Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowboys Face Cyclones in First Round of Big 12 Championship
March 10, 2006 | Cowboy Basketball
2006 Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship
Oklahoma State (16-14, 6-10)
vs. Iowa State (16-13, 6-10)
Thursday, March 9, 2006 • 6:07 p.m.
American Airlines Center [20,467] • Dallas, Texas
Television — ESPN Regional
Play-by-Play • Dave Armstrong
Analyst • Chris Piper
Stillwater
KOCB-WB TV-34
Cox Communications Ch. 11
Oklahoma City
KOCB-WB TV-34
Cox Communications Ch. 11
Tulsa
KJRH-NBC TV-2
Cox Communications Ch. 9
Radio — Cowboy Sports Network
Dave Hunziker & Tom Dirato
Flagship Station - KSPI 93.7 FM (Stillwater)
internet - www.okstate.com
Cowboys Face Cyclones at Big 12s
Oklahoma State travels to Dallas, Texas, this week to compete in the 2006 Phillips 66 Big 12 Championships. The games will be held at the American Airlines Center. OSU will be the No. 7 seed and face No. 10 Iowa State on Thursday at 6:07 p.m. in the first round. Should the Cowboys win, they would face No. 2 Kansas on Friday night at 6:07 p.m. The Cyclones defeated the Cowboys earlier this season in Ames, 68-52.
Travel Plans
Oklahoma State will travel to Dallas on Tuesday afternoon following a brief practice in Stillwater. The Cowboys will be headquartered at The Hilton Anatole located at 2201 Stemmons Freeway. OSU will practice at the American Airlines Center on Wednesday from 3-4 p.m. with a press conference from 4-4:30 p.m. The Cowboys will have a closed practice at The Anatole prior to their scheduled time slot at the AAC.
On Television
The Cowboys' first round tournament game will be televised live by ESPN Regional. Dave Armstrong will handle the play-by-play duties while Chris Piper will provide color analysis. The games can be seen on KOCB TV-34 in Oklahoma City and Stillwater, and on KWBT TV-19 in Tulsa. Friday's quarterfinal games will also be aired on ESPN Regional. Saturday's semifinal games will be shown on espn2, while Sunday's championship game will be on ESPN.
Defending Big 12 Champions
Oklahoma State enters the 2006 Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship as the two-time defending champions. OSU has won the last two tournament finals, its first since the Big 12 formed in 1996-97. The Cowboys defeated the Texas Longhorns 65-49 in the 2004 finals, and outlasted the Texas Tech Red Raiders 72-68 in the 2005 championship game. Oklahoma State is on a six-game winning streak in the Big 12 Championship. OSU also won the last Big 12 Championship held in the American Airlines Center in Dallas, including a win over Iowa State in its first game of that tournament. OSU defeated Iowa State, Texas Tech and Texas as the No. 1 seed that year.
2005 Tournament Recap
Oklahoma State entered the tournament as the No. 3 seed, and narrowly defeated No. 11 Colorado 87-85 in the quarterfinals. CU had upset No. 6 Texas in the first round 81-69. OSU had a minor upset of its own in the semis, avenging an earlier loss at Kansas by defeating the No. 2-seeded Jayhawks 78-75. OSU defeated No. 4 seed Texas Tech, which had upset No. 1-seed Oklahoma in the semifinals, 72-68 for it's second-consecutive Big 12 title. Joey Graham was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player, and was joined on the all-tournament team by John Lucas.
2004 Tournament Recap
Oklahoma State earned the No. 1 seed as the Big 12 regular-season champion, and defeated Iowa State in the quarterfinals 83-75. OSU dispatched No. 5 seeded Texas Tech 82-77 in the semifinals, setting up a matchup with the top-two teams. No. 2-seed Texas had squeaked past No. 3 Kansas, but the Cowboys dominated the Longhorns and won their first-ever Big 12 Championship. It was just the fourth time in nine seasons that the Big 12 regular-season champion also won the Big 12 Tournament title. Tony Allen was named the tourney Most Outstanding Player, and was joined on the all-tournament team by Joey Graham and John Lucas.
