Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowboys host Blazers in ESPN2 matchup
December 10, 2004 | Cowboy Basketball
Oklahoma State (6-0)
vs. UAB (4-0)
Friday, December 10, 2004 • 9:05 p.m.
Gallagher-Iba Arena [13,611] • Stillwater, Okla.
Cowboys host UAB in televised matchup
Oklahoma State doesn’t have much time to rest following its upset win over Syracuse in the Jimmy V Classic. The Cowboys host the UAB Blazers on Friday, Dec. 10, at 9 p.m. in a game televised by ESPN2. OSU is 6-0 this season after the 74-60 victory over the Orange. Alabama-Birmingham is 4-0 and coming off an 81-78 win at Marshall last Saturday night. Friday night’s game is the first meeting between the two schools.
Tickets available
General admission tickets are available to all of OSU’s non-conference games. Fans should contact the OSU Athletic Ticket office at (877) ALL-4-OSU.
Last game
OSU used an outstanding performance in the second half and upset fourth-ranked Syracuse, 74-60, in the Jimmy V Classic in Madison Square Garden. Ivan McFarlin, Stephen Graham and Joey Graham each scored 16 points for the Pokes, but it was a trey by John Lucas, his first made basket of the game, at the 5:47 mark that put OSU up for good. McFarlin added 12 rebounds, recording his first double-double of the season. The Cowboys shot a blistering 58.6 percent in the second half and scored 53 points, overcoming a 22-21 halftime deficit. Josh Pace scored 20 and Gerry McNamara added 18 for the Orange, but preseason All-American Hakim Warrick was held to just 13 points, six below his average, on 4-of-12 shooting. Oklahoma State also outrebounded Syracuse, 46-33. SU made just 7-of-22 shots from the charity stripe.
Lucas named Player of the Week
Cowboy senior John Lucas was named the Big 12 Conference’s Player of the Week, it was announced Monday, in a vote of media members who regularly cover the league. Lucas averaged 21.5 points in two games last week, including a 24 point outing against SMU in Dallas. He shot 53.8 percent from both the floor and from long range. He was 14-of-26 from the field and 7-of-13 from beyond the arc, while shooting 88.9 percent (8-of-9) from the charity stripe. Lucas also had eight assists, eight rebounds, four steals and no turnovers on the week.
Cowboy continue hot shooting
Oklahoma State is shooting 52.9 percent as a team this season, and has shot at least 54 percent in four of six games so far. The Cowboys’ 63.8 percent shooting vs. the Washington State Cougars was the highest by OSU since the Texas-Pan American game last season, when the Pokes connected on 64.3 percent of their shots. As of Monday’s NCAA statistical rankings, OSU led the country in field goal shooting at 54.4 percent.
And from long range, too
The Cowboys are shooting well from beyond the three-point arc as well. In six games, OSU has connected on 33-of-84 shots from long range, good for 39.3 percent. Ivan McFarlin has made his only attempt from the arc, while Joey Graham has made 3-of-6 and Terrence Crawford 2-of-4 from beyond the three-point line. John Lucas has made 18-of-40, or 45 percent.
Charity stripe appealing to Cowboys
Oklahoma State had improved its free-throw shooting considerably over the past three games, prior to the Syracuse contest. The Cowboys made 47-of-55 free throws in the previous three contests, good for 85.5 percent. That included a perfect 14-of-14 against SMU. However, the Pokes struggled against the Orange, connecting on just 63.3 percent. Oklahoma State is currently shooting 70.7 percent from the charity stripe. The Pokes have ended the season shooting better than 70 percent only five times in two decades, the last time in 1999-2000 when OSU shot 70.1 percent from the line.
A record performance
In last week’s 82-29 win over Washington State, Oklahoma State accomplished several feats defensively. It was just the second time since 1950 that an OSU opponent has been held to less than 30 points, and the 29 points were the fewest by an Oklahoma State opponent since Dec. 3, 1952, when OSU defeated New Mexico State, 55-29. Also, the 52 point margin of victory ties for the 11th largest in school history, and ties for the fifth largest in the Eddie Sutton era. OSU limited WSU to just 10 points in the first half. The last time a Cowboy squad accomplished that was Feb. 17, 1950, when the Oklahoma A&M Aggies held Detroit to 10 in the first half (27 for the game).
Wins frequent vs. ranked opponents
With a 74-60 win over No. 3 Syracuse Tuesday night in Madison Square Garden, Oklahoma State has now won nine of its last 10 over ranked opponents. That lone loss was to No. 14 Georgia Tech in the national semifinal game last season in San Antonio. In fact, OSU is 15-5 in its last 20 games against foes ranked in the top 25 of the Associated Press poll at game time.
OSU-UAB connections
UAB Head Coach Mike Anderson is a graduate of the University of Tulsa, and played two years there for Nolan Richardson ... Richard Jones, a junior guard/forward at UAB, played his prep basketball at Oklahoma City’s Douglass High School ... OSU junior center Aaron Pettway is a native of Mobile, Ala., approximately 260 miles from Birmingham ... OSU sophomore David Monds is from Macon, Ga. UAB freshman Paul Delaney is from Chamblee, Ga. The two towns are less than 100 miles apart.
OSU-UAB on television
Oklahoma State’s game Friday night with Alabama-Birmingham will be broadcast on ESPN2. Bob Carpenter will handle the play-by-play duties, while Larry Conley will provide expert analysis. It will be the second of 12 nationally televised games for OSU this season. Other Cowboy games on ESPN’s family of networks will be the UNLV game on Dec. 18, the Gonzaga matchup on Dec. 28, the game at Texas Tech on Jan. 8, the Big Monday game on Jan. 17 at Texas as well as both Bedlam matchups against Oklahoma, and the UT game in Stillwater on March 5. OSU’s win over Syracuse last week was televised nationally by ESPN.
Down the road
Oklahoma State will take a week off for finals next week, then travel to Las Vegas, Nev., to take on the UNLV Runnin’ Rebels on Dec. 18 at 9 p.m. Central time (7 p.m. local time). The game will be televised by ESPN2. OSU will then host NCAA Division II Northwestern Oklahoma State on Tuesday, Dec. 21, before a short break for the holidays. That game is scheduled for 7 p.m.
