The Cowboys
· The 2021-22 Cowboys will attack the season with a 17-man roster, including five newcomers and four returning starters from last year's squad.
· Speaking of new - Oklahoma State welcomes three new assistant coaches (Terrence Rencher, Larry Blunt and David Cason) and a new strength coach (Mark Mitchell).
· The Cowboys return four starters from last season’s squad that returned OSU to the postseason and have added four key transfers with ambitions of pushing past the NCAA Round of 32. Setting its sights on a deep run in March, Oklahoma State returns 73 percent of its points from a year ago, 94 percent of its offensive rebounds and 74 percent of its assists.
· Oklahoma State is set to compete in 17 games against 2021 NCAA Tournament foes.
Facing Oklahoma - Here's The Scout
· Oklahoma State returns home after two-straight games away from Stillwater when it plays host to Oklahoma in the first game of the Phillips 66 Bedlam Basketball Series. The game will air on ESPN2 at 11 a.m. with Rich Hollenberg and Brooke Weisbrod on the call.
· The OSU family will observe the 21st anniversary of the tragic 2001 plane crash during the game against Oklahoma. 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 Memorial Lobby in the southeast corner of Gallagher-Iba Arena will be opened 60 minutes prior to tipoff of the game against the Sooners.
· At halftime of the game, organizers of the annual "Remember The 10 Run" will donate race proceeds to OSU Counseling Services.
· OU is under the direction of first-year head coach Porter Moser and is looking to snap a two-game losing streak.
The Baylor and Texas Wins - Trends And Points
· Oklahoma State earned its first ranked win, and conference victory, with a 64-51 win over No. 14 Texas inside Gallagher-Iba Arena. The Pokes led from start to finish as they held Texas to its lowest scoring outing of the season.
· Keylan Boone gave the Cowboys a spark off the bench by hitting three, three-pointers in the first half, which tied his career high in made three-point field goals. He later surpassed his career high in points and made three-point field goals when he hit two threes late in the second half to total five made threes and 17 points in the game.
· OSU earned its second ranked win, and Big 12 victory, with a 61-54 win over No. 1 Baylor in Waco. Bryce Thompson recorded a, at the time, career-best 19 points to help lead the Cowboys to their first road win over the No. 1 team in the country.
· In those two wins, it's been the Keylan Boone, Bryce Thompson and Bryce Williams show. Boone averaged 12.5 points between the two while shooting 70 percent from behind the arc while Thompson has averaged 13.0 points while shooting 43.5 from the field. Williams meanwhile has averaged 10.0 in the games while shooting a perfect 1.000 percent from the line.
· The Cowboys held the Bears and Longhorns to a combined 34.9 percent from the field while forcing 25 turnovers with eight blocks and 15 steals.
· Just as important, OSU has out-rebounded the duo 72-71 while recording 29 assists to their 21.
· The leading rebounders for the Cowboys in those two games? Two guards (Avery Anderson III and Isaac Likekele) and two posts (Tyreek Smith and Moussa Cisse).
The Last 5
· Avery Anderson III and Bryce Thompson have led the scoring effort over the past five games as Anderson has posted 13.4 points per game while Thompson has averaged 14.4.
· On the boards it has been Moussa Cisse leading the charge with 5.8 per game.
· Rondel Walker has been a problem on the defensive side of the ball for opposing teams as he's recorded 12 steals during the five games.
· During the stretch in which OSU has posted a 1-4 record, starts haven't been the issue. OSU has outscored its five foes 159-155 in the first half (+4). That's in contrast to the second half, where opposing teams have outscored the Cowboys 179-159 (+20) during the final 20 minutes of action.
· Watch out for Tyreek Smith on the court, as well. He's hustled his way off the bench to 11 boards and four blocks.
Through 21 - Where We're At And Where We're Going
· Oklahoma State moved to 10-11 after the Kansas State game on Wednesday in its return to Big 12 play after the Big 12 / SEC Challenge
· In those 10 wins, OSU has dominated on the defensive side. It has held its foes to 37.2 percent from the field while forcing 19.0 turnovers per game. Along with the turnovers, it has recorded 7.1 blocks per game in the victories, as well as 10.8 steals.
· For comparison, in the 10 losses teams are shooting 42.9 percent and turning the ball over 15.4 times per game while OSU has recorded 3.1 blocks per contest.
Defense First - Because It Wins Games
· Oklahoma State has allowed just nine of its 21 foes to score more than 70 points in a game and has delivered the 18th-best adjusted defensive efficiency, according to Kenpom.
· A big point of that has been turnovers. OSU has forced a turnover on 24.0 percent of defensive possessions, which comes in at 13th-best in the country. If teams haven't turned the ball over first, they're also getting blocked on 14.7 percent of their possessions, the 19th-most in the country.
· But don't expect things to get any easier without a turnover or blocked shot. OSU hasn't given up many easy looks inside the three-point line, leading to teams shooting 44.6 percent from inside the arc, the 18th-lowest percentage in the country according to Kenpom.
