Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowboys Face Salukis in First Round NIT Action
March 17, 2008 | Cowboy Basketball
Oklahoma State (17-15, 7-9 Big 12)
at Southern Illinois (17-14, 11-7 MVC)
First Round • MasterCard NIT
SIU Arena • Carbondale, Ill.
8 p.m. • Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Series History • SIU leads, 3-2
Last Meeting • March 20, 2005 in OKC
Outcome • OSU won, 85-77
Last Meeting in Carbondale • Dec. 1, 1964
Outcome • Southern Illinois won, 78-55
Television — ESPN2
Play-by-Play • Ron Franklin
Analyst • Fran Fraschilla
Producer • Eric Posman
Stillwater
SuddenLink Ch. 29
Oklahoma City
Cox Cable Ch. 28
Tulsa
Cox Cable Ch. 26
Radio — Cowboy Radio Network
Play-by-Play • Dave Hunziker
Analyst • John Holcomb
Sideline Reporter • Bryndon Manzer
Flagship Station — KSPI (93.7 FM)
Quick Notes
• Oklahoma State is playing in the post-season for the 12th-consecutive season and the 19th time in the last 20 years. The Cowboys are 6-10 all-time in nine NIT appearances.
• Guard James Anderson is just the second Cowboy freshman in school history to lead his team in scoring. Richard Dumas led OSU as a frosh with an average of 17.4 points per game in 1987-88.
• Point guard Byron Eaton became the first Cowboy in school history to record 100 or more assists in each of his freshman, sophomore and junior seasons.
• Despite averaging just 69 points per game, OSU has at least four different players averaging double-figure scoring for the 11th time in the last 20 seasons.
• Six different players have led Oklahoma State in scoring in a game this season, led by James Anderson’s 13 contests. Eight different players have led OSU in rebounding.
Young Guns
• Oklahoma State has four different freshman who have started at least two games this season. In fact, of the 160 starts by the Cowboys this season, 61 have been made by freshman, a little over 38 percent.
• Next season, OSU will return more than 85 percent of its point total from this year and 80 percent of its total rebounds.
• Despite losing senior Marcus Dove’s 1,082 minutes played this year, the Cowboys will return nearly 81 percent of its time played on the floor.
• In addition to two signees, OSU will also return Brad Garrett and Anthony Brown from injuries next year.
In the NIT
• Oklahoma State is making its third-consecutive appearance in the National Invitation Tournament and 10th appearance overall. OSU’s best finish is third in both 1938 and 1940.
• The Cowboys are participating in their 12th-straight post-season tournament and 19th in the last 20 years.
• OSU played in back-to-back National Invitation Tournaments in 1989 and 1990. This will mark the first time that the Cowboys have played in three-consecutive NITs.
• Nebraska is the only member of the 32-team field that OSU has played this season. The Cowboys defeated the Huskers 77-63 on March 1 in Stillwater.
• Since the format moved to home sites, OSU has advanced past the first round on three occasions, with all three victories coming in Stillwater. OSU has never won a road game in the NIT.
Series vs. the Salukis
• Oklahoma State is 2-3 all-time against Southern Illinois, including a loss in the Cowboys’ only visit to Carbondale in 1964.
• Marcus Dove of Oklahoma State and SIU’s Matt Shaw and Randal Falker are the only players that participated in the last meeting between these two schools in the NCAA Tournament in 2005.
• Shaw scored 10 points and grabbed five rebounds in 25 minutes of play. Falker picked up five fouls and had two turnovers in 12 minutes. Dove played less than a minute in the game.
• Senior Ivan McFarlin had a tremendous game in 2005, scoring 31 points on 10-of-13 shooting from the floor and 11-of-12 from the charity stripe. It was the most points by a Cowboy vs. Southern Illinois.
Series vs. the Sun Devils
• Should OSU defeat the Salukis on Tuesday, the Cowboys would either host Alabama State or travel to Tempe, Ariz., to face the Arizona State Sun Devils on Thursday. The Cowboys and Hornets have never met on the hardwood.
• Oklahoma State is 5-3 all-time against Arizona State, with all three losses coming in the state of Arizona. OSU is 0-2 in Tempe vs. the Sun Devils.
• OSU and Arizona State have not met since the 1997-98 season, the first time the Cowboys returned to the NCAA Tournament after a two-year hiatus. OSU defeated ASU 79-68 in Oklahoma City.
• All eight games in the series have been played in the month of December.
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 shot 45.5 percent from three-point range and made eight treys in 17.6 attempts per game.
• In the Pokes’ eight league losses, OSU shot 28.6 percent from beyond the arc and made 6.7 three-pointers in 23.3 attempts per contest.
• Defensively, Oklahoma State 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 23 games, and one of those was in a 93-83 win over Baylor in Stillwater.
• Eleven of the last 15 opponents have been held under 70 points, and 13 of the last 22 opponents have been held to under 65 points.
Pick Pockets
• Oklahoma State is averaging 8.19 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 game at Southern Illinois, he has 186 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 65 steals this season is the 10th-most in a single season in school history. His 67 as a freshman ranks 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 100 career blocked shots and moved past Desmond Mason and into seventh place on the school list.
• Dove is just the fourth Cowboy in school history to record at least 100 steals and 100 blocked shots in a career. He has 139 and 100, respectively.
• Ivan McFarlin (2001-05) had 170 steals and 156 blocked shots in his career while Byron Houston (1988-92) had 222 blocked shots and 159 steals. Leroy Combs had 167 blocked shots and 103 steals in his four-year career (1979-83).
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 683 long balls, the most in school history. The previous high was 643 during the 1998-99 season.
• The Cowboys are averaging 7.38 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, the fourth time this season the Cowboys have attempted 30 or more shots from long range. OSU had attempted 30 or more treys only twice before this season.
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 (64) and attempted (170) by a frosh in school history. JamesOn Curry was 45-of-104 in his inaugural season and held the previous record for both categories. His 64 makes is tied for the eighth most in a single season while his 170 attempts are tied for ninth in school history.
• 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 22 games — all starts — Thomas is averaging seven 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 11 games, he is averaging 4.5 points and 2.6 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 seven made free throws shy of the minimum.
• Byron Eaton is third in the league in free-throws, connecting on 79.7 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.
Cowboys No. 3 at the Charity Stripe
• Oklahoma State is shooting 71.7 percent from the free-throw line this season, ranking third among Big 12 teams.
• Baylor leads the league, shooting 74.2 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 8.19 steals per game, the third-highest average of any Big 12 team this season.
• Kansas leads the league, averaging 8.97 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 2.42 steals per game.
• Byron Eaton is second with 2.03 steals per game. Marcus Dove is fifth at 1.91 per game.
• Terrel Harris ranks eighth with 1.47 per contest.
Cowboys No. 3 in Long-Range Shooting
• Oklahoma State averages 7.38 three-pointers made per game, the third-highest average of any Big 12 team this season.
• Baylor leads the league, averaging 8.61 treys per contest.
• Texas is second in the Big 12, averaging 7.94 three-pointers per game.
• Kansas is fourth, averaging 6.85 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 387-170 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 five 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 .673 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.
