Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowboys Travel To Waco To Face Bears
January 20, 2003 | Cowboy Basketball
Jan. 20, 2003
Oklahoma State Cowboys
(14-1, 3-0 Big 12) faces the Baylor Bears (9-5, 0-3)
in a Big 12 South Showdown in Waco
Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2003 *?7 p.m. (CST)
Ferrell Center [10,284] * Waco, Texas
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Oklahoma State Cowboys
Probable Starters (based on last game)
Name Ht. Wt. Yr. PPG RPG F 23 Ivan McFarlin 6-8 237 Jr. 12.3 7.9 F 40 Andre Williams 6-8 225 Sr. 4.7 5.3 G 5 Victor Williams 5-10 187 Sr. 13.5 3.5 ^ G 24 Tony Allen 6-4 205 Jr. 15.9 5.1 G 34 Melvin Sanders 6-5 210 Sr. 13.1 4.2
Off the Bench
Name Ht. Wt. Yr. PPG RPG C 4 Frans Steyn 7-2 306 So. 0.6 1.1 G 25 Janavor Weatherspoon 6-1 165 Jr. 4.3 1.4 G 30 Cheyne Gadson 6-3 190 Sr. 5.9 3.4 ^ F 33 Jason Miller 6-9 245 Jr. 3.0 3.5
Baylor Bears
Probable Starters (based on last game)
Name Ht. Wt. Yr. PPG RPG F 24 Terrance Thomas 6-6 245 Jr. 7.8 5.4 F 44 Lawrence Roberts 6-9 230 So. 14.7 8.9 C 34 R.T. Guinn 6-10 240 Jr. 8.7 4.6 G 3 Kenny Taylor 6-3 185 So. 13.7 2.3 G 15 John Lucas 5-11 155 So. 14.4 4.6 ^^ denotes assists per game
Quickly
Oklahoma State travels to Waco, Texas, this midweek for a game with the Baylor Bears on Tuesday, Jan. 21, at 7 p.m. inside the Ferrell Center. OSU is 14-1 overall and 3-0 in Big 12 Conference action after a 76-56 win over Missouri Saturday afternoon. Baylor is 9-5 overall, 0-3 in league play after an 80-64 loss Saturday to Texas Tech in Lubbock.
On Television
Tuesday night's contest will be televised live back to Oklahoma as part of the Cowboy Sports Network package. John Holcomb, sports director at KOTV-6 in Tulsa, will handle the play-by-play duties, while Doug Gottlieb, former Cowboy and current sportstalk host on The Sports Animal in Oklahoma City, will provide color analysis.
Last Time Out For OSU
Oklahoma State led by as many as 35 points and went on to a 76-56 victory over a depleted No. 11 ranked Missouri squad. Victor Williams scored a game-high 24 points on 9-of-14 shooting, and combined with Melvin Sanders to go 8-of-14 from beyond the three-point line. The Cowboys limited Missouri to just 10-of-29 shooting in the first half, and connected on 53.1 percent of their own shots to take a 43-21 lead into the lockerroom. OSU's stout defense also forced MU into 15 turnovers and just 5-of-16 shooting from the three-point arc. Cheyne Gadson added 12 points off the bench, while Ivan McFarlin had 10 points for the Cowboys. Tony Allen, who was held to a season-low seven points, did have seven assists.
About Baylor
The Bears are 9-5 overall, but 0-3 in Big 12 Conference action heading into Tuesday night's contest. BU is led by a pair of sophomores, Lawrence Roberts and John Lucas, who are averaging 14.7 and 14.4 points per game, respectively. Roberts also leads the squad with 8.9 boards per game, while Lucas is dishing out an average of 4.6 assists per contest. The Bears had a rough start to league play, losing at Missouri before falling to Texas at home, and then losing at Texas Tech on Saturday, 80-64. Dave Bliss is 56-48 in his fourth season as head coach for Baylor.
Last Time Out for Baylor
Lawrence Roberts recorded a double-double with 20 points and 10 rebounds, but the Bears fell to Texas Tech, 80-64, Saturday morning in Lubbock. Kenny Taylor added 17 points on 5-of-9 shooting from beyond the arc, while John Lucas chipped in 11. However, Baylor turned the ball over 23 times and got off 21 fewer shots than the Red Raiders. Tech was able to connect on 34-of-65 shots vs. the Bear defense, or 52.3 percent. Baylor got just 10 points off its bench.
