Minnesota Basketball-Previewing Oklahoma State

After a horrific two game stretch against schools from South Dakota, Minnesota travels to the state of South Dakota to play Oklahoma State. Yes, this is a weird scheduling decision. No I do not understand the point of scheduling this game. Minnesota is 5-4 on the year, and badly needs a win today.

Provide Me the Essentials to View this Game

Who are the Gophers playing?

Oklahoma State Cowboys

Where are they playing?

Sanford Pentagon, Sioux Falls South Dakota

When are they playing?

7:30pm CST

Can I watch it on television?

Yes. Big Ten Network

Can I listen to the game on the radio?

Yes. This game is on the radio 1500ESPN.

Tell me more about the Opponent

Oklahoma State is 5-3 on the year. The Cowboys are also looking to snap a two game losing streak this evening. Their coach, Travis Ford, was recently ejected from his son's high school basketball game because of an overreaction of a referee. This has no bearing on the match-up, but it's a funny story. The Cowboys average a little over 1.04 points per possession on offense and give up less than a point per possession on defense. They are an excellent free throw shooting team, and get to the line with frequency. Against any other team, it might matter that the Cowboys do not take a lot of three point shots and are not particularly successful when they do shoot them. Against the Gophers, that likely means that Oklahoma State will make 15 shots from deep. Phil Forte III, their best player coming into the season, has not played since suffering an injury against Towson. In addition, the Cowboys are also down a key reserve in Tavarius Shine.

Predictions

• Minnesota loses 75-70. KenPom has this as a Gophers loss as well with a 56% probability.
• Dupree McBrayer will play heavy minutes.
  
• The Gophers will make an effort to get Joey King the ball far more than the previous two games.