Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowboys Host Sooners in Bedlam Action
November 17, 2008 | Cowboy Basketball
Oklahoma State (16-12, 7-7)
vs Oklahoma (19-10, 7-7)
Wednesday, March 5 • 7 p.m.
Gallagher-Iba Arena • Stillwater, Okla.
Series History • Oklahoma leads, 122-89
Last Meeting • Jan. 28, 2008 in Norman
Outcome • Oklahoma won, 64-61
Last Meeting in Stillwater • Jan. 22, 2007
Outcome • OSU won, 66-61
Television — ESPN Plus
Play-by-Play • Bob Carpenter
Analyst • Paul Splittorff
Stillwater
KOCB Channel 34
Oklahoma City
KOCB Channel 34
Tulsa
KJRH Channel 2
Radio — Cowboy Radio Network
Play-by-Play • Dave Hunziker
Analyst • John Holcomb
Sideline Reporter • Bryndon Manzer
Flagship Station — KSPI (93.7 FM)
XM satellite radio — Ch. 242
Quick Notes
• After winning six of its last seven games, Oklahoma State is tied for fifth place and is just one game out of third in the Big 12 standings. Four weeks ago, OSU was on a six-game losing streak and tied with Colorado for last place.
• Of Oklahoma State’s nine players seeing regular court time, five are freshmen, and another, sophomore Obi Muonelo, has played just 45 games in his career after missing half of last season with an injury. Nearly 40 percent (54 of 140) of the starts this season have been by true freshmen.
• OSU has won 108 of its last 125 games at home, good for a 86.4 winning percentage. The Cowboys have won 45 of 59 games against Big 12 South Division schools inside Gallagher-Iba Arena since the Big 12 formed in 1996-97. In those previous 11 seasons, OSU has never had fewer than three wins vs. South Division opponents.
• The Oklahoma game is just the third of the season to be televised by ESPN Plus. The Cowboys lost at Iowa State and defeated Nebraska on ESPN Plus.
The Bedlam Series
• Talk about defense ... only twice in the last 21 games has the loser in the Bedlam game scored at least 70 points. In fact, in 13 of those games, the winner failed to score 70 points as well. Neither team has reached 70 points in the last four contests. Quite a contrast from the 1980s when one team or the other scored 100 points on 10 occasions.
• Despite the overall one-sidedness of the series in OU’s favor, the series is in fact quite close. Over the last 74 seasons — since Henry Iba first came to OSU — the series is 80-79 in favor of Oklahoma State.
• Since 1990, the Cowboys have swept the Sooners three times, OU has swept OSU twice, and the teams have split the regular-season series on 12 occasions.
• Dating back to the 1934-35 season, the regular-season series has been split 41 times, Oklahoma State has taken the two-game series on 17 occasions, and the Sooners have swept the Cowboys 15 times.
• Junior guard Byron Eaton has played extremely well in the Bedlam series. In five games, he’s averaging 13.6 points, 2.6 assists and 2.6 steals per contest. He’s 7 of 15 (46.7 percent) from long range and 23 of 25 (82.1 percent) from the free-throw line.
• Sophomore guard Obi Muonelo, an Oklahoma native, had a career day in the first meeting with OU. He scored a career-high 25 points on 8 of 15 shooting, including 5 of 9 from three point range and a perfect 4-of-4 from the free-throw line.
• Oklahoma State was perfect at the free-throw line, connecting on all 17 attempts from the charity stripe. That performance established a school record for most free-throws made in a perfect outing. The previous best was 14 of 14 at SMU on Nov. 29, 2004.
Over the Last Five Games
• Oklahoma State has won five-straight games, including a one-point victory over No. 4 Kansas, a five-point win at No. 16 Texas A&M and a victory at Missouri where the Cowboys have only won seven times in school history.
• The A&M win in College Station ended a 19-game road-losing streak.
• During that span, the Cowboys have made 11 more free throws (91) than the opponents have attempted (80).
• In the last five games, OSU is shooting 76.5 percent from the free-throw line and an amazing 48.9 percent (44 of 90) from three-point range.
• Defensively, the Cowboys have allowed their last five opponents very little breathing room on the perimeter. OSU’s opponents are shooting just 30.3 percent from three-point range during the streak and averaging just 4.6 treys per game.
• Oklahoma State is also forcing 15 turnovers over the last five games.
Defense Stepping Up
• Comparatively speaking, Oklahoma State’s “D” has improved dramatically since Big 12 Conference play started and even moreso compared to last year’s league-games only statistics.
• OSU’s scoring defense for all games (66.3 points allowed per game) is nearly one point lower than its scoring defense for conference-games only (67), yet the Cowboys’ ranking has improved during league games.
• The Cowboys’ scoring defense for all games ranks eighth in the league, while it’s scoring defense for league-games only ranks fifth.
• Oklahoma State allowed an average of 76 points in 16 Big 12 games last season, nine points higher than this year’s average.
• OSU has given up 80 points or more just twice in the last 19 games, and one of those was in a 93-83 win over Baylor in Stillwater.
• Twelve of the last 18 opponents have been held to under 65 points.
Pick Pockets
• Oklahoma State is averaging 8.46 steals per game this season which currently ranks as the fifth-highest average in school history.
• The school record is 9.03 set during the 1988-89 season. The 2002-03 Cowboys averaged 8.94 steals per game.
• The Pokes had 18 steals during the Prairie View A&M game, the second most in school history. They had 12 at halftime, establishing a school record for steals in a single period.
Eaton Establishes New Record
• Junior guard Byron Eaton has established a new school record for career steals. Entering the Oklahoma game, he has 181 career thefts.
• He is just the fifth Cowboy in school history to have at least 10 games with four or more steals in a career.