Tough Stretch - But We Wouldn't Have It Any Other Way
· According to Kenpom's rankings, OSU has faced the No. 55 (Wichita State), No. 30 (Xavier), No. 157 (Cleveland State), No. 5 (Houston), No. 4 (Kansas), No. 14 (Texas), No. 41 (West Virginia), No. 18 (Texas Tech), No. 2 (Baylor), No. 61 (TCU), No. 15 (Texas) and No. 32 (Iowa State) teams in the country in its past 13 games.
· OSU is set to play just one team outside Kenpom's top-50 over the next four games.
· Three weeks ago, Oklahoma State traveled 3,269 miles between Monday and Saturday night following the trip home from Waco. The Cowboys left Monday afternoon for Morgantown and did not return to campus until Saturday night around 9 p.m.
Single Game Records Taken Down And Top Performances So Far
· The Cowboys 43-point victory on opening night against UT-Arlington was the largest since the 51-point victory vs. Southeastern Louisiana on 12/29/19.
· The Cowboys were able to finish the first half with a 43-14 lead in that game. The 29-point lead matches the 12th largest halftime lead in school history and the largest since 2016.
· Oklahoma State logged 11 steals in the first half against Prairie View A&M on 11/14, which tied for the third most in a half in school history and was the most since 11/23/16 vs. Georgetown.
· Oklahoma State had six total players score in the double-digits against Charleston on 11/22, which marked the first time this season and the first time since Iowa State in January of 2020.
· The Cowboy centers made their impact known in that game on the defensive end as Moussa Cisse recorded a career high in blocks with six and Kalib Boone recorded five of his own. The team as whole totaled 16 blocks, which is the most in all of college basketball this year and tied the school record set in 1989 vs. Oklahoma.
· Bryce Williams recorded a career-high in points with his 29 and a career high in three-pointers made with five in the win over Cleveland State on 12/13. Avery Anderson III also posted 29. This marked the first time OSU had two 20-point scorers since Anderson and Cade Cunningham did it against Baylor in the Big 12 tournament last season on March 12, 2021.
· Keylan Boone posted a career best in three-point baskets made and points scored in a game in the 64-51 victory over No. 14 Texas on Jan. 8, 2022.
· Bryce Thompson recorded a, at the time, career-best 19 points in the win over No. 1 Baylor on 1/15 in Waco. The win was OSU's first over the No. 1 team in the country on the road in program history. The Cowboys were 0-4 on the road against the top-ranked team prior to that win.
· OSU recorded eight blocks as a team against TCU on 1/19 - the most for the Cowboys in a Big 12 game this season.
The New Sheriffs In Town
· 2021 American Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year and former five-star big man Moussa Cisse certainly stands out in this year’s group of newcomers. Listed at 7-0 and a springy 225 pounds, Cisse started every game for Memphis as a freshman in 2020-21 and helped lead the Tigers to the NIT Title.
· Joining Cisse is 2020 McDonald’s All-American and former Kansas standout Bryce Thompson. A unanimous five-star talent, he finished his time at Tulsa’s Booker T. Washington High School as the nation’s No. 19 recruit according to Rivals. He comes to Stillwater as the seventh-highest rated Cowboy signee in the recruiting rankings era (since 2003).
· Former Texas Tech Red Raider and four-star recruit Tyreek Smith will be complementing the duo. The 2021 Academic All-Big 12 Conference selection was the 2018 TAAPS 5A Player of the Year for Trinity Christian High School in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex, where he averaged 17.9 points, 12.3 rebounds and 3.0 blocks per game as a senior.
· Rounding out the highly-anticipated class is Woody Newton. A former Rivals four-star recruit out of District Heights, Maryland, Newton is coming off a freshman campaign at Syracuse in which he posted a 46.4 shooting percentage, 38.9 percent clip from 3-point and averages of 3.5 points.
Clutch Cowboys
· Oklahoma State was a perfect 4-0 in overtime games last year, started 2-1 this year after the loss to Iowa State on Wednesday night in Gallagher-Iba Arena and has won nine of its last 11 OT games dating back to 2016.
· Last year's mark tied for the most overtime games in a season in program history, and the perfect 4-0 record in extra sessions equaled the marks set by the 2006-07, 1982-83 and 1964-65 squads.
· Mike Boynton and the Cowboys are 8-2 in OT games during his career.
An Oklahoma State Win Would...
· Be its fourth-straight victory in a series that dates back to 1908.
· Give OSU's its longest winning streak over the Sooners since it won five-consecutive games between 1664-1965.
· Improve the Cowboys to 66-46 in Stillwater in the series.
· Be the longest winning streak for either team in the series since 2016.
Streaks and Trends
· OSU has forced at least 10 turnovers 150 times under Mike Boynton.
· OSU has made at least one three-pointer in 718 consecutive games dating back to Jan. 13, 2001, which is the 24th longest current streak in college basketball.
· Isaac Likekele has recorded a rebound in 114-straight games dating back to his freshman year and has recorded an assist in 55-consecutive games, as well.
