Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowboys face Runnin' Rebels in Las Vegas Showdown
December 14, 2004 | Cowboy Basketball
Oklahoma State (7-0) at UNLV (3-3)
in the Las Vegas Showdown
Saturday, December 18, 2004 • 9 p.m. CT / 7 p.m. PT
Thomas & Mack Center [18,500] • Las Vegas, Nev.
Cowboys face UNLV in Las Vegas Showdown
After a week of final exams, Oklahoma State will travel to Las Vegas, Nev., this weekend to face UNLV in the first game of the Las Vegas Showdown. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. Pacific time, 9 p.m. CST. The other matchup will be Georgia Tech-Gonzaga at approximately 9:30 p.m. PT. The fifth-ranked Cowboys are 7-0 this season and coming off an 86-73 victory over UAB last Friday night. UNLV is 3-3 this season and coming off an impressive 91-87 overtime win against Auburn on the road. OSU leads the all-time series with the Runnin’ Rebels, 4-1, including a 2-1 mark in Las Vegas.
Last game
Oklahoma State had six players score in double figures, including a game-high 20 points by Joey Graham, as the Cowboys defeated UAB, 86-73, Friday night before a national television audience. John Lucas had 18 points and eight assists, while Daniel Bobik added 14 points, connecting on 4-of-6 treys. Ivan McFarlin grabbed 12 rebounds and scored 10 points, as did Stephen Graham and JamesOn Curry. Oklahoma State shot 51.9 percent from the field, including a blistering 56 percent in the second period. The Cowboys also shot well from long range (7-of-15, or 46.7 percent) and from the charity stripe (25-of-30, or 83.3 percent). The OSU defense held the Blazers to just 34.8 percent, including 6-of-20 (30 percent) from beyond the three-point arc. A couple of areas that the Pokes struggled was rebounding — equalled UAB’s rebounding effort with 37 — and handling the basketball — 21 turnovers compared to the Blazers’ 16. OSU led by as many as 20, 60-40, with 15 minutes remaining, but UAB went on an 18-9 run over the next seven minutes to keep it interesting.
OSU-UNLV on television
Oklahoma State’s game at UNLV will be televised by ESPN2. Brad Nessler will handle the play-by-play dutires, while Rick Majerus will provide expert analysis. It marks OSU’s third-consecutive game on national television, and is the third of 12 nationally televised contests for the Cowboys. Last Friday’s game against UAB was also televised by ESPN2, as will be the OSU vs. Gonzaga game on Dec. 28 in the All-College Classic. The Pokes are 5-1 all-time on ESPN2, and 68-49 all-time on national TV.
Series history with the Runnin’ Rebels
Oklahoma State owns a 4-1 mark against UNLV, including a 2-1 mark in Las Vegas. OSU won the last meeting with a 77-69 overtime victory over the Runnin’ Rebels in in Oklahoma City, and has won the last four, all under Eddie Sutton.
Last time in Vegas
Oklahoma State is 5-1 all-time in the city of Las Vegas, with three games against the Runnin’ Rebels. The last time OSU played in Sin City was November of 2001, when the Cowboys won the Las Vegas Tournament. Oklahoma State defeated Providence, 83-65, Siena College, 82-64, and TCU, 95-77, to garner the trophy. All three games were played at Valley High School.
Ivan’s rebounds rank sixth in school history
With 12 rebounds against the UAB Blazers, senior forward Ivan McFarlin moved past Bob Mattick and into sixth place on the school’s all-time rebounding list. McFarlin currently has 777 career rebounds, and needs just 19 to move past Desmond Mason and into the top five in OSU history. With another 23 boards, McFarlin will become the fourth player in Oklahoma State history to record 1,000 points and 800 rebounds in a career.
McFarlin moves into 18th place
With 10 points against UAB, senior forward Ivan McFarlin now has 1,192 career points, placing him in 18th place on the Oklahoma State all-time career scoring list. Against the Blazers, he passed Joe Adkins, who had 1,189 points in his career. Ivan is currently five points behind Arlen Clark and seven points behind Darwyn Alexander. With eight more points, McFarlin will become the 16th player in school history to record 1,200 points in a career as a Cowboy.
Speaking of points
While all of McFarlin’s 1,192 points have been scored for OSU, there are a few other Cowboys that have quite a few points in their collegiate careers. With 20 points against UAB, Joey Graham now has 1,209 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 1,422 points as a collegian. That total ranks 25th among all-time Big 12 players. Lucas is currently in 24th place on the Big 12 career scoring list. Seven points will move Lucas past Michel Morandais of Colorado and into 23rd place.
Sutton takes over eighth place
With an 81-29 win over Washington State last weekend, Coach Sutton took over sole possesion of eighth place on the all-time coaching victories list for Division I. Ed Diddle of Western Kentucky had 759 career wins, culminating in 1964. Next up for Coach Sutton will be his mentor, Mr. Iba, who had 767 career victories and sits in seventh place on the all-time wins list.
Down the road
Oklahoma State return home to host Division II Northwestern Oklahoma State on Tuesday, Dec. 21, inside Gallagher-Iba Arena. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. The Cowboys will then take a week off from game competition for the holidays before returning to action on Tuesday, Dec. 28. On that date, the Cowboys will face Gonzaga in the Touchtone Energy All-College Classic in Oklahoma City. The game is scheduled for 8:30 p.m., and will be televised by ESPN2.
