Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowboys face Lions in first round of NCAA Tournament
March 17, 2005 | Cowboy Basketball
Oklahoma State (24-6)
First Round • NCAA Tournament
vs. Southeastern Louisiana (24-8)
Friday, March 18, 2005 • 11:30 a.m.
Ford Center [18,544] • Oklahoma City, Okla.
CBS Sports
Oklahoma State plays first weekend in Oklahoma City
Oklahoma State will travel to Oklahoma City, Okla., for the first and second rounds of the NCAA Tournament, held at the Ford Center and hosted by the Big 12 Conference. OSU will play as the No. 2 seed in the Chicago Regional, and will face No. 15 seeded Southeastern Louisiana at 11:30 a.m. on Friday. The Cowboys are 24-6 overall this season and winners of the Big 12 Conference Tournament. Oklahoma State finished third in the league. SLU is 24-8 overall this season and champions of the Southland Conference tournament. The Lions finished second in the regular season to Northwestern State. It will be a short trip for the Cowboys, as the Ford Center is just 66 miles away from Gallagher-Iba Arena. Should the Cowboys defeat Southeastern Louisiana, OSU would play the winner of the Southern Illinois-St. Mary’s (Calif.) game on Sunday at 1:20 p.m.
Down the road
Should Oklahoma State advance to the Sweet 16, the Cowboys would play in the Chicago Regional, which begins Thursday, March 24. The games will be play at Allstate Arena. The other four teams in the lower half of the bracket with OSU include No. 3 seed Arizona, sixth-seeded LSU, No. 11 UAB and 14th-seeded Utah State.
Games on Television
All six games played in the Ford Center this weekend will be televised by CBS Sports. Craig Bolerjack will handle the play-by-play duties, while Bob Wenzel will provide color commentary. Oklahoma State had two games during the regular season televised by CBS Sports, and both times the commentators were Verne Lundquist and Billy Packer. OSU’s home game against Texas Tech and the game at Kansas were both on CBS.
The other bracket
While there are two separate brackets playing first and second round games in Oklahoma City this weekend, there are some interesting matchups that OSU fans will be interested in seeing. The other four teams playing in the Ford Center are from the Syracuse Regional. The first game pits No. 6 seeded Wisconsin against 11th-seeded Northern Iowa, while the late game will feature No. 3 Kansas against 14th-seeded Bucknell. The Jayhawks also played in Oklahoma State’s pod last year in Kansas City.
OSU in OKC and the Ford Center
Oklahoma State obviously has a distinct location advantage to this weekend’s NCAA Tournament. The Cowboys are very familiar with both the Oklahoma City area and the Ford Center. The Ford Center was opened on June 8, 2002, and since that opening, OSU has played three games inside the Ford Center. The Cowboys defeated BYU, 78-65, on Jan. 4, 2003, in the All-College Classic, and defeated SMU, 89-54, one year later on Jan. 3, 2004. This season, Oklahoma State lost to Gonzaga, 78-75, in the All-College. OSU is 8-2 in Oklahoma City during the Eddie Sutton era, including 1-1 in NCAA Tournament action. The Cowboys defeated New Mexico State, 65-55, but fell to Tulsa, 82-80, in the NCAA Tournament in the Myriad (now the Cox Convention Center) in 1994.
Back-to-back Big 12 titles
With a 72-68 win over Texas Tech Sunday afternoon, Oklahoma State won its second-consecutive Big 12 Tournament championship. In the last two seasons, OSU has won 75 percent of the league titles. The Cowboys won both the Big 12 Conference regular season and tournament titles last year. In fact, over the last two years, Oklahoma State has the best record in the league, both overall and in conference games only. OSU is 55-10 overall and 25-7 in league play. Oklahoma is 47-17 overall, while Kansas is 24-8 in Big 12 Conference action.
Last game
Joey Graham recorded a double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds, and the Cowboys defeated the Texas Tech Red Raiders for the third time this season as OSU won its second consecutive Big 12 Tournament title. Graham was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player after averaging 21.7 points in three victories, while John Lucas was also named to the all-tournament team. The Cowboys outscored the Red Raiders, 36-26, in the paint, and scored 21 fastbreak points to Tech’s 10. OSU committed 20 turnovers and was outrebounded by Texas Tech. However, after allowing the Red Raiders to shoot 54 percent in the first half, the Cowboys held Tech to just 33 percent shooting in the second period. Lucas led all Cowboys with 19 points, while JamesOn Curry added 11.
Series vs. the Lions
Oklahoma State is 2-0 all-time against the Southeastern Louisiana Lions, including a 1-0 mark in the Eddie Sutton era. OSU won the first meeting with a 61-54 victory in the Orange Bowl Classic on Dec. 21, 1983, in Miami, Fla. The second meeting came in Coach Sutton’s first year at OSU. The Cowboys defeated the Lions, 88-46, on Jan. 23, 1991, in Gallagher-Iba Arena. That year, the Pokes advanced to the Sweet 16.
Series vs. the Gaels
Oklahoma State is 3-0 all-time against the Saint Mary’s (Calif.) Gaels, with all three games being played in Gallagher-Iba Arena. The two teams first met on the hardwood on Dec. 23, 1946, just nine months after Oklahoma A&M won its second national title. The Aggies won that game, 34-33. OSU also defeated St. Mary’s, 66-63, on Dec. 4, 1985. As part of the Preseason NIT, OSU opened the 1996-97 season with a 71-70 victory over the Gaels on Nov. 20, 1996. All three wins came by a total of five points.
Series vs. the Salukis
Southern Illinois leads the all-time series with Oklahoma State, 3-1. The Cowboys won the first meeting, 83-54, on Dec. 3, 1963, in Stillwater. However, one year later, the Salukis defeated OSU on their home court, 78-55. On Feb. 22, 1966, SIU defeated OSU, 69-60, in Gallagher-Iba Arena. In Sutton’s first year at Oklahoma State, the Salukis defeated the 7-1 Cowboys, 85-73, in the first round of the Old Style Classic in Chicago, Ill., on Dec. 21, 1990.
Graham named NABC All-American
Senior forward Joey Graham has been named third-team All-America by the National Association of Basketball Coaches, it was announced last week. The Brandon, Fla., native was named third team along with Salim Stoudamire of Arizona, North Carolina’s Rashad McCants, Nate Robinson of Washington, and Boston College’s Craig Smith. Graham is the first Cowboy to be named an All-American by the NABC since Bryant Reeves earned third-team honors in 1995. Other former Cowboys that earned NABC All-America status were Gale McArthur (2nd team, 1951), Bob Mattick (2nd team, 1954) and Byron Houston (2nd team, 1992).
