On Tuesday night, the BYU basketball program will look to get back in the win column after suffering three consecutive losses in conference play. Going into this game, BYU is not projected to be in the NCAA Tournament field. However, BYU can get back into the NCAA Tournament picture with a few winning weeks.
KenPom, the industry leader in predictive college basketball analytics, predicted BYU vs Oklahoma State. KenPom gives BYU an 86% chance to beat Oklahoma State with a projected final score of 81-69.
According to KenPom, this is the easiest game on BYU’s conference schedule. 86% win probability is the highest of any conference game this season.
Simply put, BYU needs to capitalize on this opportunity to get to 2-3 in conference play with a chance to get back to .500 on the road at Utah on Saturday.
KenPom is slightly less optimistic about BYU’s chances than ESPN BPI and oddsmakers. ESPN BPI gives BYU an 89% chance to win. The betting line currently favors BYU by 14.5 points.
This is a game that BYU needs to dominate on the defensive end. Oklahoma State is not efficient on offense. The Cowboys rank 257th in effective field goal percentage according to KenPom.
The Pokes are led in scoring by senior Marchelus Avery. Avery averages 12.6 points per game, 5.3 rebounds per game, and 1.4 assists per game.
For BYU, they need one of the two standout freshman to get back into a rythm on offense. Egor Demin has struggled with his jump shot since returning from his injury. Fellow true freshman Kanon Catchings has struggled with consistency, especially since the start of conference play.
This post was originally published on this site be sure to check out more of their content.
