Cowboys begin Europe tour with loss
Oklahoma State opened its 10-day tour of Europe with a 99-72 loss to the Italian National Team’s B team on Tuesday in Venice.
In what was its first actual game, the Oklahoma State basketball team's rebuilt roster suffered a 99-72 loss to the Italian National Team's B squad on Tuesday in Venice, the first of three games the Cowboys will play during their 10-day tour of Europe.
OSU, with only three scholarship players who saw time on the court in 2017-18, relied on a bevy of newcomers. Each of the Cowboys' five freshmen played in the game, with one of them in the starting five.
Here are three observations from OSU's defeat.
Anei gets start at center
With Lindy Waters, Cam McGriff and Thomas Dziagwa entering their third year as Cowboys, it was a safe bet that the trio of juniors would be in the starting lineup. Eligible after sitting a year for transferring, former MAC Freshman of the Year Michael Weathers was another logical inclusion.
Coach Mike Boynton had options for his fifth starter. He could've chosen to play small and start a guard such as graduate transfer
Mike Cunningham or junior
Curtis Jones, who won't be eligible until the spring semester after a midseason transfer from Indiana. Instead, he went with Yor Anei, a 6-foot-10 freshman from Overland Park, Kansas.
Anei finished with four points and three rebounds in about 12 minutes of action. Duncan Demuth, though, led the Cowboys' four freshman forwards in minutes with 15. The 6-8 Florida native paired with McGriff, who had 15 points and nine rebounds, in a smaller lineup.
Weathers sloppy in OSU debut
Weathers understandably seems to have some rust to shake off. As OSU's point guard, he turned the ball over eight times, and the Cowboys were minus-30 with him on the court.
Still, he had flashes of impressive play, including a second-quarter dunk. Boynton has expressed that he would ideally use Weathers as an off-ball guard, so it's possible more lineups over the next two games in Europe will feature Cunningham or freshman Isaac Likekele, who had 13 points, as the primary ballhandler.
Jones leads Cowboys in bench minutes
Weathers wasn't the only rusty one. Jones was itching to play before the trip and struggled in his OSU debut, making only two of his 14 shot-attempts in his bench-high 24 minutes. The performance should do little to dull Boynton's excitement over what Jones can provide once he's eligible.
Wednesday, the Cowboys head to Rome, where they will tour the Vatican, the Coliseum and the Pantheon. They'll face the Netherlands' national B team at 1 p.m. Thursday. The game is not expected to be streamable.