LOS ANGELES — No. 8 seed Oklahoma State and No. 9 seed Princeton descended on Pauley Pavilion this week, tasked with a challenging matchup against each other before a potential reward of facing top-seeded UCLA.
Both teams have five players averaging double-figure scoring. Both have six playing 20 or more minutes and eight playing nine or more minutes. About 1 percentage point separates the teams’ field goal percentages. Same with their free-throw percentages. And their 3-point percentages. Their points per play are 0.04 apart. Turnover rates? Just 0.2 percentage points apart. One wears orange and black. The other one also wears orange and black.
The NCAA Tournament bracket has a funny sense of humor sometimes.
Oklahoma State had a tough 6-point loss to South Dakota State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament last year. Princeton fell by 5 to Iowa State in the First Four. Both are looking for a different outcome this year, but it will only be possible for one.
So who wins a matchup between two teams with such similar styles? They share the ball and play a guard-heavy, unselfish game.
From an analyst’s perspective, it might be the Cowgirls if they’re able to push pace and get out in transition. If it turns into a half-court grind, the Tigers might have the upper hand. Princeton is known for its defensive mindset, while Oklahoma State’s offensive rebounding prowess is the central point of Princeton’s scouting report.
But if you ask the players, they give an answer that’s a coach’s dream: grit, toughness and who wants it more.
Princeton junior guard/forward Fadima Tall told reporters on Friday that the two teams’ styles aligning takes some of the stress off her team. “Now it’s like, who is going to work harder?” she said. “Who is going to [get] those extra rebounds? Who is going to get on the floor more?
“It adds a different level of complexity to the game. It should be fun.”
The Cowgirls also emphasized their hunger, determination and togetherness in their press conference. Micah Gray, Oklahoma State’s hometown senior and leading scorer, told reporters, “Any night, anyone can go off.” She expressed confidence in her team and acknowledged the chemistry the Cowgirls have built using the same starting five in all 32 games this season.
“We don’t want to be first-rounders again,” Gray said.
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When asked about the teams’ similarities, Oklahoma State head coach Jacie Hoyt told reporters on Friday that she thought that the comparisons were absolutely justified. “The balance of [Princeton’s] roster is what makes them so good,” she said.
When asked what it will take to beat the Tigers, Hoyt said, “We just have to play well. And I know that’s kind of a boring answer, but I don’t really see any weaknesses in them. I honestly don’t. You could say that they’re a little bit undersized in the post, but that’s been our narrative all season long.
“So, I mean, truly, when you stack up our rosters, I think that we are dang near identical. … We just need to play a really complete basketball game.”
While Hoyt credited Oklahoma State’s recruiting for a lot of its completeness and balanced scoring, she also said part of it is about playing the game “the right way” and “giving up good shots for great shots.” While she loves big numbers in the scoring column, she’s equally impressed by the number of assists her team racks up — 17.2 per game, which ranks 22nd in the country.
While Princeton head coach Carla Berube acknowledged that many of the teams’ statistics were very similar, she called attention to the differences in their personnel. “They’ve got strengths where we don’t and vice versa,” she told reporters on Friday. “But they’re a good defensive team, they’re a good transition offensive team, and they can really spray the ball around because they have scorers at every position.”
She went on to describe the Cowgirls as “balanced.” Funny enough, that was the same word Hoyt used repeatedly as the primary descriptor for both teams.
Princeton and Oklahoma State will face off on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. Pacific time on ESPN2.
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