Oklahoma State University Athletics
Oklahoma State Hosts Corpus Christi Wednesday Night
January 07, 2003 | Cowboy Basketball
Jan. 7, 2003
Oklahoma State
Cowboys
(10-1 overall) host the
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders (6-7)
in Gallagher-Iba Arena
Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2003 *?7 p.m. (CST)
Gallagher-Iba Arena [13,611] * Stillwater, Okla.
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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. 13.3 8.0 F 33 Jason Miller 6-9 245 Jr. 3.5 3.5 G 5 Victor Williams 5-10 187 Sr. 11.6 3.5 ^ G 24 Tony Allen 6-4 205 Jr. 15.6 4.9 G 34 Melvin Sanders 6-5 210 Sr. 13.7 4.4
Off the Bench
Name Ht. Wt. Yr. PPG RPG C 4 Frans Steyn 7-2 306 So. 1.0 1.4 G 25 Janavor Weatherspoon 6-1 165 Jr. 4.3 1.5 G 30 Cheyne Gadson 6-3 190 Sr. 4.7 3.5 ^ F 40 Andre Williams 6-8 225 Sr. 4.7 5.7
TAMUCC Islanders
Probable Starters (based on last game)
Name Ht. Wt. Yr. PPG RPG F 24 Derrick Murphy 6-7 198 Jr. 9.8 6.8 F 33 Corey Lamkin 6-6 220 So. 8.9 7.0 C 50 Sean Cole 6-7 220 So. 4.8 4.2 G 3 Brian Evans 6-1 180 Jr. 15.8 3.7 ^ G 11 Travis Bailey 6-3 175 Jr. 14.6 3.3 ^^ denotes assists per game
Quickly
Oklahoma State will host the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders on Wednesday night in the Cowboys' final non-conference tuneup prior to Big 12 Conference action. OSU is 10-1 overall and coming off a 78-65 win over BYU Saturday night in the All-College Classic. TAMUCC is 6-7 overall this season after losing to Florida State, 72-56, Monday night in Tallahassee. The loss broke a three-game winning streak by the Islanders.
Last Time Out For OSU
Ivan McFarlin scored a career-high 27 points and Tony Allen scored 22 as the Cowboys defeated BYU, 78-65, Saturday night in the All-College Classic. McFarlin connected on 10-of-14 shots from the floor, and was perfect from the charity stripe on seven attempts. Allen shot 50 percent from the floor, including 2-of-4 from beyond the arc, and also had a personal-best six assists. OSU shot 51 percent from the floor and 74.2 percent from the charity stripe. Meanwhile, the OSU defense was again impressive, limiting the Cougars to 43.2 percent from the floor and forcing 19 BYU turnovers. Melvin Sanders added 14 points for OSU. The Cowboys extended their winning streak to eight, the longest current string in the Big 12.
Up Next: The Conference Opener
Oklahoma State will travel to College Station, Texas, for the Big 12 Conference opener against the Texas A&M Aggies on Sat., Jan. 11. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. and the game will be televised by Fox Sports Southwest. A&M is 8-3 this season and does not play again before Saturday's contest.
OSU vs. Non-Conference Opponents
Oklahoma State's Cowboys have enjoyed considerable success at home vs. non-conference opponents. However, OSU has also been successful overall vs. non-league foes. Since the 1997-98 season, Oklahoma State has a 62-8 (88.6 percent) record in regular-season non-Big 12 contests. That includes a 10-0 record in 1997-98, a 9-3 mark in 1998-99, an 11-1 record in 1999-2000, a 9-2 mark in 2000-01 and a 13-1 record last year.
Non-Conference Record in Gallagher-Iba
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi will be Oklahoma State's final non-conference home game of this season. OSU has won 106 of its last 107 non-conference games held in Gallagher-Iba Arena since Jan. 7, 1987. The only loss during that span was an 83-81 loss to Florida Atlantic on Dec. 1, 1998, when the Cowboys were ranked 11th in the nation. That loss broke a string of 79-consecutive home non-league wins for OSU. Dating back to 1981, Oklahoma State is 135-7 (.951) in those types of games. The Cowboys have not allowed more than 66 points in their last 23 home non-conference contests.
About Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi is 6-7 overall this season, and a 56-72 loss at Florida State in the Islanders' last game broke a three-game winning streak. TAMUCC is led by junior guard Brian Evans, who is averaging 15.8 points and 3.7 assists per game. Junior guard Travis Baily is scoring at 14.6 points per contest. The Islanders are averaging 77.8 points per contest as a team, but giving up over 80 points a game, incouding 100 to Hawai'i and 108 to Alabama-Birmingham. Corpus Christi is shooting 44.3 percent from the floor but just 31.5 percent from beyond the three-point arc. The Islanders are also getting outrebounded by an average of 1/2 a rebound per game. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi is coached by Ronnie Arrow, in his fourth season with the Islanders and 11th season at the Division I level. He has a school record of 45-49 and an overall record of 159-142.
Last Time Out for TAMUCC
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi made just 16-of-52 shots from the floor, and also had 23 turnovers, as the Islanders fell to Florida State, 72-56, Monday night in Tallahassee. The brother duo of Travis and Thomas Bailey combined for 23 points as both scored in double figures, but could not overcome a 24-point performance by the Seminoles' Tim Pickett. The Islanders shot just 30.8 percent from the floor, including just 7-of-25 (28 percent) from beyond the arc. TAMUCC did outrebound FSU, 45-43, but turned the ball over 23 times.
