How Oklahoma State's Kalib Boone works to make teams 'regret sending double teams'

FORT WORTH, Texas — Oklahoma State senior Kalib Boone was expecting a double team or something the first time he caught the basketball Tuesday night.

Kansas’ extra defender never came.

“I’m getting to the middle, I’m getting to what I want and no double team,” Boone thought at the time.

He got too excited at first before settling in.

Boone missed the shot. Two possessions later, again no extra help on the low post. Shocked, Boone wildly missed a layup.

This was what his father, Michael, predicted the night before.

Kansas would not double team.

But that comes with a massive risk, as the Jayhawks learned.

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Boone responded with a career-high 27 points during OSU’s 87-76 loss, taking advantage of being single covered for the first time in more than a month.

“We were planning for them to,” OSU coach Mike Boynton said. “So we just kept playing through him to the degree that we could.”

Boone has skyrocketed to a new level of play this season as he’s faced a plethora of defenses. Double teams. Triple teams.

When OSU faces 22nd-ranked TCU at 1 p.m. Sunday, the Horned Frogs will bring physicality and size to the low post against Boone. Eddie Lampkin Jr., who missed the first meeting, is back in the lineup.

Boone feels better prepared this season for whatever is thrown his way.

That started by accepting opponents would work extra hard to take him out of the game.

Boone often called his father upset about being double teamed. It happened at Tulsa Memorial High School as well.

Michael Boone always reminded him that it’s a sign of respect. Kalib finally believed it.

Then he struggled at Baylor this season, completely taken out of the game by the Bears’ defensive strategy.

Kalib talked with his father. He spoke with director of player development Keiton Page. They both stressed that he can’t let a double team take him out of his game.

“You got to make them regret sending double teams,” Kalib said. “Hence why I try to focus on my passing more, staying calm, knowing my outlets. It’s a little bit of comfort but also at the end of the day you can’t really get comfortable with a double team.”

As a result, Boone is having a career season.

And the Cowboys have taken off with wins in five of their past six games.

Here is a look back at the week for OSU:

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Top two players this season

Kalib Boone: His 27 points against Kansas was a career high and the third time this season he’s scored 23 or more points. Each game has come in Big 12 play, too. He now averages 12.5 points — a career best — and is shooting 61% overall.

Moussa Cisse: His scoring output has gradually declined since his return from an ankle injury but his presence alone has made a difference. On defense, opponents think twice, thrice or more about going to the rim when he’s on the floor. There is no better rim protector and impactful player in the Big 12.

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Top player this week

John-Michael Wright: The Big 12 Newcomer of the Week, Wright was clutch down the stretch at Iowa State, scoring 13 of his 19 points in the second half. Against Kansas, the High Point transfer scored 18 points, making 6 of 10 3-pointers. On the week, he made 9 of 16 from deep.

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Player on the rise

Bryce Thompson: He scored 12 points at Iowa State, making a pair of 3-pointers. He followed that up with 17 points against Kansas. Fourteen of those came in the first half as he made 5 of 9 shots. In the second half, he missed all four shots while making three free throws. As good as Thompson has been shooting the ball, his second-half struggles are confounding. In last week’s win over Texas Tech, he scored 21 in the opening half but failed to score in the second half. Boynton said the plan is to get Thompson in the flow of things faster to open the final 20 minutes and also encourage him to be more aggressive to get more shots.

Stat to know

0-5: Record at TCU during Boynton’s tenure as head coach. Three of those losses have been by four points or less. Each one stings, but Boynton certainly remembers the 2019 loss when TCU’s JD Miller hit a short running fadeaway jumper in the final second to break a tie. OSU believed it was the end of the game and went to the locker room. After a review, OSU was forced back onto the court with 0.3 seconds left. A last-ditch full-court pass did not work out. Then the Cowboys had to shake hands with TCU again before going to their locker room.

“It’s like cruel and unusual punishments,” Boynton said. “It’s like double jeopardy. I got one more ‘L’ in there.”

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Updated bracketology

The bubble is for the moment no more.

After beating Iowa State in Ames on Saturday, the Cowboys moved into seeding in tournament projections. Both ESPN and CBS had OSU as an eight seed to begin the week.

Losing to Kansas dropped OSU to a nine seed in each bracketology.

OSU is ranked No. 29 on KenPom.com. It’s No. 33 in NCAA NET Rankings.

That still brings hope that the Cowboys are in a good position entering a tough stretch with two road games in three days.

But they need to keep winning.

Otherwise, it’s back to the bubble, which could burst at any time.

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Cowboys still in Big 12 title race

OSU remains two games out of first place, which is a three-way tie between Kansas, Texas and Baylor.

Those teams are a combined 5-0 against the Cowboys.

OSU (16-10, 7-6) begins the weekend tied for fifth with Kansas State, which won the first meeting between the two.

The trick now for OSU is not letting the Kansas loss that snapped a four-game conference winning streak derail the good strides made.

“I feel like they’re in a good place,” Boynton said Thursday about his players. “Certainly, there was a level of disappointment in the locker room. But I don’t sugarcoat it a lot. We didn’t play well enough to beat a team like that, certainly on the defensive end.

“They owned it. They get it. But there’s no lingering rejection. We’ve done a lot of heavy lifting over the last couple of weeks, so I’m confident that we can get ourselves back on track here.”

OSU vs. TCU

TIPOFF: 1 p.m. Saturday at Schollmaier Arena in Fort Worth, Texas (ESPN+)

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma State's Kalib Boone going to new level despite double teams