Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowboys Face Sooners In Bedlam II
April 17, 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. 10.9 7.2 F 40 Andre Williams 6-8 225 Sr. 4.2 5.7 G 5 Victor Williams 5-10 187 Sr. 15.4 3.5 ^ G 24 Tony Allen 6-4 205 Jr. 15.3 5.2 G 34 Melvin Sanders 6-5 210 Sr. 13.6 4.8
Off the Bench
Name Ht. Wt. Yr. PPG RPG C 4 Frans Steyn 7-2 306 So. 0.5 1.0 G 25 Janavor Weatherspoon 6-1 165 Jr. 3.0 1.0 G 30 Cheyne Gadson 6-3 190 Sr. 5.7 3.1 ^ F 33 Jason Miller 6-9 245 Jr. 2.9 3.4
Oklahoma Sooners Probable Starters
Name Ht. Wt. Yr. PPG RPG F 34 Kevin Bookout 6-8 260 Fr. 9.7 5.7 C 21 Jabahri Brown 6-10 210 Jr. 6.2 5.5 G 2 Ebi Ere 6-5 215 Sr. 14.9 5.3 G 4 Quannas White 6-1 190 Sr. 8.4 3.9 ^ G 10 Hollis Price 6-1 170 Sr. 19.2 3.1 ^ ^ denotes assists per game
Quickly Oklahoma State will travel to Norman, Okla., for a midweek game with the Oklahoma Sooners. Game time on Wednesday, Feb. 19, is set for 8 p.m. OSU is 19-4 overall and 8-2 in Big 12 Conference action after a stunning 74-72 loss to the Baylor Bears on Saturday night in Gallagher-Iba Arena, which broke a 17-game homecourt winning streak. OU is 17-4 overall, 8-2 in league play and coming off a 63-58 win over Texas Tech in Lubbock on Saturday.
Rankings Oklahoma State is ranked 16th in both the Associated Press poll and the USA Today/ESPN Coaches poll. The Cowboys are ranked 13th in the Ratings Percentage Index according to Collegiate Basketball News. Oklahoma is ranked fifth in both the USA Today poll and the AP poll. The Sooners are ranked eighth in the RPI.
On Television Wednesday night's game will be broadcast by ESPN Regional part of the Big 12 Conference's television package. In Oklahoma City, the game can be seen on KOCB-TV 34, while in Tulsa, it will be shown on KJRH-TV 2. In Stillwater, it will be on Cox Cable channel 11. Dave Armstrong will handle the play-by-play duties, while Paul Splittorff will provide expert analysis.
Last Time Out For OSU Melvin Sanders scored a career-high 30 points, including six three-pointers, but Baylor scored 11 points in the final 3:45 and the Bears left Gallagher-Iba Arena with a 74-72 win. Sanders was 12-of-16 from the floor, and also had six rebounds. The difference in the game ultimately came down to three-point shooting, where BU connected on 14 treys from beyond the arc. The Bears also outrebounded the Cowboys, 41-33, including a 20-board effort by Lawrence Roberts. The loss broke a 17-game homecourt winning streak for OSU, as well as a 22-game conference road game losing streak for Baylor. OSU had defeated BU the previous 11 games. Baylor took a 47-35 lead into the lockerrom and led by as many as 15. The Cowboys made a valiant comeback, leading by five with just under five minutes to play, but were outscored, 11-4, down the stretch.
About Oklahoma The Sooners are 17-4 overall and 8-2 in Big 12 Conference action. Oklahoma is led by senior guard Hollis Price, who is averaging 19.2 points and 3.1 assists per game. Senior guard Ebi Ere is not far behind, chipping in 14.9 points and 5.3 rebounds per contest. The Sooners have won seven of their last eight games, with the lone loss being a 67-61 setback at No. 6 Texas. All four of Oklahoma's losses have been to ranked opponents.
Last time out for the Sooners Quannas White scored a game-high 23 points and Hollis Price added 18 as the Sooners defeated Texas Tech, 63-58, Saturday afternoon in Lubbock, Texas. OU shot 46 percent from the floor, but allowed Tech to connect on 51 percent of its shots. The difference was at the three-point line, where the Sooners connected on 10-of-18 attempts, compared to just 2-of-5 for the Red Raiders. Oklahoma trailed at halftime, 35-34, but limited Tech to just 36.8 percent shooting in the second period.
