AUSTIN, Texas — A month ago, as Oklahoma State prepared for a Saturday-Monday turnaround, coach Mike Boynton tried not to overthink how his young basketball team would handle two games in three days.
Boynton is approaching Monday’s 8 p.m. home game against TCU the same way, but not because of youth. The Cowboys’ second-year coach is operating a rotation that has drifted as low as his starting five; during Saturday’s loss to Texas, Boynton went more than 15 1/2 second-half minutes without making a substitution.
Across the seven Big 12 games — all losses — since Boynton dismissed Michael Weathers, Kentrevious Jones and Maurice Calloo, OSU’s starting five of Isaac Likekele, Thomas Dziagwa, Lindy Waters, Cam McGriff and Yor Anei have all averaged at least 30 minutes, with all but Anei exceeding 34 minutes per contest.