Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowboys to Compete in Big 12 Championship
March 11, 2008 | Cowboy Basketball
Oklahoma State (16-14, 7-9)
at the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship
Thursday - Sunday, March 13 - 16
Sprint Center • Kansas City, Mo.
OSU vs. Texas Tech
Series History • OSU leads, 28-13
Last Meeting • Feb. 2, 2008 in Lubbock
Outcome • Texas Tech won, 67-60
Last Meeting in Kansas City • Mar. 13, 2005
Outcome • Oklahoma State won, 72-68
Television on Thursday — ESPN 2
Play-by-Play • Ron Franklin
Analyst • Fran Fraschilla
Producer • Casey Carter
Television on Friday — ESPN Plus/ESPN U
Play-by-Play • Dave Armstrong
Analyst • Reid Gettys
Producer • Bob Helmers
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. 241/242
Oklahoma State at the Big 12 Championship
• Oklahoma State won back-to-back Big 12 Championship titles in 2004 and 2005. The Cowboys finished as runners-up in the 1999 title game, giving OSU three appearances in the championship game.
• Oklahoma State is one of four teams to have won a Big 12 Championship in its first 11 seasons. Only Kansas (five titles), Oklahoma (three), Oklahoma State (two) and Iowa State (one) have taken home the trophy.
• Seven Big 12 squads have appeared in the title game. Only Kansas (six appearances), Oklahoma (five) and Texas (four) have made more appearances that OSU’s three.
• Oklahoma State is 5-0 in first-round games, having never lost in a Thursday matchup. OSU has never been the underdog in a first-round game, having served as the No. 5 seed twice, the No. 7 seed twice and the No. 8 seed once.
• The Cowboys are 1-0 against the tournament’s No. 8 seed. As the top seed in the 2004 Big 12 Championship, OSU defeated No. 8 Iowa State 83-75 in the quarterfinals.
• Oklahoma State’s most common opponent in the Big 12 Championship has been Kansas and Texas. The Cowboys have faced both teams a total of five times, with a 2-3 record vs. each.
• The next most common opponent has been Texas Tech. OSU is 3-1 against the Red Raiders.
• Oklahoma State and Missouri are the only two teams that have advanced to the title game despite playing on Thursday. The Cowboys were the No. 5 seed in 1999 and defeated No. 12 Baylor, No. 4 Oklahoma and No. 1 Texas en route to a runner-up finish to Kansas. Missouri advanced to the championship game twice (1997, 2003) despite playing on Thursday.
• The Cowboys won seven-straight games in the Big 12 Championship from 2004-06. Only Kansas (10 consecutive wins from 1997-2000) and Oklahoma (10 straight from 2001-04) have won more consecutive games. The Jayhawks have won six straight entering this year’s tournament.
Cowboys Garner Postseason League Honors
• Senior Marcus Dove was named the Big 12 Conference’s Defensive Player of the Year in a vote of the league coaches. It was his second-consecutive honor as he was named the co-Defensive Player of the Year last season.
• Junior Byron Eaton was named All-Big 12 Third Team. It was his first such honor.
• Dove and freshman James Anderson were named All-Big 12 Honorable Mention.
• Dove was named to the Big 12 All-Defensive Team, while Anderson was named to the Big 12 All-Rookie Team.
OSU on the Specialty Squads
• The sports writers who regularly cover the Big 12 Conference annually release a list of Big 12 Specialty Teams.
• James Anderson was named to the all-freshman team.
• Senior Marcus Dove was named to the all-defense team.
• Sophomore Obi Muonelo was named to the all-reserve team.
Eaton Named to KC Star’s All-Big 12 Team
• Junior guard Byron Eaton was named a second-team All-Big 12 selection by the Kansas City Star, it was announced Monday.
• Eaton joins Oklahoma’s Blake Griffin, Bill Walker of Kansas State, Kansas’ Brandon Rush and Damion James of Texas.
• The Star’s first team comprised of Kansas State’s Michael Beasley, D.J. Augustin of Texas, Baylor’s Curtis Jerrells, Darrell Arthur of Kansas and Nebraska’s Aleks Maric.
Live by the Three, Die by the Three
• In Oklahoma State’s seven Big 12 Conference wins, the Cowboys are shooting 45.5 percent from three-point range and making eight treys in 17.6 attempts per game.
• In the Pokes’ eight league losses, OSU is shooting 28.6 percent from beyond the arc and making 6.7 three-pointers in 23.3 attempts per contest.