Series with the Sooners: OU leads, 117-84 Oklahoma leads the all-time series with Oklahoma State, 117-84, including a commanding 71-25 record vs. OSU in Norman. The Cowboys have won the last two meetings, both in Stillwater, but lost the last two in Norman. Oklahoma State is 16-11 vs. Oklahoma in the Eddie Sutton era, and 8-6 since Big 12 play began in 1996-97. For a complete look at the series, check out page 4-60 of the 2002-03 Oklahoma State Men's Basketball Media Guide.
Last time vs. Oklahoma Victor Williams bank shot with 3.6 seconds remaining gave the Cowboys the lead and the win as OSU defeated Oklahoma, 48-46, in Gallagher-Iba Arena earlier this season. Williams had a game-high 16 points in a contest which was dominated by defense. OSU shot just 38.8 percent, but limited OU to just 32.7 percent from the floor. Even from long range, the two teams combined to shoot 4-of-20. It basically came down to the free-throw line, where OSU connected on 9-of-16 and the Sooners made 7-of-15. Ivan McFarlin recorded a double-double with 11 points and 14 rebounds, while Tony Allen added 11 points and six boards. Kevin Bookout recorded a double-double of his own for OU, scoring a team-high 14 points and grabbing 11 rebounds.
Sutton Surpasses Haskins on Coaching List Oklahoma State's win over Kansas State on February 5 gave Coach Eddie Sutton his 720th career victory, moving him into sole possession of 13th place on the all-time career wins list. He surpassed Don Haskins, who had 719 wins, all at Texas-El Paso, and 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 721-281. Include that with Mr. Iba's 767 career wins, and that's three coaches with OSU ties that have a combined 2,207 career victories.
Sutton Coaches in 1,000th Career Game Oklahoma State Coach Eddie Sutton became the 17th coach in Division I history to coach in his 1,000th career game when the Cowboys hosted Kansas State on February 5. Saturday, Jacksonville coach Hugh Durham will coach in his 1,000th game, so there will be 18 coaches in NCAA history that have achieved that mark, including Sutton's mentor, Henry Iba, who coached in 1,105 games. Coach Sutton surpassed Gene Bartow (1,000 games coached) for 15th place on the all-time games coached list when the Cowboys played at Cincinnati. By season's end, Coach Sutton will surpass legendary Kansas coach Phog Allen, who coached in 1,010 career games.
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 23 games, OSU is allowing 61.3 points per game, second-best in the league behind OU's 60.1, and has allowed an opponent to score in the 70s just five times this season. OSU is allowing its opponents to shoot just 38.8 percent from the floor, best in the conference. OSU is also averaging 9.30 steals per game (third in the Big 12 behind Kansas' 10.58 and Texas Tech's 9.33) and 5.70 blocks per contest (third in the league behind Colorado's 6.17 and Iowa State's 6.14).
Coming up Big on Offense While Oklahoma State is well-known for its unbreakable defense, the Cowboy offense has been coming into its own. For the season, OSU is one of two teams, the other being Colorado, to have four players ranked in the Big 12's top 30 scorers. Victor Williams ranks 14th at 15.4 points per game, while Tony Allen is 15th at 15.3 points per contest. Melvin Sanders is 20th at 13.6 ppg, and Ivan McFarlin is 30th, averaging 10.9 points per contest.
Vic Williams vying for spot on All-Big 12 Senior guard Victor Williams has been solid all season long, and has stepped up his game since conference play began. Overall this season, he is averaging 15.4 points per contest as well as 3.5 assists per game. However, through 10 league contests, those averages have gone up. Victor ranks fifth in the league in scoring, averaging 18.8 points per game. His assists average in league games is at 3.8 apg, eighth-best in the Big 12. He is tied for third in steals per game at 2.20, and his 76.8 percent shooting from the free-throw line ranks 12th in the league. Victor is shooting 46.0 percent from the floor and 39.6 percent from beyond the arc, which rank 15th and 14th, respectively in the Big 12. His 1.90 three-point field goals made per game ranks 11th, and his 1.09 assist-to-turnover ratio also ranks 12th. That's eight statistical categories in which Vic ranks among the Big 12's best.
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 Baylor, Vic scored 18 points, moving his OSU career total to 1,118 and 21st place on the all-time list. Victor surpassed Richard Dumas, who had 1,112 points, and needs 12 points to move past Chianti Roberts to enter the top 20. Vic has 1,363 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. Nebraska, Victor Williams has 316 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. Five assists would move Victor into the top 10 of all-time at Oklahoma State. Vic has 419 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 at Texas A&M. Victor currently has 80 assists this season, an average of 3.5 per game.
