Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowboys entertain Aggies in Gallagher-Iba Arena
March 01, 2005 | Cowboy Basketball
Oklahoma State (20-5, 10-4)
vs. Texas A&M (18-7, 7-7)
Wednesday, March 2, 2005 • 6:02 p.m.
Gallagher-Iba Arena/Eddie Sutton Court [13,611]
Stillwater, Okla.
Cowboys host Aggies in Gallagher-Iba Arena
Oklahoma State hosts Texas A&M in the first of two home games to wrap up the regular season. Game time on Wednesday is at 6 p.m., and the game will be televised by both the Cowboy Sports Network (Tulsa, Oklahoma City and Lawton markets) and ESPN2 elsewhere. OSU is 20-5 overall and 10-4 in Big 12 Conference action, currently riding a two-game losing streak after an 81-79 loss at Kansas on Sunday afternoon. Texas A&M is 18-7 overall, 7-7 in league play and coming off an 85-63 win over Texas Tech Saturday in College Station. The Cowboys won the earlier meeting between these two schools, a 66-59 win on Feb. 12 in Reed Arena. OSU owns the all-time series, 24-8, including a 9-1 mark in Stillwater.
OSU-A&M on television
Oklahoma State’s home game against Texas A&M will be dual broadcast by both the Cowboy Sports Network and ESPN2. The game, originally scheduled for 7 p.m. on CSN, was moved to 6 p.m. to accommodate ESPN2. John Holcomb, sports director at KOTV-CBS in Tulsa, will handle the play-by-play duties for CSN, while former Cowboy Bryndon Manzer will provide expert analysis. For ESPN2, Dave Pasch will handle the play-by-play duties, while Jimmy Dykes will provide color commentary. It is the 12th of 13 nationally televised games for the Cowboys this season. The regular-season finale against Texas on Saturday will be televised by ESPN. Of Oklahoma State’s 27 regular-season games this year, 23 will be televised.
Last game
Oklahoma State’s offense was outstanding, but its defense below average, as the Cowboys fell to Kansas, 81-79, in a game considered by most as the Big 12 title game. John Lucas scored 22 points on 9-of-11 shooting, including making his first nine. The Cowboys shot 58.5 percent as a team, including 47.4 percent from long range. However, none of the offensive output could slow down Wayne Simien and the Jayhawks. Simien scored 32 points on 11-of-17 shooting from the floor and 11-of-13 connections from the charity stripe. He also had 12 rebounds, more than half of the Cowboys’ total. The difference untimately came at the free-throw line, where OSU was 8-of-9 and KU was 15-of-23. Kansas shot 66 percent for the game, but it took a 12-3 run in the final five minutes for the ‘Hawks to pull out the win. Despite trailing by as many as eight seven minutes into the second period, the Cowboys took a seven point lead with under six minutes remaining. KU went on its run starting a minute later.
About Texas A&M
Texas A&M is 18-7 overall this season and 7-7 in league action. The Aggies are 6-2 at home in Big 12 games and 1-5 on the road. A&M is led by guard/forward Antoine Wright, who is averaging 17.7 points per game. Freshman Joseph Jones is the team’s leading rebounder at 7.1 boards per contest. As a team, the Aggies are averaging 74.6 points per game overall, 68.4 points in league contests. Texas A&M is shooting 49 percent from the floor, 39.3 percent from long range (averaging 6.2 treys per contest) and 67.6 percent from the charity stripe. A&M has improved dramatically over last year, improving from 0-16 in conference games last season. That can be attributed to new coach Billy Gillispie.
Series vs. the Aggies
Oklahoma State leads the all-time series with Texas A&M, 24-8, including a 10 game winning streak dating back to 2000. OSU has won 18 of the last 19 meetings, with that lone loss coming on Jan. 22, 2000, when the Aggies defeated the Pokes, 64-59, in College Station. Oklahoma State is 16-1 vs. Texas A&M since the Big 12 formed in 1996-97, and 17-1 against the Aggies in the Sutton era. OSU has averaged a 20.9 margin of victory in games vs. A&M in Stillwater since the formation of the Big 12 Conference.
Down the road
Oklahoma State ends the regular season on Saturday, March 5, as the Cowboys host Texas at 8 p.m. inside Gallagher-Iba Arena. Barring a total collapse, the Cowboys will receive a bye in the first round of the Big 12 Tournament, and will play their first game on Friday, March 11, during the second round at Kansas City’s Kemper Arena.
A busy week
This will be a busy week for OSU as Stillwater becomes Bristol West. Friday morning, ESPN2’s Cold Pizza will have three live segments from Gallagher-Iba Arena. Friday evening will see the debut of ESPN-U, live from Stillwater from 6-8 p.m. There will also be a concert presented by ESPN-U in GIA featuring Three Doors Down. Saturday morning, ESPN’s College GameDay will be showcased from Oklahoma State, featuring Chris Fowler, Digger Phelps, Jay Bilas, Andy Katz and Joe Lunardi. The exclamation point will be Saturday night’s game featuring the Cowboys and the Texas Longhorns. The game will be televised by ESPN, and features Brad Nessler, Dick Vitale and Erin Andrews.
