Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowboys Host Wildcats In Gallagher-Iba Arena
April 16, 2003 | Cowboy Basketball
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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. 11.7 7.5 F 40 Andre Williams 6-8 225 Sr. 4.4 5.7 G 5 Victor Williams 5-10 187 Sr. 14.8 3.4 ^ G 24 Tony Allen 6-4 205 Jr. 16.2 5.2 G 34 Melvin Sanders 6-5 210 Sr. 12.8 4.3
Off the Bench
Name Ht. Wt. Yr. PPG RPG C 4 Frans Steyn 7-2 306 So. 0.6 1.0 G 25 Janavor Weatherspoon 6-1 165 Jr. 3.4 1.2 G 30 Cheyne Gadson 6-3 190 Sr. 5.9 3.3 ^ F 33 Jason Miller 6-9 245 Jr. 2.9 3.5
Kansas State Wildcats Probable Starters (based on last game)
Name Ht. Wt. Yr. PPG RPG F 32 Gilson DeJesus 6-5 215 Sr. 12.5 5.6 F 44 Pervis Pasco 6-9 218 Sr. 11.4 8.3 C 34 Matt Siebrandt 6-8 240 Sr. 10.2 5.2 G 11 Tim Ellis 6-3 180 Jr. 10.8 3.1 G 22 Frank Richards 6-2 180 Jr. 9.9 5.5 ^ ^ denotes assists per game
Quickly Oklahoma State returns home to host the Kansas State Wildcats on Wednesday, Feb. 5, at 7 p.m. inside Gallagher-Iba Arena. The Cowboys are coming off a 78-65 loss at the hands of the Texas Longhorns on Saturday afternoon in Austin. KSU is coming off a disappointing 91-89 overtime loss to Oklahoma in Manhattan on Saturday.
Rankings Oklahoma State is ranked ninth in the latest Associated Press poll, and 11th in the most recent USA Today/ESPN Coaches poll. The Cowboys are ranked sixth in the Ratings Percentage Index according to Collegiate Basketball News. The Wildcats are not ranked in either major poll, and are ranked 98th in the RPI.
On Television Wednesday's game with Kansas State will be televised on a split feed by both Cowboy Sports Properties in Oklahoma and by Metro Sports of Kansas City. John Holcomb, sports director at KOTV Channel 6 in Tulsa, will handle the play-by-play duties while Bryndon Manzer, former Cowboy basketball player, will provide color analysis. For the KSU network, Ben Boyle will supply the play-by-play while Paul Splittorff will coincide with expert analysis. In Oklahoma, the game will be televised on KSBI-TV 52 in Oklahoma City, Cox Cable 7 in Stillwater and KWBT-TV 19 in Tulsa. Other listings are available on page 7 of this release.
Last Time Out For OSU Victor Williams scored a game-high 22 points, but OSU allowed its opponent to shoot above 50 percent for the first time this season and the Cowboys fell to No. 3 Texas, 78-65, in Austin on Saturday. Tony Allen added 15 points and Ivan McFarlin chipped in 11, but Allen and defensive stopper Melvin Sanders both picked up their fourth fouls early in the second period and were handcuffed on the defensive end of the court. Texas got 17 points each from both T.J. Ford and Royal Ivey, while James Thomas had 13 points and 16 rebounds. OSU shot just 41.1 percent from the floor and was outrebounded, 41-28. The Cowboys did shoot 77.8 percent from the free throw line, connecting on 14-of-18 attempts.
About Kansas State The Wildcats are 11-8 overall this season and 2-4 in Big 12 Conference games. KSU won eight-straight games, including its conference season opener against Texas Tech, before falling in four of its last five. K-State is led by senior forward Gilson DeJesus, who is averaging 12.5 points per contest. He has connected on 60-of-120 shots from beyond the three-point arc. Senior Pervis Pasco is averaging 11.4 points and 8.3 rebounds per contest. Both Tim Ellis and Matt Siebrandt are also averaging in double figures, chipping in 10.8 and 10.2 points per game, respectively. As a team, KSU is shooting 48.1 percent from the floor, including 39.8 percent from beyond the arc, and averaging nearly 73 points per game. Despite going 2-4 in their six conference games, the Wildcats have a +1.7 points per game average in league contests, having defeated both Texas Tech and Nebraska by 24 points.
