Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowboys Prepare for Oklahoma
June 21, 1999 | Cowboy Basketball
March 5, 1999
Oklahoma State Cowboys
No. 5 Seed (20-9, 10-6 Big 12)
Phillips 66 Big 12 Tournament Notes
Quarterfinal Supplement: OSU vs. Oklahoma
Rare Bedlam matchup on tap Friday
Oklahoma State faces Oklahoma on Friday in a Big 12 Conference quarterfinal. It's just the third time that the Bedlam Series rivals have met in a conference postseason tournament and only the second Kemper Arena meeting in postseason play. Oklahoma defeated OSU 116-91 in Norman in the 1985 Big Eight quarterfinals, and OSU won a 74-58 decision in the 1995 semifinals on its way to the tourney title.
Cowboys hope to avoid hat trick
Oklahoma swept this year's home-and-home series with OSU, marking the first time since 1990 that the Cowboys have gone winless against their in-state rivals in regular-season play. The Cowboys have not lost to OU three times in the same season since the Sooners' 1985 Big Eight Tournament victory followed a regular-season sweep.
OSU 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 again in the league tourney quarterfinals. In fact, the 1988 season marked the end of a four-year string that saw OSU lose in the conference tournament to complete 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; the Cowboys are 0-6 in league tournament games when facing a team that swept the regular-season two-game series.
Some numbers to watch
OSU will have to reverse a few important statistical trends from the teams' first two meetings in order to advance to the semifinals. The Cowboys have committed more turnovers than their opponents just four times this season and have lost all four contests. Two of those four games were the previous matchups with Oklahoma. In addition, the Cowboys were ice-cold from the field in the two regular-season Bedlam games; OSU's 28.3 field goal percentage in the 54-43 Stillwater loss was its lowest in the Eddie Sutton era, and OSU hit only 39.3 percent in Norman. Also, OSU will have to hope for more offensive production from its regular top scorers, Adrian Peterson and Desmond Mason, who combined for just nine points in the loss in Stillwater; although Peterson scored 22 points in the loss at Norman, Mason managed just four.
OSU looks to renew tourney success
In Eddie Sutton's first five years at Oklahoma State, from 1991 to '95, the Cowboys were one of the top teams in the Big Eight's postseason tournament, racking up an 8-4 record with two championship-game appearances and one tourney title. But in the three years after the 1995 championship, OSU failed to advance past the quarterfinals. The Cowboys' victory over Baylor on Thursday was just its second in postseason league tournament play in the past four years.
Hoping history holds...
In addition to The Chris Theisen Note - no eligible Big 12 team with 10 conference victories has missed the NCAA Tournament - and The Jeff Bollig Note - after the NCAA field was expanded to 64 teams, all Big Eight teams with 17 victories and a .500 league record made the tournament - the Cowboys now have a historical note of their own on their side. OSU's victory over Baylor was its 20th of the season, and every 20-game-winning Oklahoma State team since 1948, when OSU lost in the district tournament to Kansas State, has reached the national tourney.
Besides the more distant historical comparisons, OSU is making a strong case for postseason consideration with its very recent history as well. The Cowboys have won four of their last five games, with all four victories coming by double figures - including a 12-point victory at Nebraska and a 16-point triumph at home against Missouri - and the lone loss coming in overtime by one point on the road.
...Hoping history doesn't hold
OSU is 0-5 in Big Eight and Big 12 games when facing a No. 4 seed. However, the Cowboys were 0-3 as a fifth seed until Thursday's victory over Baylor.
Wrapping up the first-round "W"
Here are a few odds and ends after Oklahoma State's 83-57 first-round victory over Baylor:
- The Cowboys scored over 80 points for the third time in four games. Before the recent high-scoring string, OSU had topped 80 points just twice in the previous 15 contests.
- OSU hit a season-high 12 three-pointers, tying a Big 12 Tournament record, and the Cowboys tied a school record for three-pointers in a half with eight in the second period. That mark was originally set Feb. 7, 1994, against Oklahoma.
- Doug Gottlieb set a Big 12 Tournament record with 14 assists. Gottlieb, playing one of the most productive all-around games of his career (nine points, 14 assists, six rebounds (tying a career high) and four steals), took over the NCAA assists lead from Arkansas State's Chico Fletcher. Gottlieb now has 252 assists this season, just four shy of the school record held by Andre Owens; Fletcher has 247. Both have played 29 games.
- Glendon Alexander set a career high with 23 points against the Bears. He also tied a career high with five three-pointers. Alexander, who has averaged 15.3 points in the past four games, has hit 15 of 26 three-point attempts (57.7 percent) during that span.
- Adrian Peterson tied a career high with five three-pointers. Peterson has hit 28 of 54 three-point tries (51.9 percent) and averaged 21.3 points during the past eight games.
- OSU picked up its 20th victory, marking the team's seventh 20-win season in Eddie Sutton's nine years and its 23rd in school history.
