Facing Texas Tech- Here's The Scout
- Oklahoma State men’s basketball is set to play host to Texas Tech on Wednesday night in what will be the first meeting between the conference foes this season. Tip is set for 7 p.m. on ESPN+ with Shawn Kenney and Bryndon Manzer on the call while Cowboy fans can listen to Dave Hunziker and John Holcomb on the Cowboy Radio Network or Varsity App.
- Texas Tech enters the contest with a 12-11 record, including a 1-9 mark in Big 12 play. The Red Raiders struggled to begin conference play, losing their first eight games against Big 12 opponents. Since then, Texas Tech snapped its losing streak against LSU in the Big 12/SEC Challenge before upsetting Iowa State in Lubbock and falling to Baylor in Waco on Saturday.
- Oklahoma State leads the all-time series 48-24, including a 26-5 mark and three in a row in Gallagher-Iba Arena against the Red Raiders. Texas Tech won four of five from 2018 to 2020, but the Cowboys have answered by winning four of the last five themselves, with all four wins coming while the Red Raiders were ranked. Oklahoma State beat the 12th-ranked Red Raiders 52-51 in Stillwater in its season finale last year, with Bryce Thompson hitting what would be the game-winning three pointer with 19 seconds left.
- Despite Texas Tech's struggles this season, they still possess a hounding defense that makes opposing ball-handlers uncomfortable. The Red Raiders rank fifth in the Big 12 in turnovers forced per game this season (15.0) and fourth in steals per game (8.0). Despite that, teams continue to shoot the ball well against Texas Tech, as they rank seventh in the conference in field goal percentage defense (42.2) and tenth in three-point percentage defense (33.1). The Cowboys have made things extremely tough on opposing teams in each of those categories, ranking first in the Big 12 and fifth nationally in field goal percentage defense (38.0) and second in the conference and 18th nationally in three-point percentage defense (29.4).
- Red Raiders' head coach Mark Adams is in his second season at the helm in Lubbock. Adams led Texas Tech to a Sweet 16 birth in last year's NCAA Tournament while being named the 2022 Associate Press Big 12 Coach of the Year and the Jim Phelan National Coach of the Year. Despite struggles this season, Adams remains one of the most respected coaches in the conference.
The New Sheriffs In Town
- John-Michael Wright, a High Point transfer, brings experience and poise to the Oklahoma State locker room. In the 2021-22 season, his junior year of eligibility, he played and started in all 32 games for High Point while averaging 34.9 minutes per contest. He shot .410 from the field and .363 from behind the arc as he averaged 18.4 points, 4.4 rebounds and 3.4 assists.
- He finished the year with the eighth-best assist-turnover ratio in the Big South, the ninth-best field goal percentage, had the second-most free throw attempts (third-most made), led the conference in scoring average and had the eighth-most assists.
- Alongside Wright from the transfer ranks is Caleb Asberry from Texas State. He started all 29 games during the 2021-22 season, the only Bobcat to do that, as he led the team in scoring with a career-high 13.6 points and also paced the team in minutes played (847), steals (37), three-pointers made (63).
- Asberry was notably a two-time All-Sun Belt (2021: Third Team, 2022: First Team) selection.
- The lone freshman of the group, Quion Williams, joins the Cowboys from Jonesboro. During his high school career, Williams helped lead his team to two state championships and a 30-3 record.
Mid-Season Quick Hitters
- Woody Newton has started the last six games, marking the first six starts of his career, and has averaged 26.5 minutes with 7.3 points, 5.0 rebounds and 47.1 percent from three.
- After the Wichita State result earlier this season in Wichita, Oklahoma State has now held at least one opponent to less than 50 points in a game in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 2016.
- There have been 17 seasons since the 2000-01 year that OSU had at least one game holding an opponent to less than 50 points while the program has done so in back-to-back seasons 13 times during the stretch.
- Just three teams, Baylor, Texas and TCU, have scored more than 69 points on the Cowboys in 12 Big 12 games thus far while only one (TCU) has scored more than 60 in Stillwater.
- Only three teams (UT Arlington, Southern Illinois and TCU) have scored more than 60 points in GIA this season through the first 12 home games of the season.
- A big part of those numbers? The Cowboys have held a 70-28 blocked shots advantage at home, with Cisse leading the way at 24. Boone has recorded 17, himself.
- For the first time in his career, Kalib Boone was named the Big 12 Player of the Week last week. Boone averaged 21.5 points and 5.0 rebounds as the surging Cowboys won three straight games and five of six.
