Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowboys face Bulldogs in All-College Classic
December 26, 2004 | Cowboy Basketball
Oklahoma State (9-0) vs. Gonzaga (9-1)
in the All-College Classic
Tuesday, December 28, 2004 • 8:30 p.m.
Ford Center [19,800] • Oklahoma City, Okla.
Cowboys face Bulldogs in All-College Classic
Oklahoma State faces the Gonzaga Bulldogs in Game 2 of the Touchtone Energy All-College Classic on Tuesday, Dec. 28, at the Ford Center in Oklahoma City. Tipoff is set for 8:30 p.m., and the game will be televised by ESPN2. OSU is 9-0 this season and ranked No. 3 in both the Associated Press poll and the USA Today/ESPN Coaches poll. The Cowboys are coming off a 92-35 win over NAIA opponent Northwestern Oklahoma State a week ago. Gonzaga is 9-1 overall this season and ranked 13th in the latest AP poll and 23rd in the most recent Coaches poll. The Bulldogs defeated Eastern Washington, 83-70, last Tuesday night. Oklahoma State and Gonzaga have never met on the hardwood.
Last game
Oklahoma State set a school record for treys in a game with 15, and the Cowboys dismantled the Northwestern Oklahoma State Rangers, 92-35. Joey Graham, John Lucas and JamesOn Curry each connected on four three pointers, while Daniel Bobik added two and Marcus Dove one. Graham and Lucas led the team with 21 points each, while Bobik dished out a career-high nine assists. Ivan McFarlin added nine points and grabbed a game-high nine rebounds. OSU was too much for the NAIA opponent, leading, 44-17, at halftime and up by as many as 63 late in the game. The Cowboys shot 54.7 percent from the floor, while limiting NWOSU to just 27.3 percent. Oklahoma State also outrebounded the undersized Rangers, 42-27. Freshman Marcus Dove and junior college transfer Aaron Pettway each got some quality minutes, scoring seven and six points, respectively. Pettway also had four blocked shots.
Cowboy continue hot shooting
Oklahoma State is shooting 52.6 percent as a team this season, and lead the Big 12 Conference in that category. 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 last week’s NCAA statistical rankings, OSU was sixth in the country in field goal shooting at 52.3 percent.
And from long range, too
The Cowboys are shooting well from beyond the three-point arc as well. OSU has connected on 57-of-129 shots from long range, good for 44.2 percent. Joey Graham leads the team with a 63.6 percent shooting average (7-of-11) from long range, while Daniel Bobik has connected on 13-of-28 shots (46.4 percent) from downtown. John Lucas is shooting 43.9 percent (25-of-57), and JamesOn Curry has made 8-of-21 (38.1 percent) from beyond the three-point line.
A record falls
Oklahoma State established a new school record for three-pointers made in a game against Northwestern Oklahoma State. The Cowboys connected on 15-of-23 shots from long range, good for 65.2 percent. That total broke the previous school record of 13 treys made, set against Providence in overtime on Nov. 26, 1993, and matched on March 2, 1994, against Nebraska. OSU also broke the school record for three pointers made in a half with 10 in the second period. The previous mark was eight, set vs. Oklahoma on Feb. 7, 1994, and equalled against Baylor on March 4, 1999.
Charity stripe appealing to Cowboys
Oklahoma State has gotten considerably better at the free-throw line this season, shooting 73.7 percent from the charity stripe. That includes a perfect 14-of-14 against SMU. The Pokes have ended the season shooting better than 70 percent only five times in the last two decades, the last time in 1999-2000 when OSU shot 70.1 percent from the line.
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 84 games in his four years in a Cowboy uniform. That win total ranks third among active players nationally. Kansas’ Aaron Miles sits atop that list with 93 wins, while Craig Forth of Syracuse ranks second with 86. Ivan’s next start will tie him with Darwyn Alexander for the fifth-most starts in school history. Alexander started 108 games in his career from 1988-92. Two more starts will tie McFarlin with Desmond Mason, who had 109 starts from 1996-2000.
Looking towards the top five
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 793 career rebounds, and needs just three boards to move past Desmond Mason and into the top five in OSU history. Surpassing Mason will also move McFarlin into the top-10 on the Big 12 rebounding charts. With another seven rebounds, McFarlin will become the fourth player in Oklahoma State history to record 1,000 points and 800 rebounds in a career. He will also become just the second player in school history, joining Byron Houston, as the only two Cowboys to ever record 1,000 points, 800 rebounds, 100 assists, 100 steals and 100 blocked shots in a career.
McFarlin moves into 16th place
With nine points against Northwestern Oklahoma State, senior forward Ivan McFarlin now has 1,218 career points, placing him in 16th place on the Oklahoma State all-time career scoring list. Ivan became the 16th player in school history to record 1,200 points in a career as a Cowboy. He needs three more points to surpass Kevin Fitzgerald, who had 1,220 points in his three-year career from 1970-73, and with 17 points, Ivan will move past Fredrik Jönzén and into 14th place on the all-time scoring list. Jönzén had 1,236 points from 1998-2002.
Speaking of points
While all of McFarlin’s points have been scored while at OSU, there are a couple other Cowboys that have quite a few points in their collegiate careers. With 21 points against NWOSU, Joey Graham now has 1,250 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 1,460 points as a collegian. That total ranks 22nd among all-time Big 12 players. Lucas surpassed Gabe Muoneke of Texas, who had 1,456 points. Next up is Texas Tech’s Rayford Young, who had 1,515 points from 1996-2000.
