Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowboys Take On TCU
February 26, 2013 | Cowboy Basketball
Feb. 26, 2013
No. 15 Oklahoma State at TCU
6 pm | Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Fort Worth, Texas | Daniel-Meyer Coliseum (7,201)
Television — ESPNU
Mitch Holthus | play-by-play
Matt Doherty | analyst
Cox (OKC) — 253
Cox (Tulsa) — 253
Suddenlink — 503
direcTV — 208
Dish — 141
AT&T U-Verse — 605
Radio — Cowboy Radio Network
Dave Hunziker | play-by-play
John Holcomb | analyst
Satellite Radio — Sirius 134 • XM 193
Game Notes vs TCU in PDF format
Game Information
Oklahoma State travels to Fort Worth, Texas, this week to take on its second Big 12 newcomer on the road in as many games as the Cowboys face TCU on Wednesday, Feb. 27, at 6 pm inside Daniel-Meyer Coliseum. The game will be televised on ESPNU, with Mitch Holthus handling the play-by-play duties and Matt Doherty providing expert analysis.
About Oklahoma State
OSU is 20-6 overall and 10-4 in Big 12 action following a 73-57 win at West Virginia on Saturday. The Cowboys are in third place in the Big 12 Conference standings, one game behind Kansas and Kansas State. OSU is ranked No. 15 in the Associated Press poll and 18th in the USA Today Coaches poll. The Cowboys are No. 10 in ESPN's Basketball Power Index.
Markel Brown leads OSU offensively, averaging 15.9 ppg while shooting 38.9 percent from beyond the arc. Marcus Smart is second with his 15 ppg, while Le'Bryan Nash is chipping in 13.2 ppg. Smart leads the Pokes in assists (113) and steals (75). Michael Cobbins and Philip Jurick are leading the team in rebounds, averaging 6.4 and 6.3 boards per game, respectively. Phil Forte is also averaging double figures in scoring at 11 points per contest and shooting 89.4 percent from the free-throw line.
The Cowboy defense is limiting its opponents to just 61.6 points per game and 39 percent shooting from the floor. OSU has held 20 opponents under 70 points this year, and is second in league-games only in scoring margin (+7.6 ppg), rebounding margin (+2.0 rpg) and turnover margin (+2.5). Five Cowboys have blocked 18 or more shots this season: Michael Cobbins has 34, Jurick has 26, Brown has 23, Smart has 20 and Kamari Murphy has blocked 18 shots.
About TCU
TCU is 10-17 overall this season and 1-13 in Big 12 Conference action following a 74-48 loss at Kansas on Saturday. The Horned Frogs have lost five straight following their first win as a Big 12 league member over the Jayhawks on Feb. 6. TCU is led by sophomore guard Kyan Anderson who is averaging 11.2 ppg and 3.4 apg. Senior forward Adrick McKinney is leading the team in rebounding at 6.4 rpg. As a team, the Horned Frogs are allowing just 61.1 points per contest, but have a -7.2 scoring margin. Trent Johnson is in his first year as the head coach at TCU, and is 236-202 in his 14th season coaching overall.
Cowboy Quick Hits
• OSU has defeated two top-10 teams this season, both away from Gallagher-Iba Arena (#6/6 N.C. State in Puerto Rico, #1/2 Kansas in Lawrence).
• Junior guard Markel Brown needs just 19 points to become the 37th player in school history to score 1,000 career points.
• Oklahoma State leads the Big 12 Conference in turnover margin, averaging 2.81 fewer turnovers per game than its opponents.
• Marcus Smart leads the league in steals, is fourth in scoring, sixth in assists and 16th in rebounding.
• Smart is averaging 4.34 assists per game, the highest average by any freshman on a team ranked in the top 25.
• Phil Forte is averaging 2.23 treys per game, the seventh-highest average nationally for a freshman.
• Michael Cobbins is averaging 6.43 rebounds per game this season, higher than any other sophomore in the Big 12 Conference.
• OSU is the only team in the Big 12 Conference that has three different players ranked among the league's top 12 in scoring and four among the top 20.
Series History vs TCU
Oklahoma State leads the all-time series history with TCU 18-2, including a 63-45 win earlier this season in Stillwater. Although that was the first game the teams played as Big 12 Conference members, it was not the first that they had played as league members. OSU and TCU were both members of the Southwest Conference back in 1923-24 and 1924-25, and played each other twice in both seasons, with Oklahoma State holding a 3-1 series edge.