Series With Corpus Christi: OSU leads, 1-0
While officially Texas A&M-Corpus Christi began its program for the 1999-2000 season, Oklahoma State did play Corpus Christi once prviously. On Dec. 4, 1972, Oklahoma State handed Corpus Christi University a 96-83 loss in Stillwater. Kevin Fitzgerald scored a team-high 22 points while Andy Hopson added 20 points and 10 rebounds for the Cowboys. OSU shot 54 percent from the floor and connected on 22-of-25 shots from the free-throw line. OSU did have 30 turnovers compared to 24 for Corpus Christi, but outrebounded Corpus, 36-28.
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 11 games, OSU is allowing just 58.9 points per game (best in the Big 12) and has not given up more than 69 points in a contest. Over the last eight games, the Cowboys are only allowing 56.8 points per game. OSU is allowing its opponents to shoot just 36.2 percent from the floor, best in the conference. On the defensive glass, OSU is outrebounding its opponents by an average of 10.3 boards per game. OSU is also averaging 10 steals per game (third-best in Big 12 behind Texas Tech and Kansas) and 6.2 blocks per contest (second-best in league behind ISU's 6.9 bpg).
Allen Living up to Expectations
Junior transfer Tony Allen has been playing extremelly well for Oklahoma State this season, living up to the expectations placed upon him when he transferred to OSU from Wabash Valley Community College. Through 11 games this season, Allen has scored in double figures in 10 of them, including a season-high 23 points vs. the College of Charleston. Tony leads the team in scoring, averaging 15.6 points per game. He's shooting 52.6 percent from the floor, including 50 percent from three-point range, and 73.1 percent from the free-throw line. He is averaging 4.9 rebounds per contest, has 28 assists, 21 steals and eight blocked shots.
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 63.3 shooting percentage from the floor. He is averaging 13.3 points and eight rebounds per contest, including 40 on the offensive glass.
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 68 blocked shots as a team, an average of 6.2 per game and the second-most in the Big 12 Conference behind Iowa State, which is averaging 6.8 blocks per contest.
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 ... senior guard/forward Melvin Sanders and guard Tony Allen are the only two players to have double-digit scoring in 10-of-11 games this season ... senior forward Andre Williams has had at least one blocked shot in every game this season ... Williams is second in the Big 12 Conference in blocks, averaging 3.2 per game ... the Cowboys have shot better from the charity stripe away from Gallagher-Iba Arena (78.7 percent) than at home (56.6 percent) ... Oklahoma State has 41 dunks this season, led by Melvin Sanders' 11 ... OSU has taken eight charges in 11 games, with Melvin Sanders, Tony Allen, Andre Williams and Ivan McFarlin taking two each ... senior guard Victor Williams leads the Big 12 Conference in steals, averaging 2.55 per game ... Allen is fifth in the league in three-point shooting percentage, connecting on 50 percent of his shots from long range ... Oklahoma State has won 12-straight home games, dating back to last season ... OSU has the longest current winning streak in the league at eight.
Williams Ranks Among Elite Shot Blockers
Forward Andre Williams leads the team with 33 blocked shots so far this season, and is just seven away from moving past Leroy Combs and into fourth place on the all-time OSU career blocked shots list. Andre had five blocks in the season opener vs. Yale, and had three vs. Alaska-Anchorage. He added three more vs. the College of Charleston, and had two vs. Michigan State. His four vs. Hartford led a team total of 13. Most recently, he had three vs. Northwestern State, and one each vs. Fresno State and UMKC. He had a career high with eight blocks vs. Wichita State, and extended his streak of games with at least one blocked shot to 11 with one against BYU. Williams is currently averaging three blocks per game this season, and is second in the league behind Colorado's David Harrison (3.5 blocks per game).
Andre Grabs His 500th Rebound
With four rebounds vs. the College of Charleston in the Great Alaska Shootout, senior Andre Williams achieved a major milestone by reaching 500 career rebounds. He joined an elite group of just 18 Cowboys that have achieved that milestone. He currently has 544 caroms, and ranks 15th all-time in the OSU record books. He needs 19 boards to move past Lafayette Threatt and into 14th place.
Vic Reaches 800
With eight points vs. BYU on Saturday, senior Victor Williams moved past James King and into 31st place on the OSU all-time career scoring list. He had 22 points vs. Arkansas, a season high, and now has 892 points in his OSU career. Victor has 1,137 points in his career at the Division I level, including 245 his freshman season at Illinois State. Victor also leads the league in steals, averaging 2.5 per game.
Williams Ranks in Top 15
Victor Williams has 274 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 18 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 377 career assists, including a game-high nine vs. Texas A&M on Feb. 21, 2001, and a season-high 126 last season.
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 15 more starts to move past Bryant Reeves, who started 87 consecutive contests from 1993-95.
Sutton Nears 400th Game at OSU
Oklahoma State Coach Eddie Sutton has coached in 397 games in his 13 years at OSU, and is nearing the 400-game milestone. He will coach in his 400th game at OSU on Jan. 13, 2003, when the Cowboys host the Oklahoma Sooners 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 Approaches 1,000th Game in Career
Oklahoma State Coach Eddie Sutton has coached in 991 career Division I games, the fourth most by an active coach. He is just nine 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.
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