- For his efforts against Iowa State and Oklahoma last month, Oklahoma State’s Avery Anderson III was named the Big 12 Player of the Week. He averaged 16.0 points per game. The honor was the first of his career.
Getting Hot At The Right Time
- Oklahoma State is playing its best ball at an opportune time, having won three straight and five of its last six. Four of those wins have come against Big 12 opponents, putting the Cowboys back to .500 in conference play at 5-5 and keeping them within striking distance of the top half of the league.
- During this stretch, OSU has held opponents to just 66.3 points per game while allowing them to shoot only 40.8 percent from the field and 30.0 percent from beyond the arc. The Cowboys, in comparison, are scoring 73.3 points per game while shooting 46.2 percent from the field and 36.2 percent from three.
- Much of the Cowboys recent success can be attributed to the stellar play of Kalib Boone. The OSU big man was named Big 12 Player of the Week last week and is averaging 17.8 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game while shooting 73.3 percent from the field in the last six games.
- Woody Newton has also been a big factor for the Cowboys of late, having made his first six starts of his career in the last six games. In 26.5 minutes per game, Newton is scoring 7.3 points and grabbing 5.0 rebounds per game while shooting 47.1 percent from both the field and behind the arc in his last six.
1,000-Point Club
- Avery Anderson III joined Oklahoma State’s 1,000-career point club against Oklahoma earlier this month in Gallagher-Iba Arena. While teammates Caleb Asberry and John-Michael Wright won’t count toward the OSU records, as they transferred in at the start of the season, they are both part of the larger club that spans the nation.
- Around the league, Kansas State, Iowa State and Texas all have four on their current roster while Oklahoma State and Texas Tech have three. Oklahoma, Baylor, Kansas, West Virginia and TCU have two.
- For Wright, he currently has the 46th-most career points in Division I basketball and is fifth among current Big 12 players.
- Wright is within striking distance of finishing with 1,000 points, 500 rebounds (12 away) and 300 assists (9 away).
Moussa Got Better Last Season - And Here's The Numbers To Show It
- Based on his first 15 games in Stillwater last season, in comparison to the final 15 of last year, the evidence shows Moussa Cisse got better as the year went along and was playing his best basketball at the end of the season.
- Through his first 15 contests as a Cowboys, Cisse was shooting 49.2 percent from the field while averaging 5.4 rebounds, 6.4 points and was playing 17.5 minutes per game.
- Flip it to the last 15 games, and Cisse shot 61.5 percent from the field while averaging 7.5 rebounds with 8.1 points and was playing 22.4 minutes per game.
- Just looking at the last 10 games of the season, he recorded a double-double in three contests (West Virginia, Baylor and Oklahoma) and had multi-digit rebounds in six of them, including all of the final four.
- In that stretch of games down the stretch, the numbers immediately jump out from the West Virginia win on Feb. 12. Cisse posted 18 points with 10 rebounds, six of which came on the offensive side of the ball.
The 100 Games Played Club Gained Two More
- Oklahoma State’s Avery Anderson III and Kalib Boone both played in their 100th game in a Cowboy uniform against Kansas in the Big 12 opener for the Cowboys. In doing so, they became the first two players on the current roster to play 100 college basketball games. John-Michael Wright, who transferred in, played his 100th basketball game against West Virginia.
- Other notable members of the club include Darwyn Alexander, Joe Adkins, James Anderson, Markel Brown, Terry Collins, JamesOn Curry, Byron Eaton, Marcus Dove, Phil Forte, Isaac Likekele, Desmond Mason, Ivan McFarlin, Marshall Moses, Keiton Page and more.
- Anderson III’s first game came on Nov. 6, 2019, in an 80-75 win against Oral Roberts in Gallagher-Iba Arena. He played 13 minutes with five points, two steals and an assist.
- Kalib Boone’s first game was the same night. He played 10 minutes, bringing in four rebounds and recorded two blocks.
The Winning Formula This Year
- In its 14 wins this season, Oklahoma State has four players (Avery Anderson III, Bryce Thompson, Kalib Boone and John-Michael Wright) averaging at least 10 points per game.
- The Cowboys have shot 36.2 percent from behind the arc in their victories while allowing their opponents an average of just 60.1 points per game.
- For comparison, in the nine losses just one player, Kalib Boone, has averaged at least 10 points or more while OSU has shot 27.7 percent from three. Opponents have still averaged just 68.7 points per game in the Cowboy losses.