The two squads played intermittently throughout the next eight decades, mostly in the All-College Classic in Oklahoma City. There were also two simple neutral-site meetings in OKC (1945 & '47), and a matchup in 1969 as part of the Texas Classic in Fort Worth. There was a home-and-home series in the early 1990s (1992 & '93), as well as later that decade (1997 & '98). OSU and TCU also played each other in the 2001 and 2005 Las Vegas Invitational. However, the most important meeting in the series was the 1953 NCAA Tournament regional semifinal matchup in Manhattan, Kan.
It was the Missouri Valley champions versus the winners of the Southwest Conference for the opportunity to face the defending national champion Kansas Jayhawks in the regional final. Bob Mattick scored 35 points on 13-of-18 shooting from the floor and 9-of-14 free throws as Oklahoma State won 71-54. The Horned Frogs played close for three quarters, trailing on 46-42 going into the final period. The score was tied 10 times and there were 11 lead changes before Mattick's layup three minutes after intermission put the Cowboys up for good. OSU outscored TCU 25-12 in the fourth quarter. Ray Warren scored 22 points for the Horned Frogs and kept them in close contention the rest of the third, but TCU could never pull even. Kendall Sheets scored 15 points for OSU while Harold Rogers added 10.
OSU's 95-77 victory over TCU was for the 2001 Las Vegas Invitational championship. The 66-58 victory vs TCU pushed the Pokes into the 2005 LVI title game.
Last Time vs the Horned Frogs
Marcus Smart and Markel Brown each scored 14 points, and Le'Bryan Nash added 13 as Oklahoma State defeated TCU 63-45 in the first meeting as Big 12 Conference foes.
Philip Jurick grabbed 10 rebounds for Oklahoma State, which owned a 40-17 rebounding edge. Nash, Brown and Kamari Murphy each had six boards. Brown also added five assists and three steals.
TCU's Garlon Green led all scorers with 20 points. Kyan Anderson finished with 10.
Oklahoma State led 36-22 at halftime and back-to-back field goals by Brown pushed the lead to 50-30 with 12:14 remaining. TCU got no closer than 14 the rest of the way. The teams combined for 45 turnovers, 24 by the Cowboys, who broke a two-game losing streak.
Balanced Scoring
Oklahoma State is the only team in the Big 12 Conference that has three different players ranked among the league's top 12 in scoring and four players ranked among the top 20. Markel Brown ranks second (15.9 ppg), Marcus Smart ranks fourth (15.0 ppg), Le'Bryan Nash ranks 12th (13.2 ppg) and Phil Forte ranks 20th (11.0 ppg) in the Big 12 scoring ranks. Baylor, Iowa State and Kansas each have two scorers ranked among the top 12, and the Cyclones have three players ranked in the top 20. Not surprisingly, all three of the Cowboys who rank among the league's best scorers are also among the Big 12's top-10 free-throw shooters (Smart ranks seventh, Nash 10th and Brown 11th in free-throw percentage).
Free-Throw Shooting
Oklahoma State ranks second in the Big 12 Conference in free-throw percentage at 74.1 percent. Five different Cowboys are shooting better than 73 percent from the line: Phil Forte (89.4%), Marcus Smart (78.0%), Michael Cobbins (75.0%), Le'Bryan Nash (74.6%) and Markel Brown (73.0%). Oklahoma State has shot better than 73 percent as a team just seven previous times in a single season, and just twice times since 1978.
Turnover Margin
Oklahoma State leads the Big 12 Conference in turnover margin, averaging 2.8 fewer turnovers per game than its opponents. The Cowboys are forcing an average of 15.2 turnovers by their opponents, also tops in the league. Their 12.3 turnovers committed per contest ranks second in the Big 12. The current turnover margin for OSU would rank fourth in school history. Oklahoma State has had a positive turnover margin greater than 2.0 just seven times in school history, including the school record +3.5 turnover margin created during the 1997-98 season.
Cowboys in the Polls
Oklahoma State dropped one spot to No. 14 in the Associated Press poll this week after losing a double-overtime game to the now sixth-ranked Kansas Jayhawks and a convincing 16-point win on the road at West Virginia. However, in the USA Today Coaches polls, the drop was much more dramatic, falling four spots to No. 18. Oklahoma State has been ranked in 11 of the 17 weekly rankings this season, including seven-straight weeks from Nov. 19-Dec. 31 and the current four-week string.