Appearances in the Tournament Final
Seven times since the league tournament started in 1977 has Oklahoma State made the final game. OSU won its first appearance in the tournament final in 1983, defeating Missouri 93-92 in double overtime. The Cowboys lost to Kansas 66-57 in the 1992 Big Eight Championship, and lost to Nebraska 89-81 two years later in the 1994 title game. OSU won its first conference tournament title in 12 years in 1995, defeating Iowa State 62-53. The Pokes made their first appearance in a Big 12 title game in 1999, falling to Kansas 53-37 after starting out as the No. 5 seed and having played four games in four days. OSU's last two appearances in the championship game have resulted in wins by the Cowboys.
Four Games in Four Days?
Three times in the nine previous Big 12 Championships has a team that played in the first round made it to the championship game. Missouri has done it twice, first in 1997 and again in 2003. Oklahoma State did it as well in 1999. Only once in the Big 12 Championship history has the lower-seeded team in the finals won the game. That occured in 2002, when No. 2 Oklahoma defeated No. 1 Kansas 64-55 for the tournament title.
Miscellaneous Tournament History Notes
The Cowboys are 3-0 in the first round of the Big 12 postseason tourney. OSU entered the 1997 tournament as the No. 8 seed and defeated No. 9 Baylor, 80-66. In both 1999 and 2001, Oklahoma State entered the tournament as the No. 5 seed and won both games. OSU is 0-4 all-time as the No. 7 seed in the tournament, all in the old Big Eight days. The Cowboys are 0-1 vs. a No. 10 seed, having lost to No. 10 Texas 65-64 as a No. 2 seed in the 1998 tournament.
About the Cyclones
Iowa State is 16-13 overall this season, 6-10 in Big 12 Conference action. The Cyclones fell to the No. 10 seed by virtue of the tiebreaking process. ISU is led by a pair of junior guards, Curtis Stinson and Will Blalock. Those two are averaging 19.3 and 15.4 points per game, respectively. They also lead the team in assists; Blalock has 177 and Stinson has 161. Rahshon Clark is also averaging double-figures in scoring at 13.2 per game, and leads the team with 5.7 rebounds per contest. Iowa State has lost six of its last eight games, including five straight on the road. The Cyclones defeated OSU in the earlier meeting, a 68-52 victory over the Pokes in Ames.
Series History with ISU
Oklahoma State leads the all-time series with Iowa State, 55-51, including a 1-0 mark in Dallas. The Cyclones win over the Cowboys earlier this season broke a six-game winning streak by OSU in the series. These two teams met two years ago in the American Airlines Center with Oklahoma State winning 83-75. Since the Big 12 formed in 1996-97, OSU is 9-3 against the Cyclones. Here is a look at the results since the Big 12 formed:
Last Time vs. Iowa State
Mario Boggan scored 17 points and Byron Eaton added 12, but Oklahoma State made just seven trips to the free-throw line compared to 26 by Iowa State as the Cyclones defeated the Cowboys 68-52 inside Hilton Coliseum. ISU forced 24 turnovers by the Pokes, 12 more than the Cyclones committed. Rahshon Clark scored 19 for Iowa State while Curtis Stinson added 18. Both teams shot very poorly from the floor; OSU shot 40 percent from the field, including 5 of 24 from beyond the three-point arc. Iowa State was even worse, shooting 38.5 percent from the floor, including 1-of-12 from long range. Eaton and JamesOn Curry each committed six turnovers for the Pokes while recording nine assists between the two of them.
Big 12 Championship Memory — OSU vs. ISU
Oklahoma State and Iowa State have met six times in the Big Eight/Big 12 Tournament, with OSU holding a 6-2 edge in the series. They've met twice in the Big 12 Championship, splitting the two. OSU won the last meeting, which happened to be in Dallas, 83-75.
Recap of the 2004 Quarterfinal Game
Tony Allen, the coaches' pick for the Big 12's Player of the Year honor, made a key steal and John Lucas, the media's choice for the same honor, followed with a short jumper and a wide-open three pointer, sending the No. 7 Cowboys past Iowa State 83-75 in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tournament. Joey Graham carried the top-seeded Cowboys until picking up his fourth foul with eight minutes left. The Cyclones tied it at 59 soon after. Then came Allen's steal off an inbounds pass. He dribbled down and found Lucas on the baseline for the go-ahead bucket. After Jackson Vroman missed two chances for Iowa State to tie it, he dove to steal the ball from Lucas and wound up giving the point guard a clear look at the basket. OSU followed with two free throws from Graham, two nifty layups in traffice by Ivan McFarlin and a pull-up jumper by Lucas, capping a 13-4 run that put the Cowboys ahead for good.