• Eaton is only the seventh Cowboy to have recorded at least 300 assists and 150 steals in a career.
Dove Swatting Shots
• Senior Marcus Dove has 97 career blocked shots and moved past Desmond Mason and into seventh place on the school list.
• Dove is just the fifth Cowboy in school history to record at least 100 steals and 75 blocked shots in a career. He has 131 and 97, respectively.
• Should Dove reach 100 blocked shots (he needs three more entering Wednesday’s game vs. Oklahoma), he would become just the fourth Cowboy in school history to have 100 steals and 100 blocked shots.
From Long Range
• Oklahoma State is averaging 21.1 attempts from long range this season. The school record is 18.9 attempts per game in 1998-99.
• The Cowboys are averaging 7.54 makes this year. The school record is 7.59 during the 1993-94 season.
• The Cowboys attempted 34 three-point shots against North Texas, the most in school history.
• OSU made 14 treys at Missouri, one shy of the school record and tied for the most against a Division I school in school history.
• On the flip side, OSU limited Texas A&M-Corpus Christi to just 1-of-18 shots from three-point range, establishing a Gallagher-Iba Arena record with at least 10 attempts. The previous low was 1-of-17 by Baylor on Jan. 20, 1999.
• The Pokes held Northwestern State to 1-of-16 makes from long range and limited Texas Tech to just 1-of-8 shooting from beyond the arc.
Freshman Phenom
• With 12 points at Texas Tech, James Anderson became just the ninth Cowboy freshman in school history to score 300 points in his rookie season.
• He has already secured the record for most treys made (60) and attempted (155) by a frosh in school history. JamesOn Curry was 45-of-104 in his inaugural season and held the previous record for both categories.
• With 13 points at Missouri, Anderson moved past Corey Williams for third place on the school freshman scoring list. He needs two to surpass Byron Houston for second place on the list.
• In his first official game in an OSU uniform, Anderson scored a game-high 29 points, tying the school record for most points by a freshman. Byron Houston had 29 against Kansas State on Jan. 25, 1989.
• Anderson’s 29 points were also the fourth-most by any Cowboy in a season opener, regardless of class.
Other Rookies Stepping Up
• Freshmen posts Ibrahima Thomas and Martavius Adams have shown dramatic improvement over the second half of the season.
• Over the last 18 games — all starts — Thomas is averaging 6.9 points and 4.8 rebounds per game.
• In his first 10 games, the Senegal native was averaging 4.1 points and 2.9 rebounds per contest.
• Adams played a career-high 30 minutes against Kansas.
• In the last seven games, he is averaging 5.0 points and 3.1 rebounds per game.
• Prior to the last seven contests, he was averaging just 2.3 points and 1.8 rebounds per game.
Harris, Eaton Like the Freebies
• Terrel Harris would lead the Big 12 Conference in free-throw shooting if he had enough makes to qualify.
• Byron Eaton is third in the league in free-throws, connecting on 81.5 percent of his freebies.
• Eaton was 14 of 16 from the free-throw line against Baylor and 16 of 18 vs. Kansas.
• It was the most free-throws made in a game by a Cowboy since Rick Anderson made 17 at Kansas on Feb. 6, 1985. It was the most attempts by a Poke since Bryant Reeves attempted 19 vs. Missouri on Jan. 22, 1995.
Cowboys No. 3 in Big 12 in Steals
• Oklahoma State averages 8.46 steals per game, the third-highest average of any Big 12 team this season.
• Kansas leads the league, averaging 9.07 per contest.
• Nebraska is second in the Big 12, averaging just 0.05 steals per game more than the Pokes.
Three Cowboys Rank in the top-10
• Three Cowboys are ranked in the top-10 individually in the Big 12 Conference in steals per game.
• Kansas’ Mario Chalmers leads the league, averaging 2.37 steals per game.
• Byron Eaton is second with 2.14 steals per game. Marcus Dove is fifth at 1.89 per game.
• Terrel Harris ranks eighth with 1.5 per contest.
Cowboys Third in Long-Range Shooting
• Oklahoma State averages more than 7.5 three-pointers made per game, the third-highest average of any Big 12 team this season.
• Baylor leads the league, averaging 8.8 treys per contest.
• Texas is second in the Big 12, averaging 7.8 three-pointers per game.
• Missouri is fourth, averaging 6.8 treys per game.
Sutton Wins and Wins Big
• Sean Sutton won four games over ranked opponents in his first season as the head coach, including victories over two top-10 foes. He is now 6-9 vs. ranked teams, including 3-4 vs. top-10 opponents.
• His Cowboys were ranked as high as No. 9 in the polls in his initial season.
• Among eight Big 12 head coaches in either their first or second season, Sutton ranks first in victories with 38. He is third when sorted by winning percentage, behind Mark Turgeon at Texas A&M and Kansas State’s Frank Martin, both in their first year as head coach.
• Sutton has been involved with the Cowboy Basketball program for 17 seasons, including two as a player, 13 as an assistant to his father and two as the head coach.
• During that span, OSU has compiled a 386-167 record.
• While Sutton has been a member of the coaching staff, Oklahoma State has turned out three All-Americans, 44 all-conference selections and 20 academic all-league honorees.
• OSU has made 12 NCAA Tournament appearances, including six Sweet 16s, three Elite Eights and two Final Fours.
OSU Among Best in Big 12
• Oklahoma State is one of four school in the Big 12 that has won at least 100 games over the past five seasons.
• Only Kansas and Texas have more victories.
• OSU’s .683 winning percentage ranks third in the league as well.
• The Cowboys’ 2004 Final Four appearance is the last by a Big 12 squad.
• Only OSU, Kansas and Texas have two Sweet 16 appearances in the last five seasons.