- Sharing the ball, alongside sharing the scoring, has been key as well. OSU has averaged 14.2 assists per game in wins while averaging 11.6 in losses.
The Upcoming Schedule
- Oklahoma State is in the midst of a key portion of its schedule that features six of its nine games at home. The stretch began with a win over in-state rival Oklahoma on January 18th and has included wins over Iowa State, Ole Miss, OU again and now TCU.
- The Cowboys hit the road January 24th for one game at Texas in a loss before they returned home to defeat Ole Miss last Saturday. Twenty-two years after the tragic 2001 plane crash, Oklahoma State continued its promise to Remember The 10 when the Cowboys faced Ole Miss in Gallagher-Iba Arena on Saturday. The Cowboys followed that by completing a season sweep of the Bedlam series by beating Oklahoma in Norman and defeating 15th-ranked TCU in Stillwater on Saturday.
- Ten members of the OSU basketball program were lost when its plane crashed following a road game at Colorado on Jan. 27, 2001. From that moment, the University vowed to always Remember The Ten. The men who perished in the crash were: Kendall Durfey, Bjorn Fahlstrom, Nate Fleming, Will Hancock, Daniel Lawson, Brian Luinstra, Denver Mills, Pat Noyes, Bill Teegins, Jared Weiberg. At 6:37 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 27, the OSU Library Carillon tolled 10 times in honor of each of those that were lost.
- Following its dominant win over Oklahoma last Wednesday, the Cowboys returned home to beat TCU on Saturday. They'll remain at home on Wednesday against Texas Tech and will look to win their fourth straight against the Red Raiders in Stillwater.
- A quick trip to Ames on Feb. 11 to face Iowa State will be followed with playing host to Kansas on Feb. 14 to round out the six home games in the upcoming nine contests.
An Oklahoma State Win Would...
- Improve the Cowboys to 49-24 in the Texas Tech series dating back to 1937.
- Improve the Cowboys to 27-5 against the Red Raiders at home.
- Give the Cowboys five wins in their last six games against Texas Tech.
- Give the Cowboys four straight wins at home against the Red Raiders.
- Extend the Cowboys win streak to four, a season best.
- Extend the Cowboys home win streak to five.
- Extend the Cowboys conference win streak to three for the first time since 2021.
- Give Oklahoma State six wins in its last seven games.
- Improve OSU to 15-9 on the year.
- Improve OSU to 6-5 in Big 12 play this year.
- Push Oklahoma State to 11-2 in home games this year.
Streaks and Trends
- OSU has made at least one three-pointer in 750 consecutive games dating back to Jan. 13, 2001.
- The Cowboys have posted 10 or more assists in 30 of their past 35 games dating back to last season.
- Dating back to last season, OSU has held 25 of its past 27 opponents under their season scoring average.
- Oklahoma State has reached double-digit second chance points in seven of 10 conference games this season, with a high of 16 against Kansas State and Baylor.
- As a team, the Cowboys have reached at least three blocks in all 23 games this season. OSU leads the Big 12 with 5.4 blocked shots per game, which ranks 13th in the country.
- OSU has held 18 of its 23 opponents to 35 percent shooting or less from the three-point line while 15 of 23 have shot less than 30 percent. The Cowboys rank 18th in the country in three-point defense, holding opponents to 29.4 percent.
- The Cowboys have made 10 or more free throws in 16 of 23 games this season after doing so in 18 of their 30 games last season.
- OSU has forced 10 or more turnovers in 14-straight Big 12 games.
- Oklahoma State has recorded at least five steals in 20 of its 23 games this season.
- Woody Newton has played the best basketball of his career since being inserted into the starting lineup, averaging 7.3 points per game in the stretch while making at least one three-pointer in seven-straight games and recording two or more rebounds in 14 consecutive contests.
- Kalib Boone has scored 13 or more points in eight of his last nine games and has scored 18 or more in four straight.
- Boone has posted 79 points while shooting 33-40 from the field in his last four games.
- OSU has recorded five or more blocks in five of its six road games this season.
- Bryce Thompson continues to shoot the three at a high clip in conference play, making 42.9 percent of his attempts while averaging 1.8 makes per game.
- The Cowboys have shot better than 40 percent from the field in six-straight games, their longest such streak of the season.
- Kalib Boone has scored in double figures in six-straight home games, shooting 69.6 percent from the field in those games.