Facing TCU- Here's The Scout
- Oklahoma State men’s basketball is set to play host to No. 15 TCU on Saturday afternoon in what will be the first meeting between the conference foes this season. Tip is set for 1 p.m. on ESPN+ with James Westling 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.
- TCU enters the contest ranked 15th nationally and with a 17-5 record, including a 6-3 mark in Big 12 play. The Horned Frogs have won three of their last four games and three straight against Big 12 opponents. Prior to wins over Oklahoma and West Virginia, TCU began its three-game conference win streak with a historic road victory over Kansas in Allen Fieldhouse, routing the Jayhawks 83-60. The win marked TCU's highest-ranked road win in program history and snapped a 16-game home win streak for Kansas.
- Oklahoma State leads the all-time series 28-12. The Cowboys are only 11-10, however, since TCU joined the Big 12 in 2013, and the Horned Frogs have won three of the last four and eight of the last 11. Oklahoma State has been dominant at home in the series, winning 12 of 15 meetings in Stillwater including a stretch of 10 straight.
- TCU managed to get a win over West Virginia in its last outing despite being without its leading scorer in Mike Miles Jr, who left the Horned Frogs' loss against Mississippi State last Saturday less than four minutes in due to injury. Miles Jr. ranks third in the Big 12 in scoring, averaging 18.1 points per game while shooting over 53 percent from the field. TCU was boosted by the return of big man Eddie Lampkin Jr. against West Virginia, who missed the previous two games due to injury. Lampkin Jr. has started 16 of 19 games this season and averages 7.4 points and 6.5 rebounds per game.
- A big part of the Horned Frogs' success this season has been playing with pace, as they lead all of Division I in fastbreak points at 20.9 per game. TCU is also excellent at taking care of the basketball, while also forcing its opponents into turnovers. The Horned Frogs rank first in the Big 12 in turnovers per game, only giving it away 11.7 times per contest, while they force the second-most turnovers per game in the conference at 16.5.
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 five games, marking the first five starts of his career, and has averaged 27.5 minutes with 8.2 points, 5.6 rebounds and 46.7 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 two teams, Baylor and Texas, have scored more than 69 points on the Cowboys in nine 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 11 home games of the season.
- A big part of those numbers? The Cowboys have held a 66-24 blocked shots advantage at home, with Cisse leading the way at 22. Boone has recorded 17, himself.
- For his efforts against Iowa State and Oklahoma earlier this 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.
- Kalib Boone has shined since the beginning of the new year. In nine games in 2023, Boone is averaging 15.4 points, 4.8 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per game while shooting 70.9 percent from the field.
A Bedlam Sweep - The Aftermath
- Oklahoma State completed the season sweep of in-state rival Oklahoma with a 71-61 win in Norman on Wednesday night. The win capped a Cowboy sweep for the second time in the past three years and third time since 2017.
- It was a year of dominance in the Bedlam series for Oklahoma State, winning by double-figures multiple times in a single season for the first time since 2010. The Cowboys have now won six of the last seven meetings between the teams and got wins in two of their last three trips to Norman.
- The win marked number 100 for Mike Boynton during his Oklahoma State tenure. Boynton becomes the fifth coach in program history to reach the century mark and is eight wins from surpassing Paul Hansen for the fourth-most wins in program history.
- Oklahoma State big man Moussa Cisse posted a career-high 18 points in 18 minutes off the bench, his most minutes played since returning from injury. Tulsa-native Kalib Boone continued to torment the Sooners, combining for 33 points, 11 rebounds and six blocks in the two Bedlam wins this season.
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 (19 away) and 300 assists (10 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 13 wins this season, Oklahoma State has three players (Avery Anderson III, Bryce Thompson and Kalib Boone) averaging at least 10 points per game.
- The Cowboys have shot 35.8 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 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.
- Turnovers have been another winning indicator as the Cowboys have averaged 13.5 in wins while forcing an average of 13.5 in contrast to an average of 15.4 in losses while opponents are averaging 13.2.
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 and Ole Miss at home before another win over the Sooners in Norman on Wednesday.
- 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.
- 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 on Wednesday, the Cowboys are returning home to face TCU on Saturday and Texas Tech on Wednesday. The Cowboys will look to extend their win streak to three with a win over the Horned Frogs, a feat they've only been able to accomplish one other time this season.
- 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 29-12 in the TCU dating back to 1918.
- Improve the Cowboys to 12-10 in the series since TCU joined the Big 12 in the 2012-13 season.
- Improve the Cowboys to 13-3 against the Horned Frogs at home.
- Improve the Cowboys to 2-6 against ranked opponents this season.
- Extend the Cowboys home win streak to four.
- Give OSU back-to-back ranked wins at home for the first time since 2021.
- Give OSU a three-game win streak, its longest since beating DePaul, Tulsa and Prairie View A&M in late November.
- Give Oklahoma State five wins in its last six games.
- Improve OSU to 14-9 on the year.
- Push Oklahoma State to 10-2 in home games this year.
Streaks and Trends
- OSU has made at least one three-pointer in 749 consecutive games dating back to Jan. 13, 2001.
- The Cowboys have posted 10 or more assists in 29 of their past 34 games dating back to last season.
- Dating back to last season, OSU has held 24 of its past 26 opponents under their season scoring average.
- Oklahoma State has reached double-digit second chance points in seven of nine 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 22 games this season. OSU leads the Big 12 with 5.5 blocked shots per game, which ranks 13th in the country.
- OSU has held 19 of its 23 opponents to 35 percent shooting or less from the three-point line while 14 of 23 have shot less than 30 percent. The Cowboys rank 26th in the country in three-point defense, holding opponents to 29.8 percent.
- The Cowboys have made 10 or more free throws in 15 of 22 games this season after doing so in 18 of their 30 games last season.
- OSU has forced 10 or more turnovers in 13-straight Big 12 games.
- Oklahoma State has recorded at least five steals in 19 of its 22 games this season.
- Woody Newton has played the best basketball of his career since being inserted into the starting lineup, averaging 8.2 points per game in the stretch while making at least one three-pointer in six-straight games and recording two or more rebounds in 13 consecutive contests.
- Kalib Boone has scored 10 or more points in eight of his past nine games and has scored 13 or more in seven of his last eight.
- Tyreek Smith has recorded at least one block in ten-straight games and collected at least two in four of those ten.
- Boone has posted 54 points while shooting 22-25 from the field in his last three 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 46.2 percent of his attempts while averaging two makes per game.
- The Cowboys have shot over 40 percent from the field in five straight games, their longest such streak of the season.