Last Time Out for KSU Kansas State had four players score in double figures, including a team-high 23 points by Matt Siebrandt and 18 off the bench for Jarrett Hart, but the Wildcats fell to Oklahoma, 91-89, in overtime. K-State shot 50.8 percent from the floor, but OU shot 54.4 percent, including 8-of-16 from three-point range. The Sooners also outrebounded the Wildcats, 34-28. The game was marred by 53 fouls and 66 trips to the free throw line. The lead changed hands 20 times, and the score was tied 15 times in the contest.
Series with the `Cats: KSU leads, 68-40 While the overall series between OSU and Kansas State appears to be one-sided, a closer look reveals that over the last 12 seasons, OSU has dominated. K-State leads the overall series, 68-40, and in Stillwater, the series is tied at 24 games each. However, since the Big Eight tournament in 1990, the Cowboys are 17-5 against the `Cats. OSU is 5-1 vs. KSU since the Big 12 was formed in 1996-97. A complete look at the series can be found on page 4-58 of the 2002-03 Oklahoma State Men's Basketball Media Guide.
Sutton ties Haskins on Coaching List Last week's victory over Iowa State had more significance than just extending the Cowboys home win streak. It also tied Coach Sutton with Don Haskins for 13th place on the all-time career victories list. Haskins, who had 719 wins all at Texas-El Paso, played his collegiate basketball at Oklahoma A&M under legendary coach Mr. Iba. The Miners coach for 38 years had a 719-353 career record. Coach Sutton, in his 33rd season overall, is 719-280. Include that with Mr. Iba's 767 career wins, and that's three coaches with OSU ties that have a combined 2,205 career victories.
Sutton to Coach in 1,000th Career Game Oklahoma State Coach Eddie Sutton will become the 17th coach in Division I history to coach in his 1,000th career game Wednesday night as the Cowboys host the Kansas State Wildcats. There are 16 coaches in NCAA history that have achieved that mark, including Sutton's mentor, Henry Iba, who coached in 1,105 games. Coach Sutton will surpass Gene Bartow (1,000 games coached) for 15th place on the all-time games coached list when the Cowboys play Sunday at Cincinnati. By season's end, Coach Sutton will surpass legendary Kansas coach Phog Allen, who coached in 1,010 career games.
OSU's Homecourt Streak at 16 While Oklahoma State's consecutive games win streak is over, the Cowboys still own an impressive string of wins. OSU has won 16-consecutive games in the friendly confines of Gallagher-Iba Arena, and have a chance to extend that string to 17 Wednesday night against Kansas State. The homecourt win streak ranks eighth nationally. Here is a look at the current top-10 home winning streaks:
Team Streak Next Game (Date) 1. Oklahoma 33 Baylor (Feb. 8) 2. Western Kentucky 30 Kentucky State (Feb. 3) 3. Marquette 26 St. Louis (Feb. 5) 4. Hawaii 24 San Jose State (Feb. 15) 5. Duke 23 North Carolina (Feb. 5) 6. Southern Illinois 22 Northern Iowa (Feb. 13) 7. Louisiana-Lafayette 17 South Alabama (Feb. 6) 8. Oklahoma State 16 Kansas State (Feb. 5) 9. Florida 15 Alabama (Feb. 8) 10. Butler 13 Illinois-Chicago (Feb. 8) Illinois 13 Ohio State (Feb. 9)
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 19 games, OSU is allowing a league-best 60.6 points per game, and has allowed an opponent to score in the 70s just three times this season. OSU is allowing its opponents to shoot just 38.3 percent from the floor, best in the conference. On the defensive glass, OSU is outrebounding its opponents by an average of 9.7 boards per game. OSU is also averaging 9.63 steals per game (second in the Big 12 behind Kansas' 10.40) and 5.32 blocks per contest (third in the league behind ISU's 6.5 and Colorado's 5.53).