Allen Living up to Expectations Junior transfer Tony Allen is doing it all for Oklahoma State. The 6-4 guard is second on the team in scoring, averaging 15.3 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. He has made at least one three pointer in 16 of OSU's 23 games, and is shooting 44.6 percent (25-of-56) 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, 2.7 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.
Sanders the Stopper Senior guard 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, and should be considered for postseason honors based not only on his defensive presence, but his offensive output as well. Defensively, Melvin is as good as it gets. Sanders the Scorer Sanders showed his scoring abilities on Saturday night, recording a career night vs. the Baylor Bears. He scored a career-high 30 points (his previous best was 18 points on four occasions) on 12-of-16 shooting (a career best with a minimum of 10 attempts). He was also 6-of-8 from beyond the three-point arc, the first time a Cowboy had made six treys in a game since Maurice Baker connected on seven vs. St. Gregory's on Jan. 20, 2001. For the year, Melvin has scored in double figures in 20 games, and has scored less than eight points only once. He has already scored a career-best 313 points this season, and is averaging 13.6 points 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 the game against Kansas State, the Cowboys blocked 12 Wildcat attempts. This season, OSU has 131 blocked shots as a team, an average of 5.7 per game and the third-most in the Big 12 Conference behind Iowa State and with Colorado. Ivan McFarlin and Tony Allen have each deflected 20 shots, giving the Cowboys three players in the top-15 individually in the Big 12 statistics for blocked shots. OSU's 131 blocks are already the most in a single season since the 1991-92 squad had 144.
Williams Elite Shot Blocker Andre Williams has 195 career blocks, and has surpassed Bryant Reeves for third place on the school's all-time career blocked shots list. He leads the team with 66 deflections so far this season. Andre's 66 blocks this year tie for fourth on the school's all-time single-season blocked shots chart, tying Byron Houston's total in 1990. Andre had a career-high eight deflections vs. Wichita State, and had seven vs. Kansas State. He is currently averaging 2.87 blocks per game this season, and is second in the league behind Colorado's David Harrison.
A Trio of Thieves Oklahoma State has 214 steals this season, led by Victor Williams' 53. Tony Allen has 44, while Melvin Sanders has 40. Those three Cowboys rank second, fifth and eighth, respectively, in the Big 12 in steals per game. Kansas is the only other school in the league that has two individuals in the Top Eight. As a team, OSU is third in the league, averaging 9.3 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 two more starts to tie Bryant Reeves, who started 87 consecutive contests from 1993-95, and three starts to tie Darwyn Alexander. Four starts would tie Melvin with Adrian Peterson for second place, and five starts would move Melvin into sole possession of second-place on the consecutive-starts list.
Up Next: Double Trouble in GIA Oklahoma State will spend the next week in the friendly confines of Gallagher-Iba Arena as the Cowboys host a pair of Big 12 South rivals. On Saturday, OSU will host the Texas Longhorns (18-4, 9-2) at 3 p.m. That game will be followed by the game vs. Texas Tech (14-8, 4-7) next Monday. Game time is set for 8 p.m.
Miscellaneous Notes The Cowboys' 8-2 conference record through 10 games ties for the second-best league start since 1955, a span of 48 years ... the Cowboys have shot better from the charity stripe away from Gallagher-Iba Arena (74.1 percent) than at home (59.2 percent) ... Oklahoma State has 62 dunks this season, led by Melvin Sanders' 20 ... OSU has taken 13 charges in 23 games, led by Ivan McFarlin's six ... Junior forward Ivan McFarlin is averaging 13.7 points and 8.7 rebounds in his career against Oklahoma, including a 65 percent shooting percentage from the floor and 71.4 percent from the free-throw line ... OSU has limited its opponents to less than 70 points on 265 occasions in the Eddie Sutton era, or 64.8 percent of the games ... The Cowboys are 15-0 when leading at halftime this season; 4-4 when trailing at intermission ... Since Gallagher-Iba Arena was renovated prior to the 2000-01 season, Oklahoma State has had 456,957 fans attend 39 games, an average of 11,717 per contest.
RPI Rankings Oklahoma State ranks 13th in the Ratings Percentage Index, according to Collegiate Basketball News, and has beaten five top-50 teams and is 10-4 vs. the top 100. However, with six games remaining on the regular-season schedule, the Cowboys may have their toughest road ahead of them. According to the RPI posted on Feb. 18, OSU has three of its six remaining games vs. teams in the top 10, and two of those three are as the visiting team. Oklahoma State has three games vs. teams ranked between No. 48 and 55, and two of those three are in the friendly confines of Gallagher-Iba Arena.
