Cowboys Prepare For Friday Rematch With Long Beach State

Friday, November 27

Stillwater, OK

7:30 p.m.

Oklahoma State University

Long Beach State

November 25, 2015 | Cowboy Basketball

Game Center
• Oklahoma State (4-1) vs. Long Beach State (3-2)
• Nov. 27, 2015 • 7:30 p.m.
• TV: Fox Sports-Plus
• Radio: Cowboy Radio Network
• Tickets: okstate.com/tickets or toll free 877-ALL-4-OSU
• Internet Radio: http://okla.st/osutunein
• Live Stats: okstate.com
• Oklahoma State Game Notes

The Basics
• The Oklahoma State men's basketball team (4-1 overall; 0-0 Big 12) hosts Long Beach State (3-2, 0-0 Big West) just five days after their matchup at the Charleston Classic. The Cowboys won Sunday's game, 82-77, thanks clutch point guard play. Jawun Evans broke out for 21 points and Tyree Griffin swished four free throws in the final 18 seconds to seal the game.

On the Air
• Friday's game will be televised by the Cowboy TV Network, and will be available on Fox-Plus with Bryndon Manzer and Mike Wolfe calling the action. Allison Gappa will provide sideline reports. The game can be heard on the Cowboy Radio Network with Dave Hunziker and John Holcomb on the call.

Oklahoma State From a Distance
• The Cowboys are off to a 4-1 start to the season, including a third place finish at the Charleston Classic last weekend. This is the 20th season of the Big 12 era, and OSU has started with a 4-1 record or better in 17 of those seasons.
• As of Monday, OSU leads the nation in total blocked shots thanks in large part to Chris Olivier, Anthony Allen. The Cowboys have sent back 38 total shots (7.6 per game), while Olivier and Allen rank fourth in the country with 13 swats apiece. OSU blocked 29 shots in three games at the Charleston Classic, including 11 against George Mason - tied for the 11th most ever by a Cowboy team.
• The Cowboys are a banged-up bunch after a third place finish at the Charleston Classic. OSU was without the services of starters Phil Forte and Leyton Hammonds, as well as Tavarius Shine - the team's first wing off the bench.
• Senior Phil Forte is nursing an injured elbow, which snapped his streak of consecutive games played at 102. The senior hadn't missed a single game in his career until the injury forced him to miss Friday's George Mason game. Forte was a Preseason All-Big 12 Honorable Mention honoree, and needs just 55 three-pointers to tie Keiton Page (2008-12) for the school record.
• Oklahoma State is one of just 22 school nationwide to play in the NCAA Tournament in each of the last three seasons, and will look to keep that streak alive in 2015-16.
• The Cowboys were picked to finish seventh in the Big 12 in a poll of the league's head coaches after finishing the 2014-15 season with an 18-14 record. Last year, the Cowboys were tabbed to finish eighth but finished the 2014-15 season in sixth place.
• Head coach Travis Ford enters his eighth season with the Cowboys, and ranks third in school history in both total wins (147) and win percentage (61.5 percent). Ford ranks behind only Eddie Sutton and Mr. Henry Iba in both categories.

Long Beach State From A Distance
• The Cowboys and 49ers should be very familiar with each other by the end of this week. The two squads faced off on Nov. 22 in the third place game of the Charleston Classic, and OSU came away with an 82-77 win. This will mark the first time since 1996-97 in which OSU will take on the same opponent in back-to-back games. That season, the Cowboys took down Texas A&M in College Station, 62-60, on Feb. 15, and then beat the Aggies four days later in Stillwater, 72-55.
• LBSU is led offensively by Maryland transfer Nick Faust, who is averaging 13.6 points per game on 40.6 percent shooting from 3-point. The senior is 13-of-32 from deep this season. At Maryland, Faust averaged 9.3 points per game and knocked down 108 career 3-pointers in three seasons for the Terrapins.
• Faust isn't the only transfer of note for the 49ers. Gabe Levin (Loyola Marymount) and Roschon Prince (Southern Cal) have both started all five games for LBSU, and combine to score 18.4 points per game. Levin is also averaging 5.8 rebounds per game, while Prince is shooting 51.4 percent from the floor this year.
• Long Beach has one of the country's most balanced attacks. Nine players average double-figure minutes for the 49ers, and eight of them score at least 6.0 points per game.
• Point guard Justin Bibbins ranks second in the Big West and 58th in the country with 5.6 assists per game. He's also pouring in 8.6 points per game and is a 92.9 percent free throw shooter. Thanks to Bibbins running the point, LBSU ranks 17th in the country in total assists with 78.
• LBSU head coach Dan Monson will line up across from a good friend in OSU assistant coach Bill Grier. The two helped build the Gonzaga dynasty, and spent eight years together on the Bulldog coaching staff - including two seasons when Monson was named the head coach in 1998 and 1999. Grier was named the head coach at San Diego the same year Monson took over at Long Beach (2007-08), and they scrimmaged each other yearly.