Coming up Big on Offense While Oklahoma State is well-known for its unbreakable defense, the Cowboy offense has been coming into its own lately. For the season, OSU is the only team to have four players ranked in the Big 12's top 30 scorers. Tony Allen ranks 13th at 16.2 points per game, while Victor Williams is 16th at 14.8 points per contest. Melvin Sanders is 25th at 12.8 ppg, and Ivan McFarlin is 28th, averaging 11.7 points per contest. Four other schools have three players ranked in the top 30 individually. In Big 12 Conference games, Oklahoma State is the only team with three players ranked in the top 15 for field-goal percentage (four others have two individuals), and OSU is the only school with three individuals ranked in the top 15 in three-point field-goal percentage. Check out these rankings since league play began:
Statistical Category Big 12 rank Behind Three-Point Field Goal Percentage first -- Field Goal Percentage second Texas Scoring Margin third Texas, Kansas Scoring Defense third OU, Kansas Steals third Kansas, Baylor Scoring Offense fourth KU, UT, KSU Turnover Margin fourth TTU, KU, UT
The Streak is Over When Texas defeated Oklahoma State Saturday afternoon, it marked the end of a 15-game winning streak for the Cowboys. That number ties for the fifth-longest winning streak in school history. The longest was a 25-game string during the 1939-40 season. OSU opened the 1991-92 season with a 20-game win streak for the second-longest in school history. A 17-game streak ended on Feb. 10, 1954 for the third-longest in the OSU recordbook. From Dec. 4, 1950, until Jan. 12, 1951, the Oklahoma A&M Aggies won 16-consecutive contests for the fourth-longest streak. The 2002-03 streak tied a pair of winning streaks during the national championship season of 1945-46. That year, Mr. Iba's Aggies were 1-1 heading into the third game of the season before rattling off 15-straight wins. A loss early in February broke the streak, but a new one was started one game later. That streak went on for another 15 games, and ended with a NCAA title.
Vic Williams Making the Plays 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 vs. Oklahoma. 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. For his effort that week, he was named the Big 12 Conference's Player of the Week. Williams has been solid this season, averaging 14.8 points and 3.4 assists per game. He's second on the team in free-throw shooting, connecting on 75 percent of his shots. Vic has 45 steals and 35 rebounds. He also likes the friendly confines of Gallagher-Iba Arena, leading the team in scoring in home games at 16.1 points per contest, and shooting 52.9 percent from the floor, including 46.3 percent from three-point range. Victor is averaging 19.3 points per game over the last eight contests.
Vic Hits Magical 1,000 Point Mark With 24 points vs. Texas Tech, senior Victor Williams became the 24th player in school history to record 1,000 points in a career. He surpassed Brooks Thompson, who had 996 points in his two-year career. Against Texas, Vic scored 22 points, moving his career total to 1,046 and past Royce Jeffries for 22nd on the all-time list. Victor needs 67 points to move past Richard Dumas for 21st place. Vic has 1,273 points in his career at the Division I level, including 245 as a freshman at Illinois State.
Williams Reaches 400 Assists in Career With three assists vs. Texas, Victor Williams has 300 dishes in his three-year career at Oklahoma State. That ranks him 12th on the OSU career assists list. Next on the list is No. 11 Bill Self, who had 317 assists for OSU from 1982-85. Vic has 403 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. Victor currently has 64 assists this season, an average of 3.4 per game.
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 16.1 points per game this season, and is an all-around player for the Cowboys. He had a career-high 29 points vs. Texas A&M. Over the last eight games, Allen is averaging 18.3 points. He has made at least one three pointer in 14 of OSU's 19 games, and is shooting 47.9 percent (23-of-48) from beyond the arc. 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 5.2 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 2.2 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.
Honors Again for Allen Last week, Tony Allen stepped it up another notch for the Cowboys, performing admirably in two conference road wins. In the game against Baylor, he scored eight of the teams' final 14 points in regulation. With the Cowboys down by one, he then stole the ball and converted a three-point play with 39.6 seconds remaining. A Victor Williams free throw put OSU ahead by three, and Allen forced Terrance Thomas into an errant shot at the buzzer. After Texas Tech narrowed the game to 65-64 with 3:09 remaining, Tony scored six-straight points and eight of OSU's final 14 for the 79-70 victory. For his efforts, Allen was named the Big 12 Conference's Rookie of the Week for the second time in three weeks, and was also named the ESPN.com Player of the Week.
Tony Steps up his Game in League Road Games So far in conference play, Tony Allen has stepped up his game, especially on the road. In three home Big 12 games, Tony is averaging just 11 points per game, marred mostly by a seven-point performance against Missouri. However, in league road games, he is averaging 20.5 points per game, and shooting 53.4 percent from the floor. He's also averaging seven rebounds per road contest, as well as three steals and just over two assists.
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 two weeks ago, when in two games, Melvin stopped two of the top-12 scorers in the Big 12 dead in their tracks. He held Oklahoma'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 was averaging 17.3 points per game, to a season-low 10. Against Baylor, Kenny Taylor scored just seven points, six below his season average, on 2-of-8 shooting. ISU's Jake Sullivan was just 1-of-10 from the floor, finishing with six points and none in the final 35 minutes of the game. Most recently, Brandon Mouton of Texas scored just seven points, 5-1/2 below his average, on 3-of-12 shooting from the floor. Sanders was the primary defensive player on all of them.
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 against BYU. In the UMKC game, McFarlin also had 14 rebounds, recording the eighth double-double of his career. Ivan leads the conference with a 61.5 shooting percentage from the floor. He is averaging just 11.7 points and 7.5 rebounds per contest, including 61 boards 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 100 blocked shots as a team, an average of 5.56 per game and the second-most in the Big 12 Conference behind Iowa State and tied with Colorado.
Williams Elite Shot Blocker Senior forward Andre Williams has 177 career blocks, and is in fourth place on the school career blocked shots list. He leads the team with 49 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 games this year in which he failed to block a shot was vs. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and at Texas. He is currently averaging 2.6 blocks per game this season, and is second in the league behind Colorado's David Harrison (2.7 bpg).
A Trio of Thieves Oklahoma State has 183 steals this season, led by Victor Williams' 45. Tony Allen has 41, while Melvin Sanders has 32. Those three Cowboys rank second, fourth and 10th, respectively, in the Big 12 in steals per game. Kansas and Baylor are the only other school in the league that have two individuals in the Top Eight. As a team, OSU is second in the league, averaging 9.63 thefts per contest.
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 six more starts to tie Bryant Reeves, who started 87 consecutive contests from 1993-95, and seven starts to tie Darwyn Alexander. Ten starts would move Melvin into second-place on the consecutive-starts list.
Miscellaneous Notes The Cowboys' 6-0 record in league play was the best start since 1964-65, when Oklahoma State also started 6-0, and tied for the ninth best conference start in school history ... 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 (76.5 percent) than at home (57.4 percent) ... Oklahoma State has 56 dunks this season, led by Melvin Sanders' 17 ... OSU has taken 12 charges in 19 games, led by Ivan McFarlin's five ... Oklahoma State has won 16-straight home games, dating back to last season, the eighth-longest streak in the nation.
RPI Rankings Oklahoma State ranks sixth in the Ratings Percentage Index, according to Collegiate Basketball News, has beaten three top-20 teams and is 8-2 vs. the top 100. However, with 10 games remaining on the regular-season schedule, the Cowboys may have their toughest road ahead of them. According to the RPI posted on Feb. 4, OSU has five of its 10 games remaining vs. teams in the top 40, and three of those five are as the visiting team. Oklahoma State has five games vs. teams ranked between No. 50 and 137, and three of those five are in the friendly confines of Gallagher-Iba Arena.
Up Next: the Cincinnati Bearcats Oklahoma State will take a break from conference action this weekend as the Cowboys travel to Cincinnati, Ohio, to take on the Bearcats of Cincinnati. The game, scheduled for 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 9, will be televised by ABC.