Scoring Margin
Oklahoma State ranks second in the Big 12 Conference with a +11.1 scoring margin, trailing only the Kansas Jayhawks' +13.4 scoring margin. OSU's average ranks 29th nationally. The Cowboys have had a scoring margin greater than 10.0 just seven times since 1989-90, and not since 2004-05 has OSU averaged 6.3 points per game more than its opponent. The great scoring margin has as much to do with Oklahoma State's offense as it does its defense. The Cowboys rank fourth in the Big 12 in both scoring offense (72.7 ppg) and scoring defense (61.6 ppg). Those numbers rank 61st and 60th, respectively in the NCAA.
FG Percentage Defense
OSU's defense is limiting its opponents to success on just 39.0% of their shots from the floor. That percentage ranks third in the Big 12 Conference and is the lowest FG% defense by a Cowboy squad since 1999-2000. The current percentage is the second-lowest allowed by an OSU team since 1964-65. The only other times OSU has maintained a field-goal percentage allowed under 40% since 1964-65 was in 1994-95 (39.3%) and 2002-03 (39.4%).
Defensive Pride
Statistically, Oklahoma State is one of the top defensive teams in the Big 12 Conference. The Cowboys rank third in FG percentage defense, third in steals, third in blocked shots, third in defensive rebound percentage, fourth in scoring defense, and fourth in defensive rebounds. The only defensive statistical category OSU doesn't excel in is three-point FG percentage defense, where the Pokes rank seventh.
Although there are still four regular-season games remaining, this Cowboy defense ranks among the school's best. Not since 1968-69 has an OSU squad allowed fewer than 62 points per game in a full season. This year's team is allowing just 61.6 ppg through 26 contests. OSU has held 13 teams below 60 points this season in regulation, including six conference teams. Baylor (59) and Kansas (57) were both held below 60 in regulation at home, but the games went into overtime.
Big-Time Turnaround
Last season was difficult for the Cowboy Basketball team. It was the first time OSU had finished sub-.500 since the 1987-88 squad finished 14-16. However, the turnaround this season has been extraordinary. OSU was 12-14 through 26 games last season, and is currently 20-6, an eight-game improvement. The difference in winning percentage is even more amazing. Oklahoma State had a .455 winning percentage last season, but has improved to .769 this year through 26 games. That leads to a +31.47% difference, which ranks as the fourth-best improvement over last season by any team in the NCAA among leagues ranked in the top-10 of the RPI. Santa Clara of the West Coast Conference went from 8-22 last season to 18-9 so far, a 40.00% improvement. Arizona State of the Pac-12 went from 10-21 last year to 20-8 so far this season, an improvement of 39.17%. Bradley of the Missouri Valley conference has gone from 7-25 last year to 16-13 so far this season, an improvement of 33.30%.
What Can (Markel) Brown Do For You?
Junior guard Markel Brown has steadily improved over his first three seasons at Oklahoma State. During the offseason, he worked hard on improving his shooting percentages, and it has shown. As a freshman, he averaged 6.4 ppg, and that improved to 10.5 ppg as a sophomore. This season, he is averaging nearly 16 ppg overall and 17.4 ppg in league play.
Markel shot 39.4% as a freshman (26.2% from three-point range) and as a sophomore, his numbers improved to 42.6% FG and 31.9% 3pt-FG. This season, he's shooting 44.5% from the floor and 38.9% from long range. His numbers even improve within the course of the season, evidenced by his improved numbers overall and in league-games only.
Stop, Thief!
Marcus Smart has 75 steals through 26 games this season, establishing a school record by a freshman. The previous record was 67 by Byron Eaton. Smart is currently in fifth place on the OSU single-season steals list, and already owns the school record for most steals in league play with 44 (the previous record was 35 by Tony Allen).
Smart averages 2.88 thefts per game, which leads the Big 12 Conference and ranks fifth nationally. That average would be the second highest in school history, trailing only Brooks Thompson's 2.91 steal-per-game average as a senior in 1993-94, the current school record. Smart is on pace to challenge the Big 12 freshman record of 89, set by Kansas' Mario Chalmers in 2005-06 in 33 games (2.70 spg).
Thieving Brothers
With his friend since third grade leading the league in steals, it's only appropriate that Phil Forte has decided to join the mix. The Cowboy freshman ranks seventh in the Big 12 Conference in steals, averaging 1.38 per contest. Between the two of them, Smart and Forte have 111 steals, an average of 4.27 per game. The Baylor duo of A.J. Walton and Pierre Jackson rank third and fourth, respectively, in the Big 12, and have combined for 91 steals.
Top Sixth Man?
