Texas Tech basketball: Scouting the Oklahoma State Cowboys

Sophomore guard Isaac Likekele is the one who makes everything go

The Cowboys’ best player was nearly a Red Raider.  Back in May of 2018, Mansfield, Texas guard Isaac Likekele picked OSU over Tech in a hotly-contested recruiting battle.

Now, the 6-foot-3 guard is the head of the snake for the Cowboys.  With 13.1 points and 4.9 assists per game, he leads his team in both categories.

The high-energy player has also picked up his defensive efforts and leads OSU with 2.6 steals per game.  That would lead the Big 12 if he had amassed enough games to be included on the conference leaderboard.

To understand just what he means to his team, consider that he has missed four games this year because of an illness and in those contests, the Cowboys went just 1-3 overall.  In those losses, they averaged 67 points per game, down from their average of 72.

The key to defending Likekele is going to be forcing him to shoot the ball from distance.  Truly an atrocious shooter, he’s made just 2-6 shots from deep this year.  In other words, Tech should be able to sag off of him to try to keep him out of the lane, which is tough because he’s as quick as they come off the dribble.

It will be interesting to see which Red Raider draws the primary defensive assignment on Likekele but being as Tech switches all ball screens, just about every one of Beard’s players will have their shot at slowing him down.  His ability to create off the dribble will be a key in this game given that the Cowboys have two dangerous snipers lurking at the 3-point line.

Thus far, OSU is undefeated when Likekele plays proving that he is their most critical player.  So if Tech wants to shut down the Cowboys, the Red Raiders have to keep Likekele from being disruptive when he attempts to drive the ball.