Cowboy Streaks & Trends Entering Friday's Game
• Chris Olivier, the current Big 12 Newcomer of the Week, has reached double-figures in every game this season. The senior is leading OSU with 15.0 points per game on 61.2 percent shooting.
• OSU is 4-0 this year and 121-22 in the Travis Ford era when leading at the half.
• The Cowboys rank fifth in the Big 12 with a team shooting percentage of 47.4, and are 4-0 this year and 124-18 in the Travis Ford era when outshooting their opponents.
• Oklahoma State is 59-3 in its last 60 games when holding its opponent under 60 points.
• OSU has made at least one three-pointer in 489 consecutive games dating back to Jan. 13, 2001.
• The Cowboys are 195-5 (.975%) in home games vs non-league foes since 1987. All-time, Oklahoma State is 408-50 (.891%) in non-conference games inside Gallagher-Iba Arena.
• The Cowboys are 51-3 (.944) in non-conference home games and 96-18 (.842) overall in GIA under Travis Ford. As a program, OSU is 1,597-1,111 all-time overall (107th season).

The Oklahoma State vs. Long Beach State Series
• OSU now holds a slim 3-2 edge in the all-time series against Long Beach State thanks to Sunday's 82-77 win in Charleston.
• The Cowboys are 10-2 all-time against current members of the Big West Conference. Here's the breakdown: Hawaii (2-0), Long Beach State (3-2), UC Davis (2-0), Cal State Fullerton (1-1), UC Santa Barbara (2-0).
• Prior to Sunday, the last time these two teams met on Dec. 15, 1979 the 49ers downed OSU, 102-67, which is still the third largest margin of defeat in school history (35 points). Michael Wiley led four LBSU players in double-figures scoring with 23 points and 11 rebounds. LBSU, which would advance to the second round of the NIT later that season, shot 57.3 percent from the floor that day. Ed Odom led the Cowboys with 19 points.
• This will mark the first time since 1996-97 in which OSU will take on the same opponent in back-to-back games. That season, the Cowboys took down Texas A&M in College Station, 62-60, on Feb. 15, and then beat the Aggies four days later in Stillwater, 72-55.

Cowboy Quick Hitters - Team Notes
• Paint touches and team basketball are the goals for OSU, and so far they've been able to accomplish both. The Cowboys are averaging 38.0 points in the paint per game (while holding their opponents to 24.4) and have nine players on the roster averaging at least 5.4 points per game. They Cowboys have had five players in double figures in two games this season, including Sunday's Long Beach State game.
• OSU has topped the 55 percent shooting mark twice this season. The Cowboys hit 55.9 percent from the floor against UT Martin, which is the team's best outing since shooting 56.9 percent against Texas Tech in 2014. They also topped that plateau against Long Beach (55.1 percent) on Sunday thanks to a stellar first half. The Cowboys shot 64.2 (18-of-28) percent from the floor in the first half, which is the team's best first-half performance since shooting 65.4 (17-26) against Tulsa in the title game of the MGM Grand Main Event in Las Vegas.
• The Cowboys rank 17th in the nation in turnovers per game at 9.2. OSU turned the ball over just five times against UT Martin, and committed just seven turnovers against both Towson and George Mason. LBSU forced 16 uncharacteristic turnovers against OSU on Sunday.
• The Cowboys are one of only 22 programs to play in the NCAA Tournament in each of the last three seasons.
• Only 33 teams have played in the NCAA Tournament in at least five of the last seven years. The Cowboys reached the Big Dance in 2009, 2010, 2013, 2014 and 2015.
• Scoring depth is a key for the Cowboys. Under Travis Ford, OSU has averaged more than 70 points per game in four of his seven seasons. In those four seasons of more than 70 points per game, the third and fourth leading scorers on the team averaged a combined 24.4 points per game. In Ford's three seasons scoring under 70 points per game the third and fourth scorers averaged 18.3 points per game - a difference of 6.1 points each game.
• Dating back to 1987, Oklahoma State is 145-5 in non-conference home games. During that span, the Pokes won 80 straight over non-conference opponents in Gallagher-Iba Arena from 1987-98, which is the fifth-longest streak in NCAA history. All-time, the Cowboys are 408-50 in non-conference play in GIA.

Cowboy Quick Hitters - Player Notes
• The Cowboys lead the country with 38 total blocks on the year, and rank eighth with 7.6 blocks per game. Anthony Allen and Chris Olivier, this week's Big 12 Newcomer of the Week and a Charleston Classic All-Tournament team selection, both have 13 blocks to their credit, which ties them both for fourth in the country.
• With a depleted roster, OSU needed veterans to step up in Charleston and Anthony Allen, Joe Burton and Jeffrey Carroll did just that. All three of them established new career-high scoring performances at the Charleston Classic. Allen blocked 13 shots in Charleston and tallied a career-high 13 points against LBSU. Burton scored a career best 15 points against George Mason, including the 3-pointer that sent the game into overtime. Carroll piled up a career-high 17 points in the win over Towson.
• Jeff Newberry has been a stat-stuffer for the Cowboys this year. The senior ranks second at OSU in scoring at 13.6 points and leads the team with 7.8 rebounds per game. He's also averaging 1.6 steals, 1.2 blocks and 1.0 assists per game, and has the team's only double-double this year - 19 points and 12 boards in the win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff.