News Releases

Facing Oklahoma - Here's The Scout

• Oklahoma State men’s basketball is set to return home for a pair of Big 12 home games starting Wednesday in Stillwater when it plays host to in-state rival, Oklahoma, for the first time this season. Tip is set for 8 p.m. CT on ESPNU with Ted Emrich and King McClure on the call while Cowboy fans can listen to Dave Hunziker and John Holcomb on the Cowboy Radio Network or Varsity App.
• Oklahoma leads the all-time series, 141-103. The Cowboys have won six of the past 10 meetings and four of the past five in a series that dates all the way back to 1908. That same October, the Chicago Cubs won the World Series and would not win another for 108 years. OSU holds a 67-46 advantage in Stillwater and has won five of the past six in GIA.
• The Sooners come into the game averaging 69.2 points per game with a +5.7-scoring margin. Grant Sherfield has led the way thus far, averaging 17.6 points per game, 2.9 rebounds, 3.5 assists and is shooting 44.4 percent from the field. Tanner Groves has once again found success in the post, averaging 10.5 points per game with 7.1 rebounds with 1.8 assists.
• Oklahoma has won two of its past three games coming into Bedlam with victories on the road at Texas Tech and at home against West Virginia this past Saturday. In between the wins, the Sooners lost a tight 79-75 contest at Kansas.
• OU head coach Porter Moser is in his second season in Norman. He was named Oklahoma’s 15th head coach on April 3, 2021. Over his last four seasons at Loyola University Chicago, Moser claimed three regular-season Missouri Valley Conference titles, won six NCAA Tournament games, secured two Sweet 16 berths and reached the 2018 Final Four. During that stretch, Moser totaled a record of 99-36 (.733).

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

• Moussa Cisse has dominated through 17 games with five double-doubles to his name so far. The five double-doubles are the second most in the Big 12, only behind Jalen Wilson of Kansas with eight. Cisse is four double-doubles away from becoming the first Cowboy since Bryant “Big Country” Reeves to post 10 or more in a season.
• Kalib Boone, Tyreek Smith, Woody Newton and Bernard Kouma have teamed up to help fill the Cisse gap, as he has missed the past three games due to injury. During the stretch, Smith has made three-straight starts while averaging 25.1 minutes with 4.7 rebounds, 2.3 blocks and 2.0 points.
• Boone has amped up the scoring, as he’s averaged 15.7 points with 5.3 rebounds in 27.1 minutes of work. For Newton, he’s averaged 17.5 minutes with 4.7 points and 5.0 rebounds.
• After the Wichita State result, 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 one team, Baylor, has scored more than 69 points on the Cowboys in five Big 12 games thus far while no Big 12 team has scored more than 60 in Stillwater.
• Only two teams (UT Arlington and Southern Illinois) have scored more than 60 points in GIA this season through the first eight home games of the season.
• In those eight home games, OSU has held teams to an average of 57.6 points per game and just 35.3 percent shooting from the field.
• A big part of those numbers? The Cowboys have held a 48-12 blocked shots advantage at home, with Cisse leading the way at 20. Boone has recorded 11, himself.
• Fast starts have been the key at home for the Cowboys as they have outscored their visiting foes by 60 in the first half of action in GIA.
• Avery Anderson III is just six points away from becoming the 45th member of Oklahoma State's 1,000 career points club. He will join teammates John-Michael Wright and Caleb Asberry as the third Oklahoma State player on the roster to reach the mark.

Playing Without Moussa

• The Cowboys have missed Moussa Cisse over the past three games as he’s sat out due to injury. During the stretch, teams are averaging 65.0 points per game and have scored 62 points combined in the paint.
• On the offensive side of the ball, OSU has averaged 53.7 points.
• The good news is players such as Tyreek Smith and Kalib Boone have stepped up. Boone has posted 47 points in the stretch, including a career-high 23 points against Kansas State. He also notably recorded his first double-double of the season with 16 points and 10 rebounds against Texas.
• For Smith, he’s made three-straight starts and averaged 25.1 minutes per game with 4.7 rebounds.
• Bernard Kouma has quietly played well, as well, with 2.7 minutes per game. Head coach Mike Boynton has repeatedly referred to Kouma as one of the best screeners he’s coached.

Moussa Is A Monster

• If you only counted his blocks at home (20), Moussa Cisse would still have the sixth-most blocks in the Big 12 as of Jan. 16. He has recorded at least one block in each of his past 24 games played. There have been just three games in his Oklahoma State career in which he did not record at least one block. In his home game against Sam Houston earlier this season, he recorded four blocks. It marked the fourth time this season he recorded four or more blocks and was the eighth time he posted two or more in a game this year.
• Through his first seven home games this season, Cisse is averaging a block approximately every 9 minutes of his playing time in Gallagher-Iba Arena.
• As of this Monday, he checked in at No. 5 in KenPom's block percentage rankings only behind Milwaukee's Ahmad Rand, Western Kentucky's Jamarion Sharp, San Jose St. Ibrahimo Diallo and Liam Robbins of Vanderbilt.
• In his last five home games, Cisse has combined to post 49 points, 13 blocks and 49 rebounds.
• It's been tough to keep him off the boards this year, as he has posted 10 or more rebounds in five of his past eight games and has reached the mark in nine of his first 14 games.

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 nine wins this season, Oklahoma State has three players (Avery Anderson III, Bryce Thompson and John-Michael Wright) averaging at least 11 points per game.
• The Cowboys have shot 35.5 percent from behind the arc in their victories while allowing their opponents an average of just 59.2 points per game.
• For comparison, in the eight losses just one player, Kalib Boone, has averaged at least 10 points or more while OSU has shot 27.3 percent from three. Opponents have still averaged just 66.1 points per game in the Cowboy losses.
• Sharing the ball, alongside sharing the scoring, has been key as well. OSU has averaged 15.1 assists per game in wins while averaging 11.0 in losses.
• Turnovers have been another winning indicator as the Cowboys have averaged 14.3 in wins while forcing an average of 14.4 in contrast to an average of 15.4 in losses while opponents are averaging 12.6.

The Upcoming Schedule

• Oklahoma State is approaching a key portion of its schedule that features six of its next nine games at home. The stretch starts on Wednesday when it plays host to in-state rival Oklahoma before facing Iowa State in GIA on Saturday.
• The Cowboys hit the road for one game next Tuesday at Texas before returning home to face Ole Miss on Jan. 28. Twenty-two years after the tragic 2001 plane crash, the Oklahoma State family will honor and continue its promise to Remember The 10 when the Cowboys face Ole Miss.
• 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 will once again toll 10 times in honor of each of those that have been lost.
• Following its emotional game against Ole Miss, OSU will hit the road to face Oklahoma on Feb. 1 before returning home to face TCU and Texas Tech.
• 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 104-141 in the series, which dates back to 1908.
• Improve the Cowboys to 55-79 in the series when the two in-state schools are facing each other as conference foes.
• Earn the Cowboys a split result or better for the fourth-straight year against Oklahoma.
• Push the Cowboys to 68-46 at home against the Sooners.
• Be OSU's fifth win in the past six meetings between the two schools.
• Be Oklahoma State's fourth-straight win in Stillwater over Oklahoma.
• Be the third-straight season OSU has won the opening meeting between the two schools.
• Improve OSU to 10-8 on the year.
• Push Oklahoma State to 7-2 at home this year.
• Snap a three-game losing streak for the Cowboys on the season.
• Make OSU 8-2 against in-state foes since the start of the 2019-20 season.

Streaks and Trends

• OSU has made at least one three-pointer in 744 consecutive games dating back to Jan. 13, 2001.
• The Cowboys have posted ten or more assists in 24 of their past 29 games dating back to last season.
• Dating back to last season, OSU has held 20 of its past 21 opponents under their season scoring average.
• Oklahoma State has used its size to dominate in the paint offensively, outscoring 12 of its 17 opponents in the paint.
• As a team, the Cowboys have reached at least three blocks in all 17 games this season. OSU leads the Big 12 with 5.6 blocked shots per game, which ranks 17th in the country.
• The Cowboys have made 10 or more free throws in 11 of the first 17 games this season after doing so in 18 of their 30 games last season.
• OSU has forced 10 or more turnovers in nine-straight Big 12 games.
• Tyreek Smith has started three-straight games, his second-longest stretch as a Cowboy.
• Smith has recorded at least one block in five-straight games and in seven of his past eight.
• He has also played 20 or more minutes in four-straight games after doing so just once this season prior to the streak (21 against Sam Houston State).
• Dating back to last season, OSU has won seven of its past nine games in Gallagher-Iba Arena.
• OSU has recorded six or more blocks in three-straight games.
• Oklahoma State has recorded five or more three-point baskets in four-straight games.
• Kalib Boone has scored 10 or more points in three of his past four games.
• He's also made 11 of his past 13 free throws.
• Freshman Quion Williams is starting to find himself offensively as he's scored in four of his past five games.
• Caleb Asberry has started to heat up on the offensive side of the ball. He's scored 29 points combined in his past two games and has made two or more three-pointers off the bench in three-straight games.
• Asberry has also shown a strong ability to rebound as of late as he's brought in five or more rebounds in three-straight games.
• Avery Anderson III has recorded an assist in six-straight games and has had three in two consecutive contests.
• He's scored 10 or more points in two of his past four games.