. Such is life in the Big 12. “What happens this time of year is familiarity,” said Mountaineers coach

whose squad visits Iowa State on Tuesday night.

“When you are in a league, there is so much familiarity with the players knowing each other, knowing each other’s strengths and you know what they’re going to run, it’s so much harder to score because of familiarity.”

Up next, OU: at Texas Tech

Oklahoma also hits the road Saturday, making the