Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowboys host UALR in Gallagher-Iba Arena
November 22, 2004 | Cowboy Basketball
Oklahoma State (1-0)
hosts Arkansas-Little Rock (1-0)
Tuesday, Nov. 23, 2004 • 6 p.m.
Gallagher-Iba Arena [13,611] • Stillwater, Okla.
Cowboys host Arkansas-Little Rock
Oklahoma State continues its three-game homestand to start the regular season with a Tuesday night matchup with Arkansas-Little Rock. Game time is set for 6 p.m. OSU is 1-0 this season and coming off a season-opening victory over Northwestern State, 91-53, Friday night. UALR is coming off an 82-63 win over Southern Arkansas Saturday evening in Little Rock. The Cowboys own a 3-0 record all-time vs. the Trojans, including a 1-0 mark in Stillwater.
Last game
John Lucas scored 24 points and Joey Graham added 18 as the Cowboys defeated Northwestern State in their season opener, 91-53, Friday night inside Gallagher-Iba Arena. The Poke duo was a combined 15-of-23 from the floor, and 10-of-12 from the free throw line. OSU shot 57.4 percent from the floor, but more impressively, the Cowboys connected on 25-of-35 from the charity stripe as a team, or 71.4 percent. Oklahoma State forced twice as many turnovers (28) as it committed (14), and had 17 fewer personal fouls. The Cowboys had just 12 assists on 31 made baskets, and was outrebounded, 35-29. JamesOn Curry had 12 points off the bench in his first official game as a Cowboy, and three other players scored at least nine points: Ivan McFarlin had 14, Frans Steyn and Stephen Grham each scored nine. Three players — McFarlin, Lucas, Curry — each committed four turnovers. Oklahoma State also gave up 34 points in the paint, and gave up 13 second-chance points on 16 NSU offensive rebounds. Jermaine Spencer scored 10 points for NSU, leading all Demon scorers.
Cowboy shooting off to good start
After a 56.6 percent shooting average in the two exhibition games, OSU came out firing in its first regular-season game. The Cowboys connected on 31-of-54 shots from the floor, or 57.4 percent. Oklahoma State led the nation last year in field-goal shooting at 51.4 percent. It appears the Cowboys plan on retaining that title, as seven of the 10 players that had an attempt vs. Northwestern State shot at least 60 percent for the game. Stephen Graham and David Monds each made their lone attempt. John Lucas was 8-of-12 from the floor, good for 66.7 percent. All four of Lucas’ misses were from long range. Joey Graham made 7-of-11 field-goal attempts, a 63.6 percent average. Ivan McFarlin and JamesOn Curry both shot 62.5 percent, connecting of 5-of-8 shots from the floor, while Frans Steyn was good on 3-of-5 attempts.
And from long range, too
The Cowboys shot well from beyond the three-point arc in the two exhibition contests, but faltered vs. Northwestern State. As a team, OSU was 18-of-35 from downtown, or 51.4 percent, vs. USAO and Global Sports. JamesOn Curry had the best mark percentage-wise at 66.7 percent (6-of-9), while Daniel Bobik was 4-of-7 (57.1 percent) and John Lucas was 7-of-14 (50 percent). However, in their first game against NSU, the Pokes connected on just 4-of-12 shots from beyond the arc. Lucas was only 1-of-5, and Bobik was 0-of-3. Both Joey Graham and Ivan McFarlin were good on their only attempt from long range, while Curry was 1-of-2.
At the charity stripe
Oklahoma State connected on 25-of-35 shots from the free-throw line last Friday night, and hopefully, it is a sign of consistency. Last season, OSU shot 69.5 percent from the charity stripe, and that was after a dramatic improvement over the course of the season. The Cowboys made just 14-of-27 shots from the line vs. Northwestern State in the first game last year, good for 51.9 percent. During a six-game span towards the end of the season, the Pokes connected on 102-of-130 shots from the line, or 78.5 percent.
Free-Throw Shooting (last five years)
Year Made-Att Pct 2000-01 466-736 63.3% 2001-02 456-708 64.4% 2002-03 467-719 65.0% 2003-04 528-760 69.5% 2004-05 25-35 71.4%
Not a good sign
Two aspects that Oklahoma State excelled in last season were rebounding margin and assist/turnover ratio. In the Cowboys’ first game, they failed miserably in both statistical categories. OSU was outrebounded by the much smaller Demons, 35-29, and most of those were on NSU’s offensive end, where the Demons grabbed 16 offensive boards. The Cowboys also had more turnovers (14) than assists (12), a category the Pokes led the Big 12 Conference in a year ago. Oklahoma State also allowed too many points in the paint, giving up 34 to Northwestern State.
McFarlin ranks among nation’s leaders
Ivan McFarlin, who gained a year of eligibility by graduating in 3-1/2 years, ranks among the nation’s leaders. With Ivan in the starting lineup, Oklahoma State has won 76 games in his three years in a Cowboy uniform. That win total ranks third among active players nationally. Kansas’ Aaron Miles sits atop that list with 87 wins, while Craig Forth of Syracuse ranks second with 80. Stetson Hairston of Southern Illinois is tied with McFarlin with 76 victories.
McFarlin moves to No. 21
With 14 points vs. Northwestern State Friday night, senior forward Ivan McFarlin now has 1,129 career points, moving him into a tie for 21st place on the all-time career scoring list. He has tied Chianti Roberts, who also had 1,129 points in his career from 1993-97. Next on the list for McFarlin is No. 20 Raymond Crenshaw, who had 1,140 points in his career from 1980-84. McFarlin needs 12 points to surpass Crenshaw and move into the top-20 in school history.
Speaking of points
While all of McFarlin’s 1,129 points have been scored for OSU, there are a few other Cowboys that have quite a few points in their collegiate careers. With 18 points against the NSU Demons last week, Joey Graham now has 1,100 points in his career with stops at Central Florida and Oklahoma State. John Lucas, who spent two years at Baylor before transferring to OSU, has 1,317 points as a collegian. He is just 48 points from moving into the top 25 on the Big 12 Conference career list for points.
Curry has good debut
Freshman guard JamesOn Curry looked pretty good in his first game as a Cowboy. He scored 12 points and had four steals in just 23 minutes off the bench. It was the most points scored by a true freshman since Adrian Peterson had 12 against St. Mary’s of Texas in in his debut game in 1995. Here is a look at the best first games by a true freshman under Coach Eddie Sutton:
Player (Year) Highlights JamesOn Curry (2004) 12 points (5-8 FG), 4 steals, 2 assists in 23 minutes Andre Williams (1999) 6 points, 10 rebounds in 17 minutes Adrian Peterson (1995) 12 points (4-7 3FG), 3 rebs, 2 assists in 29 minutes Bryant Reeves (1991) 16 points, 5 rebounds, 3 blocks in 20 minutes
