Oklahoma State University Athletics
Postgame Notes: Oklahoma State 71 vs Oklahoma 60
March 07, 2018 | Cowboy Basketball
The Oklahoma State win…
· Was the Cowboys' sixth Quadrant 1 victory of the season and their fourth Quadrant 1 win away from home. None of the teams listed in the last four in, first four out or next four out of Joe Lunardi's Bracketology have more Quadrant 1 wins than Oklahoma State.
· Was the Cowboys' ninth victory over a team in the KenPom top 50 this season.
· Was the Cowboys' fourth win in their last five games overall, with the lone defeat a one-point road loss at Texas. It was also OSU's fourth win in their last six games played away from home.
· Was the Cowboys' fourth in their last five meetings with Oklahoma.
· Extended the Cowboys' lead to 10-3 over the Sooners in the 2017-18 Bedlam Series presented by BlueCross BlueShield of Oklahoma. The Bedlam Series is an all-sports competition between the two schools, which are separated by only 80 miles along Interstate 35. The series champion is decided by wins and losses in head to head competition. In sports where there is no head to head matchup, the Big 12 Championship final standings are used. Oklahoma State has won the overall Bedlam series each of the last four years.
· Improved the Cowboys to 4-1 all-time against Oklahoma at the Big 12 Tournament. OSU eliminated the Sooners in the 1999 quarterfinals, the 2009 quarterfinals, the 2010 opening round and now the 2018 opening round.
· Improved the Cowboys to 12-1 all-time in the opening round of the Big 12 Championship.
· Improved the Cowboys to 24-19 all-time at the Big 12 Championship, including the 2004 and 2005 titles. OSU's all-time winning percentage of 55.8 at the Big 12 Championship ranks second in the league. Only Kansas and Texas have won more total games at the Big 12 Championship than Oklahoma State.
· Snapped the Cowboys' four-game losing streak at the Big 12 Tournament that dated back to 2014.
· Set up a second-round matchup with Big 12 regular-season champion Kansas that will be played at 1:30 p.m. CT Thursday on ESPN2. The Cowboys swept the regular-season series with the Jayhawks to become the first team to inflict a conference sweep on KU since 2001.
Team Notes
· Oklahoma State closed the first half on an 11-2 run that swelled a 28-23 Cowboy lead with 4:20 remaining into a 39-28 halftime advantage. By allowing only 28 first-half points, the OSU defense limited OU to its second-lowest point total in a half all season.
· Oklahoma State expanded its lead to 16 points during the second half, but a 14-2 Oklahoma run brought the Sooners to within four points at 52-48 with 9:41 left. OSU absorbed the Sooner run and then closed the Sooners out down the stretch.
· The Cowboys dominated the Sooners on the glass, with Oklahoma State owning a 53-27 rebounding advantage. OSU collected 18 offensive rebounds and held OU to just five. That led to the Cowboys holding a 19-2 advantage over the Sooners in second-chance points.
· The clearest challenge that Oklahoma State faced entering Wednesday's game was defending an Oklahoma offense that led the Big 12 and ranked fourth nationally by averaging 86.0 points per game. The Cowboys suffocated the Sooners and held OU to its lowest point total of the season. Additionally, Sooner freshman Trae Young entered the contest as the NCAA leader with 27.5 points per game and 8.9 assists per game. He was held to 22 points (on 21 field goal attempts) and five assists.
· Including Wednesday's game, the Cowboys are now 16-2 when they make nine or more 3-pointers in a game, and 3-11 when they hit eight or less. The Cowboys entered the Big 12 Championship ranked ninth in the league with a 3-point percentage of 34.7 percent, but have made 60 of 146 (41.1 percent) over the last six games.
· Oklahoma State converted on 11 of 26 from three-point range to extend its streak of consecutive games with a made three-pointer to 580, dating back to January 13, 2001.
· When considering what outsiders thought about Oklahoma State entering the season, it is clear that the Cowboys are ahead of schedule under first-year head coach Mike Boynton. The Cowboys were picked to finish last in the Big 12 Preseason Coaches poll, but ended the regular season in a four-way tie for sixth place at 8-10 in league play. According to KenPom, OSU was projected to win two Big 12 Conference games this season. The Cowboys won eight.
Player Notes
· Jeffrey Carroll and Cameron McGriff were both standouts for Oklahoma State, with Carroll going for 13 points and matching a career high with 13 rebounds and McGriff adding 18 points and nine boards. For Carroll, it was his fourth double-double this season and the ninth of his career.
· Jeffrey Carroll is one of just 14 players in school history - and one of just eight Cowboys listed 6-6 or shorter - to rank in the top 25 in school history in both career scoring and rebounding. The senior now ranks 21st in school history with 1,336 career points, which is third among all active Big 12 players behind only Jevon Carter (1,633) and Devonte Graham (1,589). He also ranks 22nd in rebounding in OSU history with 552 boards.
· Kendall Smith has scored in double-figures in 10 of the last 13 games, including six 20-point performances. Over this span, Smith has averaged 16.5 points per game on 24 of 51 shooting from beyond the arc (.471 pct.). In Big 12 play, Smith shot a scorching 47.3 percent from 3-point, which ranked second in the conference. He also averaged 14.2 points, which ranked 13th in the league.
Oklahoma State's NCAA Tournament Résumé
· Entering Wednesday's game, OSU was tied for the national lead with 15 Quadrant 1 games played, and their five Q1 victories were tied for 17th most nationally.
· OSU is one of just eight teams to take down multiple ranked opponents in true road games.
· OSU has faced the nation's 24th toughest schedule according to KenPom, and has seven wins over current top-50 squads and nine wins over teams ranked 110 or better.
· The NCAA RPI rates OSU's conference schedule as the fourth toughest nationally.
· Every loss on OSU's schedule is to a team currently among the projected NCAA Tournament field according to ESPN's Joe Lunardi. Conversely, the Cowboys have six wins over projected tournament teams.
· The "worst" loss on OSU's schedule is to RPI No. 62 Kansas State.
· OSU has faced eight Quadrant 4 opponents, but there is a bit of bad luck involved in that figure. The Cowboys faced Pittsburgh in the Legends Classic in Brooklyn and couldn't have estimated the Panthers would have an RPI of 210. Pitt's five-year RPI average entering the 2017-18 season was 58.4. Oral Roberts (180.4), Charlotte (180.8) and Pepperdine (181.1) also showed much higher five-year RPI averages than their current ranking.
· The Cowboys finished the regular season with eight Big 12 wins. Since the conference expanded to the double-round robin format, four of the five teams to finish 8-10 in Big 12 play earned an at-large big to the NCAA Tournament.
