Oklahoma State University Athletics
Big 12 Championship Game: OSU vs. Kansas
June 21, 1999 | Cowboy Basketball
March 7, 1999
Oklahoma State Cowboys
No. 5 Seed (22-9, 10-6 Big 12)
Cowboys reach championship game
OSU looks to become the third team in Division I history to win a conference
tournament by winning four games in four days when the Cowboys face Kansas
in the Big 12 Tournament championship game Sunday. Auburn (SEC, 1985) and
Marquette (Conference USA, 1997) are the only two teams to accomplish that
feat in NCAA D-I history. The Cowboys are making their first title-game
appearance since their Big Eight championship season of 1995.
OSU looks for third league tourney title
Oklahoma State won two tournament titles in the Big Eight Conference. The
first was a 1983 championship that culminated in one of the best games in
Big Eight Tournament history, a 93-92 double-overtime victory over Missouri.
However, OSU had to wait seven years for its next victory in a tournament
game and 12 years for its next title. The Bryant Reeves-led Cowboys of 1995
began their Final Four run by defeating Nebraska, Oklahoma and Iowa State
for their second league championship.
OSU-KU: the series
Kansas owns a 93-47 advantage in the all-time series between the schools and
has won the last seven meetings, including this year's thrilling one-point
overtime game in Lawrence on Feb. 22. The teams have met eight times in the
Big Eight and Big 12 Tournaments, with the Jayhawks winning six of the
games, including the last postseason meeting in the 1997 quarterfinals - KU
won 74-59. OSU and KU met in the 1992 championship game, with Kansas winning
66-57.
Semifinals have been good to Cowboys
OSU's victory over Texas was its fourth straight in conference tournament
semifinal games. The Cowboys had defeated Oklahoma 74-58 in 1995 on their
way to the league tourney title in their most recent semifinal appearance.
OSU defeated Kansas 69-68 in 1994 and Iowa State 69-60 in 1992; both of
those victories led to runner-up finishes in the tournament. (The Cowboys'
last semifinal loss was a double-overtime, 94-92 setback against Missouri in
1991.)
Alexander on fire in tournament play
Junior guard Glendon Alexander has been white-hot in the Cowboys' last four
games and especially in the team's three tournament victories. Alexander has
scored in double figures in four straight games and has averaged 19.3 points
in the three postseason games. He tied a career high with five
three-pointers against Baylor and broke it the next day with six threes
against Oklahoma. Alexander has hit 24 of 44 three-point attempts (54.5
percent) in the past six games and is 14-of-27 (.519) beyond the arc in
postseason play. His 14 three-pointers mark a new Big 12 Tournament record,
topping the record of 12 set by Colorado's Kenny Price earlier this weekend,
and would have tied the Big Eight Tournament record set by Iowa State's Hurl
Beecham in 1995.
Cowboys avoid hat tricks
OSU defeated both Oklahoma and Texas in the tournament after losing twice to
both teams in the regular season and has not lost three times in the same
year to any team since Kansas' 1988 national-championship team defeated OSU
twice in the regular season and in the league tourney quarterfinals. In
fact, the 1988 season marked the end of a four-year string that saw OSU
suffer a three-game sweep each year (1985 Oklahoma, 1986 Nebraska, 1987
Kansas, 1988 Kansas). The axiom that it's tough to beat a team three times
in the same season has not held true for past OSU teams; before this year's
victories, the Cowboys were 0-6 in league tournament games when facing a
team that swept the regular-season two-game series.
The bid watch
OSU is making a strong case for postseason consideration with its hot
string. The Cowboys have won six of their last seven games, with four
victories by double figures, four victories against top-division Big 12
teams and the lone loss in overtime by one point on the road to
championship-game foe Kansas.
Wrapping up the Texas victory
Here are a few other odds and ends after Oklahoma State's 59-57 semifinal
victory over Texas:
· OSU has hit 28 three-pointers in its three tournament games, a new Big 12 Tournament record. The old mark was 21, set by Missouri in 1997 in four games; the three-game record is 16 by Oklahoma in 1998. The 28 treys would also have tied the Big Eight record set by Oklahoma in 1988.
· The Cowboys snapped a three-game losing streak against Texas and defeated the Longhorns for just the second time in eight tries since the inception of the Big 12 Conference.
· In the past nine games, OSU is 6-0 when shooting at least 66.7 percent >from the foul line and 0-3 when hitting less than two-thirds of its charities.
· OSU defeated a top-ranked team in the conference tournament for the first time since the double-overtime victory over Missouri in 1983.
· Doug Gottlieb took over sole possession of the Big 12 Tournament record for assists in a single season (32) by recording his 14th double-digit assist game of the season. He has 99 assists and 18 turnovers - an 11.0 apg average and a 5.5 assists/turnovers ratio - in the past nine games.
· Only title-game foe Kansas (18-6) has a better Kemper Arena conference tournament record than OSU's 13-8 mark in the 1990s.
· In addition to his recent scoring prowess, Alexander tied a career high with eight rebounds against the Longhorns.
They were right all along
Sunday's game matches the league's third and fifth seeds - but it also
matches the preseason league favorites (OSU edged KU by two votes) in
preseason polls of the coaches and media.
