Big Monday Spotlight Awaits Cowboys In Allen Fieldhouse

Monday, February 15

Lawrence, KS

8 p.m.

Oklahoma State University

Kansas

February 14, 2016 | Cowboy Basketball

Game Center
Opponent: No. 6/6 Kansas (21-4, 9-3 Big 12)
Date/Tipoff: Feb. 15, 2016 / 12 p.m. Central
Tickets: kutickets.com
TV: ESPN (Brent Musburger & Fran Fraschilla)
Radio: Cowboy Radio Network (Dave Hunziker & John Holcomb)
Satellite Radio: Sirius 84 & XM 84 (KU Broadcast)
Internet Radio: http://okla.st/osutunein
Live Stats: kuathletics.com
Oklahoma State Game Notes

The Basics
• Oklahoma State (12-13, 3-9 Big 12) is the only team to have beaten Kansas (21-4, 9-3 Big 12) in each of the last four seasons, and enters Monday's matchup in Allen Fieldhouse having won the last two meetings with the Jayhawks. Cowboy head coach Travis Ford is the only current Big 12 coach to beat a Bill Self coached Jayhawk team in Lawrence.

On the Air
• The Cowboys are 19-23 all-time in Big Monday games, including a 3-6 mark against the Jayhawks in ESPN's premier matchup. Brent Musburger and Fran Fraschilla will have the call. As always, the game can be heard on the Cowboy Radio Network with Dave Hunziker and John Holcomb. Sirius channel 84 and XM channel 84 will carry the Jayhawk Radio Network call.

Oklahoma State Snapshot
• Travis Ford has jokingly said he is coaching his third or fourth different Cowboy team this season, but there's a lot of truth to that. After losing four starters from last year's team, Ford and the staff spent the offseason molding the squad around senior captain Phil Forte. OSU lost Forte to a left elbow injury in the third game of the season, and OSU spent the next month redefining itself. Point guard Jawun Evans emerged as one of the nation's top freshmen, but an injury to his right shoulder on Feb. 3 had Ford once again going to the drawing board. With five days off to recalibrate after the loss at TCU, the Cowboys were able to take down K-State with defense and a stat-stuffing game from senior Jeff Newberry (10 points, 10 rebounds, five assists, three steals and two blocks).
• The Cowboys field a solid defensive unit that leads the Big 12 in field goal percentage defense at 39.8 percent and ranks second in scoring defense at 65.9 points per game allowed. OSU has held three of its last four opponents under 40 percent shooting, and each of its last four opponents to 23 points or less in the first half. The Cowboys have held their Big 12 opponents to 68.5 points and 42.0 percent shooting, which ranks third and fourth in the conference, respectively.
• Leyton Hammonds' game has evolved tremendously since his arrival in Stillwater in 2013. Primarily a spot shooter in his first two seasons, the junior has molded himself into a stretch forward with the ability to drive or pull up with a formidable 12-foot jumper. Hammonds has reached double figures 12 times this year, including each of the last six games.
• The Cowboys have put themselves in position to win nearly every Big 12 game this season. Five of OSU's nine league losses have been by five points or less, and last Monday's loss at TCU was a two-possession ballgame inside the last two minutes. OSU was tied with both No. 13 Iowa State and No. 17 Baylor inside the final two minutes, and fell to Texas Tech on the last shot of overtime. The potential game-winning 3-pointer rimmed out for the Cowboys against No. 2 Oklahoma, while a furious second half rally whittled Texas' lead to just three points with 14 seconds on the clock.
• Oklahoma State has been without captain and leading scorer Phil Forte (left elbow) for the last 22 games, and has played without one of the nation's top freshmen, Jawun Evans (right shoulder), for the last three.
• Forte had played 102 straight games for OSU, and is just 55 three-pointers shy of the program's career record of 299. He was the unquestioned leader of the team throughout the offseason, and his 1,307 career points rank 22nd in program history. At the time of his injury, he ranked third in the Big 12 in career scoring and third in the country in career 3-pointers.
• Evans was having one of the best all-around seasons ever by an OSU point guard, and ranked third among all freshmen nationwide with 4.9 assists per game. A three-time winner of the Big 12 Newcomer of the Week award, Evans is one of just five players in school history to average at least 4.9 assists and 10.0 points per game, and he is the only one of those players to also pull down more than 4.0 rebounds per game. His 42-point outing against No. 2 Oklahoma is the third highest scoring performance in school history.
• Head coach Travis Ford ranks third in school history in both total wins (155) and win percentage (59.8 percent). Ford ranks behind only Eddie Sutton and Mr. Henry Iba in both categories, and recently picked up his 21st win over a ranked opponent with the victory over No. 3 KU on Jan. 19.