Series With Baylor: Cowboys lead, 38-11
Oklahoma State leads the all-time series with Baylor, 38-11, including a 12-9 mark in Waco. The Cowboys are 12-2 vs. the Bears since the Big 12 formed in 1996-97, including a current 10-game winning streak. OSU won, 77-64, in the last meeting, and picked up a 68-57 victory over BU the last time in the Ferrell Center. The Cowboys have won the last four in Waco, and in Baylor's last win over OSU in the Ferrell Center, the Bears outlasted the Cowboys, 97-95, in overtime on Jan. 17, 1998. Check page 4-56 of the 2002-03 Oklahoma State Men's Basketball Media Guide for a complete rundown of the series.
Up Next: the Red Raiders
Oklahoma State will go on the road for its second-consecutive game this weekend as the Cowboys travel to Lubbock, Texas, to face the Texas Tech Red Raiders (11-2 overall, 1-1 Big 12). Game time on Sunday is set for 1 p.m., and the game will be televised by ESPN Regional. Tech is ranked 25th in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches' Poll as of Monday morning, as would rank 30th in an extended Associated Press Poll.
Vic Williams Comes Up Big
Victor Williams was the Cowboys' leading scorer a year ago, and the senior guard has come up big for the Cowboys this season, but none bigger than the Bedlam game last Monday night. With the score tied and the shot clock winding down, Williams drove towards the basket and pulled up for what turned out to be the game-winning jumper. Vic followed up his performance against OU with a season-high 24 points vs. Missouri. Williams has been solid this season, averaging 13.5 points and 3.5 assists per game. He is second on the team, shooting 77.1 percent from the line. Vic has a 1.51 assists-to-turnovers ratio, and has 34 steals, second the league. He also likes the friendly confines of Gallagher-Iba Arena, leading the team in scoring in home games at 15.9 points per contest, and shooting 51.6 percent from the floor, including 46.2 percent from three-point range.
Allen Living up to Expectations
Junior transfer Tony Allen is doing it all for Oklahoma State. The 6-4 guard leads the team in scoring, averaging 15.9 points per game this season, and is an all-around player for the Cowboys. He has reached 20 points in three of the last five games, including a career-high 29 vs. Texas A&M. Over the last eight games, Allen has connected on 50-of-91 shots from the floor, or 54.9 percent, and averaged 17 points in those eight. He has made at least one three pointer in 11 of OSU's 15 games, and is shooting 51.3 percent (20-of-39) from beyond the arc. Tony is third in the league in three-point shooting by percentage. He had a career-high nine rebounds vs. Texas A&M in College Station, and had career bests in assists (7) and steals (5) vs. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. The Chicago native is averaging 5.1 rebounds, three assists and 1.9 steals per contest. Defensively, Tony is joining Melvin Sanders as one of the top stoppers on the squad. He limited A&M freshman phenom Antoine Wright to just 15 points on 14 shot attempts, and held OU's Ebi Ere to six points, 12 below his average, on 2-of-10 shooting. Tony was the Big 12 Rookie of the Week for the period ending Jan. 12.
Sanders the Stopper
Senior guard/forward Melvin Sanders is one of the top defensive players in the league and perhaps the country. He is typically assigned to the opposing team's top offensive player, regardless of height. That was evident last week, when in two games, Melvin stopped two of the top-six scorers in the Big 12 dead in their tracks. He held OU's Hollis Price, a 6-0 guard, to just six points, a dozen below his average, on 2-of-14 shooting. One game later, he limited Missouri's Rickey Paulding, who is averaging 17.3 points per game, to a season-low 10. Coach Sutton has stated that Sanders is one of the top-two defenders he's had, joining Corey Williams in that elite duo.
McFarlin a Warrior
Ivan McFarlin is the prototypical Coach Sutton player, a "warrior". I-Mac is the toughest player on the team, and certainly one of the hardest workers in the league. He scored a career-high 24 points vs. UMKC and, three games later, broke that with a 27-point performance. In the UMKC game, McFarlin also had 14 rebounds, recording the eighth double-double of his career. Ivan is second in the conference with a 62.3 shooting percentage from the floor. He is averaging 12.3 points and 7.9 rebounds per contest, including 52 on the offensive glass.
Stifling Defense
Eddie Sutton has always preached solid defense, and while OSU's offense has struggled at times this season, the defense has been outstanding. Through 15 games, OSU is allowing just 58.9 points per game (second-best in the Big 12) and has not given up more than 69 points but once this season. OSU is allowing its opponents to shoot just 37.2 percent from the floor, best in the conference. On the defensive glass, OSU is outrebounding its opponents by an average of 10.5 boards per game. OSU is also averaging 9.53 steals per game (third-best in Big 12 behind Texas Tech and Kansas) and 5.6 blocks per contest (third-best in league behind Iowa State and Colorado).
