We caught up with Jeff Johnson from OStateIllustrated.com to get his thoughts on today's game.

1) In his first season as Oklahoma State’s head basketball coach, Steve Lutz has guided the Cowboys to an overall record of 13-13 and 5-10 in the Big 12. Heading into the season, what were the expectations for this year's team?

Lutz's hiring came very late in the process, with many recruiting and portal targets already off the board. Add that to the struggles the program consistently had under Mike Boynton and it adds up to pretty low expectations. There was of course hope for an immediate turnaround. Instead, the more reasonable approach is how it's actually turned out. That is a more disciplined team that has consistently made forward progress as the season has gone on. An influx of talent would certainly help, and that's Lutz's big charge to get done next.

2) Oklahoma State is facing a Kansas team that is coming off back-to-back losses at Utah and BYU. What are the biggest keys for the Cowboys inside AFH on Saturday and what players will need to shine in order for OSU to be successful?

Lutz has returned OSU to its Sutton/Iba roots in terms of focusing on defensive effort. So any given game will start there for the Pokes. Beyond that, any trip to AFH, you're going to need to shoot it well. The Cowboys have been up and down in that area all season and will need to be on the up part of that today.

3) How do you see this game playing out?

Kansas seems to be reeling, but they're still KU playing at home. I would guess Self gets the Jayhawks back on track in this one. If Lutz can pull off the upset, it would certainly go down as a signature win in his first season at OSU.