OSU not turning attention to Big 12 tourney
STILLWATER — Mike Boynton is not a fan of moral victories. His Oklahoma State basketball team arguably could've claimed two last week, losing to Texas Tech and Kansas squads ranked in the top 15 nationally and fighting for the Big 12 title by a combined nine points. But Boynton takes no solace in a pair of defeats. “I don't like the connotation that comes with that,” Boynton said. “I don't ever want to send the message losing is OK because we take the floor every day from November until sometime in March to try to win every game.” Wednesday, the Cowboys play at Baylor trying to snap a seven-game losing streak to the Bears. It completes a run of four straight games against the Big 12's top four teams. At 10-19 overall and 3-13 in conference play, OSU heads to Waco undoubtedly out of the conversation
for an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, but with two games remaining in the regular season, the Cowboys have yet to turn their attention to next week's Big 12 Tournament, their final possibility of getting into the 68-team field. The Cowboys will go into the bracket as the league's ninth or 10th seed, with Saturday's home finale against West Virginia likely determining who finishes last in the conference, meaning they will have to win four straight games to extend their season. OSU hasn't won even two games consecutively since Jan. 8 and 12. “We haven't discussed much on the Big 12 Tournament, but I know the older guys know that in the Big 12 Tournament, (everyone) is 0-0,” junior guard Thomas Dziagwa said. “It's almost a new season. “But currently, with this team, we're just focused on today's practice and traveling safe to Waco.” Dziagwa's coach echoed his stance about the upcoming championship in Kansas City. “It'll be here when it's time,” Boynton said. So then it's on to Baylor, a team that hit 15 of its 25 attempts from 3-point range in its visit to Stillwater. Given how the Cowboys played last week, Boynton is looking forward to seeing how they take on another challenge. “We always talk about playing our best basketball this time of year,” Boynton said. “There's signs that that's still happening, even though there's been a lot of reason that maybe we shouldn't be. “There's a lot of reason for these kids not to play as hard as they have. In a lot of ways, we're not playing for much tangibly. There's probably not a postseason ahead of us and all that stuff, but for them, in terms of continuing to build on what we're trying to do as a program, it's inspiring.”