Needing three
While Oklahoma State was breaking the school record for threes in a game last week, Coach Eddie Sutton needs three wins to match his mentor, Mr. Iba, for seventh place on the all-time wins list for Division I. Mr. Iba had 767 career victories and sits in seventh place on the all-time wins list. Coach Sutton currently has 764 victories. It will be quite an achievement for Coach Sutton, who played for Mr. Iba from 1955-58, and was a graduate assistant coach for the Iron Duke during the 1958-59 season.
Pokes riding homecourt winning streak
With a 92-35 win over Northwestern Oklahoma State, OSU extended its homecourt winning streak to 22 games, the sixth-longest streak in school history and the fifth-longest current streak in the NCAA. OSU won its final home game of the 2002-03 season with a 77-52 win over Texas A&M on March 8. The Cowboys went undefeated in Gallagher-Iba Arena last season, winning all 15 home contests. The current streak includes a 77-56 win over sixth-ranked Oklahoma on Jan. 14, a 70-66 victory over No. 13 ranked Texas Tech on Jan. 31, an 80-60 win over 13th-ranked Kansas on Feb. 9, and a 76-67 victory over No. 10 Texas on March 1. With those four wins over ranked opponents last season, Oklahoma State ran its string of victories over ranked opponents at home to nine. Those nine games are listed in a following note
Streak ranks among nation’s best
Oklahoma State’s current 22 game winning streak ranks as the second-longest string in the country. Only Wisconsin of the Big 10 has a longer current winning streak at 33 games. Here is a look at the nation’s longest current winning streaks:
Rank, Team Streak Next Opponent (Date) 1. Wisconsin 33 UNC-Greensboro (12/23) 2. Oklahoma State 22 Missouri (01/11) 3. Western Michigan 21 South Alabama (12/28) 4. Gonzaga 17 Loyola Marymount (01/13) Air Force 17 Rutgers (12/31) Stanford 17 Dartmouth (12/22) SE Louisiana 17 Loyola (La.) (12/22) 8. Kansas 14 Georgia Tech (01/01) Southern Illinois 14 Illinois State (12/23) 10. UAB 13 Alabama A&M (12/28)
Non-league record in Gallagher-Iba
Oklahoma State has completed another successful campaign at home vs. non-conference foes. The Pokes have won 39 consecutive home non-conference games, dating back to 1998. OSU has won 118 of its last 119 non-conference games held in Gallagher-Iba Arena since Jan. 7, 1987. The only loss during that span was an 83-81 loss to Florida Atlantic on Dec. 1, 1998, when the Cowboys were ranked 11th in the nation. That loss broke a string of 79-consecutive home non-league wins for OSU. Dating back to 1981, Oklahoma State is 148-7 (.955) in those types of games. The Cowboys have not allowed more than 66 points in 34 of their last 36 home non-conference contests.
Wins frequent vs. ranked opponents
With a 74-60 win over No. 4 Syracuse 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. Here is a look at those last 20 games vs. ranked opponents:
Date Opponent (ranking) Score 2001-02 season Feb. 6, 2002 TEXAS TECH (24th) W 64-62 Feb. 13, 2002 OKLAHOMA (4th) W 79-72 ot
2002-03 season Nov. 30, 2002 vs. Michigan State (9th) W 64-61 Jan. 13, 2003 OKLAHOMA (5th) W 48-46 Jan. 18, 2003 MISSOURI (11th) W 76-56 Feb. 1, 2003 at Texas (3rd) L 65-78 Feb. 19, 2003 at Oklahoma (5th) L 48-64 Feb. 22, 2003 TEXAS (3rd) W 82-77 Mar. 1, 2003 at Kansas (7th) L 61-79 Mar. 23, 2003 vs. Syracuse (13th) L 56-68
2003-04 season Jan. 14, 2004 OKLAHOMA (6th) W 77-56 Jan. 24, 2004 at Texas (16th) W 72-67 Jan. 31, 2004 TEXAS TECH (13th) W 70-66 Feb. 9, 2004 KANSAS (9th) W 80-60 Mar. 1, 2004 TEXAS (10th) W 76-67 Mar. 14, 2004 vs. Texas (11th) W 65-49 Mar. 25, 2004 vs. Pittsburgh (9th) W 63-51 Mar. 27, 2004 vs. Saint Joseph's (5th) W 64-62 Apr. 3, 2004 vs. Georgia Tech (14th) L 65-67
2004-05 season
Dec. 7, 2004 vs. Syracuse (4th) W 74-60
Down the road
Oklahoma State will travel to Corpus Christi, Texas, for its final non-conference game of the regular season. The Cowboys and Islanders have a Jan. 3 date scheduled with tipoff at 7 p.m. That game will be televised by the Cowboy Television Network. OSU will open Big 12 Conference action on Saturday, Jan. 8, as the Cowboys face the Texas Tech Red Raiders in Lubbock. Tipoff is scheduled for 1 p.m., and the game will be televised by ESPN. Oklahoma State’s next home game will be on Jan. 11, when the Pokes host the Missouri Tigers.
OSU-Gonzaga on television
Oklahoma State’s game vs. Gonzaga in the All-College Classic will mark the Cowboys’ sixth televised game of the season, including its fourth nationally televised contest. Dave Pasch will handle the play-by-play duties, while Fran Fraschilla will provide expert analysis. It will be the third game in four contests that OSU will have shown on ESPN2, and the fourth of five games on the ESPN network. Every Oklahoma State game from this point on will be televised this season, either nationally or on the Cowboy Sports Network.