• Defensively, Oklahoma State has allowed the opponent to shoot just 31.1 percent in seven wins, compared to 40 percent in the nine losses. There’s also a nearly two three-pointers per game difference by the foes between wins and losses.
Defense Stepping Up
• Oklahoma State’s defense improved in Big 12 Conference play this season and even moreso compared to last year’s league-games only statistics.
• OSU’s scoring defense in conference games (66.8 points per game) was just 1.2 points higher than it was for non-league games (65.6).
• In what most would say was an easier non-conference schedule last season, the Pokes allowed an identical 65.6 points per game, yet struggled defensively in league play, allowing 76 points per contest to Big 12 foes.
• OSU has allowed 80 points or more just twice in the last 21 games, and one of those was in a 93-83 win over Baylor in Stillwater.
• Ten of the last 13 league opponents have been held under 70 points, and 13 of the last 20 opponents have been held to under 65 points.
Pick Pockets
• Oklahoma State is averaging 8.23 steals per game this season which currently ranks as the sixth-highest average in school history.
• The school record is 9.03 set during the 1988-89 season.
• 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 Texas Tech game, he has 183 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.
• His 62 steals this season ties for the 11th-most in a single season in school history. His 67 as a freshman rank eighth.
• He has also become just the third Cowboy in school history to record 60 or more steals in multiple seasons. Brooks Thompson had 70 in 1992-93 and 99 in 1993-94, while Tony Allen recorded 62 in 2002-03 and 72 in 2003-04.
Dove Swatting Shots
• Senior Marcus Dove has 99 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 133 and 99, respectively.
• Should Dove reach 100 blocked shots (he needs one more entering Thursday’s game vs. Texas Tech), 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 21.3 attempts from long range this season. The school record is 18.9 attempts per game in 1998-99.
• OSU has attempted 639 long balls, the second-most in school history. Five more attempts will establish a new school record.
• The Cowboys are averaging 7.40 makes this year, the second-most in school history. The school record is 7.59 during the 1993-94 season.
• Oklahoma State attempted 31 treys in its last game against Texas Tech.
Freshman Phenom
• With eight points at Texas, James Anderson became just the second Cowboy freshman in school history to score 400 points in his rookie season. Only Richard Dumas scored more in his freshman season as a Cowboy.
• James has already secured the record for most treys made (62) and attempted (164) by a frosh in school history. JamesOn Curry was 45-of-104 in his inaugural season and held the previous record for both categories.
• 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 20 games — all starts — Thomas is averaging 6.5 points and 4.7 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 nine games, he is averaging 4.3 points and 3.0 rebounds per game.
• Prior to the last nine contests, he was averaging just 2.3 points and 1.8 boards per contest.
Harris, Eaton Like the Freebies
• Terrel Harris would rank second in the Big 12 Conference in free-throw shooting if he had enough makes to qualify. He’s four made free throws shy of the minimum.
• Byron Eaton is third in the league in free-throws, connecting on 81.2 percent of his shots from the charity stripe.
• 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.
Oklahoma State No. 3 at the Charity Stripe
• Oklahoma State is shooting 72.1 percent from the free-throw line this season, ranking third among Big 12 teams.
• Baylor leads the league, shooting 74.4 percent from the charity stripe.
• A total of five league teams are shooting 70 percent or better from the line.
Cowboys Third in Big 12 in Steals
• Oklahoma State averages 8.23 steals per game, the third-highest average of any Big 12 team this season.
• Kansas leads the league, averaging 9.13 per contest.
Three Cowboys Rank in the top-10
• Three Cowboys are ranked in the top-eight individually in the Big 12 Conference in steals per game.
• Kansas’ Mario Chalmers leads the league, averaging 2.4 steals per game.
• Byron Eaton is second with 2.07 steals per game. Marcus Dove is sixth at 1.83 per game.
• Terrel Harris ranks eighth with 1.47 per contest.
Cowboys No. 3 in Long-Range Shooting
• Oklahoma State averages 7.4 three-pointers made per game, the third-highest average of any Big 12 team this season.
• Baylor leads the league, averaging 8.63 treys per contest.
• Texas is second in the Big 12, averaging 7.74 three-pointers per game.
• Kansas is fourth, averaging 6.71 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 6-10 vs. ranked teams, including 3-5 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.
• 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 386-169 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 .675 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.