What a Bunch of Thieves
Oklahoma State has 143 steals this season, led by Victor Williams' 34. Tony Allen has 29, while Melvin Sanders has 27. Those three Cowboys rank second, sixth and seventh, respectively, in the Big 12 in steals per game. As a team, OSU is third in the league, averaging 9.53 thefts per contest. Texas Tech leads the Big 12 at 10.69 thefts per game, while Kansas is second, averaging 10.62 steals per contest.
Cowboys Host Block Parties
On two occasions this season, Oklahoma State has blocked 13 shots in a single game, the third-best mark in school history. OSU had 13 deflections vs. Hartford, and did the same at Wichita State. In three games at the Great Alaska Shootout, OSU had 18 blocked shots. This season, OSU has 84 blocked shots as a team, an average of 5.6 per game and the third-most in the Big 12 Conference behind Iowa State and Colorado.
Williams Ranks Among Elite Shot Blockers
With four blocked shots vs. Oklahoma, senior forward Andre Williams surpassed Leroy Combs and moved into fourth place on the school career blocked shots list. He leads the team with 42 deflections so far this season, and next on the list is Bryant Reeves, who had 194 blocked shots in his OSU career. Andre had a career-high eight deflections vs. Wichita State, and has had at least four blocks in four games this season. The only game this year in which he failed to block a shot was vs. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. He is currently averaging 2.8 blocks per game this season, and is second in the league behind Colorado's David Harrison (3.12 blocks per game).
Vic Moving up the Scoring Chart
With 24 points vs. Missouri, senior Victor Williams now has 966 points in his OSU career. In that game, he surpassed Don Johnson, Ed Odom and Eli Johnson on the OSU career scoring list, and now sits in 27th place on that list. Vic needs just two points to move past Maurice Baker, who ended his career last season with 967, and five to surpass Larry Hawk and move into the top-25 all-time. Victor has 1,211 points in his career at the Division I level, including 245 his freshman season at Illinois State.
Williams Ranks in Top 15
Victor Williams has 289 assists in his two-plus year career at Oklahoma State. That ranks him 13th among all-time OSU career assist leaders. With five assists vs. Yale in the season opener, Williams surpassed Randy Rutherford, who had 239 dishes from 1993-95. Vic is three assists away from moving past current OSU Associate Head Coach Sean Sutton, who had 291 assists in his two-year career with Oklahoma State. Vic has 392 career assists, including a game-high nine vs. Texas A&M on Feb. 21, 2001, and a season-high 126 last season. He had a season-high eight dishes vs. Texas A&M.
Sanders Has String of Starts
Cowboy senior Melvin Sanders has started every game of his Cowboy career, and has moved into fifth-place on the consecutive starts list. Sanders needs 10 more starts to tie Bryant Reeves, who started 87 consecutive contests from 1993-95, and 11 starts to tie Darwyn Alexander. Thirteen starts would move Melvin into second-place on the consecutive-starts list.
Sutton Coaches in 400th Game at OSU
Oklahoma State Coach Eddie Sutton coached in his 400th game at OSU when the Cowboys defeated the Oklahoma Sooners, 48-46, in Gallagher-Iba Arena. He's already coached in more games for OSU than the 10 previous coaches combined, and ranks second only to Mr. Iba, who coached in 971 career games at OSU over a span of 36 years. Sutton is 286-115 in his 13 years at Oklahoma State.
Sutton Approaches 1,000th Game in Career
Oklahoma State Coach Eddie Sutton has coached in 995 career Division I games, the fourth most by an active coach. He is just five games away from his 1,000th game, and will coach that game on Feb. 5, 2003, against the Kansas State Wildcats in Gallagher-Iba Arena. There are 16 coaches in NCAA history that have achieved that mark, including Sutton's mentor, Henry Iba, who coached in 1,105 games.
Miscellaneous Notes
OSU had seven players score in double figures vs. Alaska-Anchorage, the first time for that to happen in the Eddie Sutton era at OSU ... the Cowboys have shot better from the charity stripe away from Gallagher-Iba Arena (78.8 percent) than at home (57.7 percent) ... Oklahoma State has 48 dunks this season, led by Melvin Sanders' 12 ... OSU has taken 10 charges in 15 games, with Ivan McFarlin and Andre Williams each leading the pack with three ... Oklahoma State has won 15-straight home games, dating back to last season, the 13th-longest streak in the nation ... OSU's current winning streak of 12 games is the longest in the country.
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