Phil Forte has been an instrumental part of the Cowboys' successful play this season. Despite starting just one game this season, he sees a lot of court time. In fact, in the Big 12 Conference, he averages more minutes per game than 26 players who have started at least 50 percent of their teams' games. He's actually averaging more minutes per game than any player who has started for Oklahoma or Texas Tech this season, and has more minutes averaged than 11 of 12 players who have started for West Virginia. Forte is averaging more minutes per game than 62 of the 86 players who have started for any Big 12 team this season, including four on the Cowboys' squad.
Forte ranks among the league's best players off the bench. He ranks 20th in the league in scoring and seventh in steals. Iowa State's Tyrus McGee (two starts) ranks 10th in scoring and 10th in steals, while Texas Tech's Jaye Crockett (three starts) ranks 13th in scoring and eighth in steals.
Block Party
As a team, Oklahoma State is averaging 4.92 blocked shots per game, good for third in the Big 12. That average currently ranks as the fourth-highest average in school history.
Three current players also rank among the top-15 shot blockers in school history. With four deflections at West Virginia, Michael Cobbins now has 83 career blocks, good for 10th place on the school list. He is averaging 1.53 blocks per game in his career, which ranks fifth in school history. With two blocks against West Virginia, Markel Brown had 75 career deflections, good for 11th place and the most ever by a Cowboy guard. With 26 on the season, Philip Jurick has 73 in his career and ranks 12th on the career blocks list, matching Andrew Jones, who also had 73 from 1976-78.
Cobbins ranks fifth, Jurick is 10th, and Brown is tied for 11th in the Big 12 for blocked shots this season.
Team Rebounding
Six Cowboys are currently averaging at least 4.2 rebounds a game. Michael Cobbins leads the team with 6.4 rpg, while Philip Jurick is grabbing 6.3 rpg. Marcus Smart is averaging 5.7 rpg and Markel Brown is averaging 4.5 rpg. Kamari Murphy is averaging 4.3 rebounds per contest and Le'Bryan Nash is grabbing 4.2 per game.
OSU has grabbed at least 40 rebounds in 12 of 26 games this year. Last season, the Cowboys recorded 40 or more rebounds in a game just five times. The last time OSU had at least 40 rebounds in 12 games was 2003-04 when the Pokes grabbed 40 or more boards in 13 contests. Since 1994-95, Oklahoma State has had three-consecutive games with 40 or more rebounds on only five occasions, including three times this season.
The Stat Sheet Stuffer
Marcus Smart fills the stat sheet better than anyone else in the league. He is the only player in the Big 12 Conference who ranks among the league's leaders statistically in all five major categories (points, rebounds, assists, steals, blocks). Smart leads the league in steals, is fourth in scoring, sixth in assists and 16th in rebounding. He is also sixth in minutes played, seventh in free-throw percentage, eighth in assist-turnover ratio and 12th in defensive rebounds. That's eight different statistical categories in which he ranks among the Big 12's top 16.
Potential Postseason Accolades
Oklahoma State has several candidates for the Big 12 postseason awards, which will be announced in the next few weeks. OSU has two viable candidates for Player of the Year in junior Markel Brown and freshman Marcus Smart. The Cowboy duo ranks No. 2 and 3 in scoring during Big 12 Conference action, with Brown averaging 17.4 ppg and Smart chipping in 16.3 ppg. They both rank among the top-15 players in the league in assists (Smart sixth, Brown ninth), field-goal percentage (Brown 11th, Smart 15th), free-throw percentage (Smart fourth, Brown 12th), and assist-to-turnover ratio (Brown fourth, Smart seventh).
Smart is also a candidate for Defensive Player of the Year (leads the Big 12 Conference in steals and ranks in the top 20 in blocks), the All-Big 12 Team, the Big 12 All-Defensive Team, the Big 12 All-Rookie Team and Freshman of the Year.
Freshman guard Phil Forte is a nominee for the Big 12 All-Rookie Team as well as the Big 12's Sixth Man of the Year.
Brown, sophomore forward Michael Cobbins and sophomore guard/forward Le'Bryan Nash are also candidates for the All-Big 12 Team. Cobbins, who ranks fourth in the Big 12 in blocked shots, is a nominee for the Big 12 All-Defensive squad.
Up Next
Oklahoma State returns home to host the Texas Longhorns (12-15, 4-10) on Saturday, March 2, at 3 pm inside Gallagher-Iba Arena. That game will be televised on ESPN. The Cowboys will then make their final road trip of the regular season as they travel to Ames, Iowa, to take on the Iowa State Cyclones (19-9, 9-6) on Wednesday, March 6, at 6 pm inside Hilton Coliseum. The game will be televised by ESPNU.