Notes on Kansas
Should Oklahoma State advance to the quarterfinal round, the Cowboys would face No. 2 Kansas. OSU and KU have met in the conference tournament 11 times, with the Jayhawks holding an 7-4 edge. OSU defeated KU in last year's meeting, avenging an earlier loss at Lawrence with a 78-75 victory in the semifinals. The Cowboys also defeated the Jayhawks in the 2000 tournament 77-58 in the quarterfinals. Kansas defeated Oklahoma State in the finals of the 1999 event 53-37 after OSU played four games in four days. The two teams have an even record at 2-2 in the league tournament since the Big 12 Championship began in 1997.
Last Time Out
Mario Boggan scored a game-high 25 points and David Monds recorded his third-career double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds off the bench as Oklahoma State squeaked past Baylor 79-76 Saturday night inside Gallagher-Iba Arena. It was Senior Night for the Cowboys and OSU's two seniors — Aaron Pettway and Luke Byler — both started. It was the first-career start for Byler, a walkon who had been a manager for the Pokes the previous two seasons. OSU outrebounded the Bears 36-23 and went to the line 39 times, connecting on 32. Oklahoma State trailed by nine at halftime, 40-31, but outscored Baylor 48-36 in the second period.
Call Him “The Thief”
Freshman guard Byron Eaton recorded a season-high seven steals against the Oklahoma Sooners in Norman, establishing a new record for a freshman. The previous record for a freshman was five, held by three players, most recently by Ivan McFarlin, who had five steals against New Orleans on Nov. 29, 2001. Eaton's seven thefts ties for the third-most in school history, one shy of the school record of eight, held by Desmond Mason and Brooks Thompson. With 58 steals this season, Eaton has also established a school record for freshmen in that category. The previous high was 49 by Richard Dumas during the 1987-88 season. Eaton's 58 steals this season rank 13th on the all-time school single-season steals list. Byron's 58 steals rank fifth on the all-time Big 12 list for freshmen.
Dishing the Ball
Sophomore guard JamesOn Curry has accumulated 124 assists this season and has 217 in his two-year career at Oklahoma State. He is just one assist shy of becoming the 24th player in school history to record 125 assists in a single season, and he needs 12 assists to have the second-most assists by a sophomore in school history, surpassing Randy Wright, who had 135 in 1978-79. JamesOn's career total ranks 19th on the all-time school list.
Cowboys in the Big 12
Oklahoma State leads the Big 12 Conference in field goal shooting, connecting on 48.3 percent of its shots from the floor. OSU also leads the league in free throw percentage at 74.7 percent. Individually, Mario Boggan is second in the league in field-goal percentage and third in free-throw percentage at 58.5 and 80.5 percent, respectively. JamesOn Curry is fourth in assists with 124, while Byron Eaton is sixth in steals with 58. Boggan and Curry rank 11th and 16th, respectively, in points per game.
Boggan, Curry Named All-Big 12
Junior Mario Boggan and sophomore JamesOn Curry were both named All-Big 12 honorable mention, it was announced Monday, in a vote of the league coaches. They become the 30th and 31st Cowboys named to an All-Big 12 squad. This marks the first time in the history of the Big 12 that Oklahoma State did not have someone listed on the All-Big 12 first, second or third team.
Boggan Leads the League
Junior forward Mario Boggan finished the Big 12 Conference season as the statistical champion in two categories. Mario led the league in field-goal percentage at 55.2 percent, 17 points better than Texas' LaMarcus Aldridge. Boggan also led the conference in free-throw percentage at 84.6 percent, 13 points better than Kansas' Mario Chalmers and Cartier Martin of Kansas State. Boggan was eighth in the league in scoring at 15.1 points per game and 12th in the league in rebounding at 6.1 boards per contest. He was also 14th in the Big 12 in blocked shots at 0.94 deflections per game. Boggan was unquestionably the strongest candidate for Big 12 Newcomer of the Year, yet failed to even be mentioned by the league coaches on the Big 12's All-Rookie team. Fortunately, the 10th annual specialty teams that are selected by a panel of sportswriters who regularly cover the conference selected Boggan, along with teammate Torre Johnson, to the All-Newcomer squad.
Big 12 Specialty Teams
Besides the players honored on the all-newcomer team voted on by the sports writers, a few others were also mentioned. Sophomore Marcus Dove was named to the all-defense team, while junior Torre Johnson was named to the all-reserve team. Junior David Monds was named to the all-improved squad.
