It will be a tale of two matchups Monday night as the talented backcourt of No. 17 Oklahoma hosts No. 14 Iowa State and its high-octane offense.
The Sooners (16-7, 7-4 Big 12) have two talented guards in Buddy Hield and Isaiah Cousins. Hield leads the Big 12 in scoring with 17.6 points per game, and also adds 5.6 rebounds per contest. Cousins has tallied 11.9 points per contest and 5.3 rebounds per game.
Despite the scoring ability of Oklahoma’s guards, the Sooners have struggled to limit their turnovers. OU has turned the ball over 147 times this season, trailing only Texas Tech’s conference-high mark of 167 turnovers.
Iowa State (17-5, 7-3 Big 12) has failed to capitalize on generating turnovers to this point in the season though, averaging only 6.3 steals per game to rank 179th in the country.
Compared to Oklahoma, the Cyclones have been more fluid with their ball movement, tallying 17.8 assists per matchup to rank first in the nation. Iowa State is averaging 79.9 points per game on 49 percent shooting, ranking 11th in the NCAA in both categories.
ISU junior forward Georges Niang paces the Cyclones with 15.2 points per game and 5.3 rebounds in each contest.
UNLV transfer guard Bryce Dejean-Jones will need to step up against Oklahoma’s stingy backcourt. Dejean-Jones has posted 12.5 points per game and leads the Cyclones with 5.8 rebounds per contest.
The Sooners may look to crash the boards in its matchup against ISU as the Sooners rank 21st in the country in rebounding per game, compared to the Cyclones’ No. 80-ranked rebounding unit.
OU junior forward Ryan Spangler is averaging 10.8 points and 7.9 rebounds this season. Alongside Spangler is forward TaShawn Thomas, who has tallied 10.5 points and 6.0 rebounds per game this year.
Dorm Room Hoops 