Kansas Snapshot
• The Jayhawks are riding a five game win streak that includes Saturday's 76-72 win over No. 3/3 Oklahoma. Devonte Graham racked up a game-high 27 points on 6-of-9 shooting from 3-point, and the Jayhawks held the Sooners to 33.3 percent shooting for the game.
• The Jayhawks, who have won 11 straight Big 12 titles, are currently riding a 37-game home win streak that dates back to a Jan. 5, 2014 loss to San Diego State.
• KU is one of the nation's best scoring teams. The Jayhakws average 82.7 points per game, which ranks 17th in the NCAA. Perry Ellis has scored 19 or more points in five of his last seven games, and leads Kansas with 16.6 points per game.

Inside the Kansas Series
• Travis Ford is the only current Big 12 coach to win in Allen Fieldhouse during Bill Self's tenure at Kansas. The Cowboys ended KU's 33-game home court winning streak with an 85-80 victory on Feb. 2, 2013. Markel Brown led the way for OSU with 28 points, and Marcus Smart had 25.
• Ford also won at Allen Fieldhouse as a player in his freshman year at Missouri in a rare matchup of the No. 1 Jayhawks vs. No. 2 Tigers in Roy Williams' first season at KU. Ford hit some late free throws to help take down the Jayhawks, 77-71, on Feb. 13, 1990.
• OSU is the only team to beat Kansas in each of the last four seasons. Only OSU and Iowa State have beaten the Jayhawks five times since 2008-09.
• Former Cowboy Bill Self is facing his alma mater for the 26th time as a head coach, including four meetings in his time at Oral Roberts and 21 at Kansas. Self's record against OSU is 14-11 (13-8 with KU, 1-3 with ORU), but he is 3-8 inside Gallagher-Iba Arena (3-6 with KU, 0-2 with ORU).
• Self was a four-year letterman at OSU under Paul Hansen from 1981-85, and his 319 career assists still rank 14th in school history. Only two OSU point guards had more 10-assist games than Self, who piled up six. His junior season of 1983-84 saw him rack up 126 assists with a 2.42 assist/turnover ratio, which is still the seventh-best ratio by a Cowboy. After graduating in 1985, Self would spend seven season as an assistant coach at OSU under Leonard Hamilton and Eddie Sutton (1986-93).
• Oklahoma State has taken five of the last seven from Kansas in Gallagher-Iba Arena, including the last three meetings. Overall, OSU is 34-32 inside GIA against the Jayhawks.
• How even has the series been recently? The last eight head-to-head meetings overall between the two teams have been decided by a grand total of 16 points, with OSU holding a 582-566 edge.
• Kansas leads the all-time series 110-57, including a 59-11 edge in Lawrence.

An Oklahoma State Win Would ...
• Make Travis Ford the only coach to win twice in Allen Fieldhouse during Bill Self's tenure at KU.
• Make OSU the first team to sweep a regular-season series against KU since Iowa State in 2000-01. A victory would mean OSU is the only team to beat Kansas six times since 2008-09.
• Snap Kansas' 37-game home win streak that dates back to a Jan. 5, 2014 loss to San Diego State.
• Give the Cowboys just their second road victory of the year, and their first in Big 12 play.

Streaks & Trends
• The Cowboys have held each of their last four opponents to 23 points or less in the first half.
• Jeff Newberry is the only OSU player to start every game this year. The senior has started 27 straight dating back to last season.
• OSU has blocked at least one shot in every game this season. The Cowboys rank fourth in the Big 12 with 4.4 blocks per game.
• Oklahoma State is 63-3 in its last 66 games when holding its opponent under 60 points.
• OSU has made at least one three-pointer in 508 consecutive games dating back to Jan. 13, 2001.
• The Cowboys are 88-6 at home against unranked teams in the Travis Ford era.