Sioux Falls Hosting Showdown Between Cowboys & Gophers

Game Center
Oklahoma State (5-3) vs. Minnesota (5-4)
Dec. 12, 2015 • 7:30 p.m. Central
Site/Venue: Sioux Falls, S.D. / Sanford Pentagon (3,200)
TV: Big Ten Network (Cory Provus & Shon Morris)
Radio: Cowboy Radio Network
Radio Talent: Dave Hunziker & John Holcomb
Satellite Radio: Sirius 93, XM 200
Internet Radio: http://okla.st/osutunein
Live Stats: sidearmstats.com/pentagon/bball
Oklahoma State Game Notes

STILLWATER – On the surface, Sioux Falls, S.D., doesn't sound like a go-to college basketball destination. But a first-class facility and a hoops-addicted town await Oklahoma State and Minnesota when they face off on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. Central on the Big Ten Network.
The 3,200 seat state-of-the-art Sanford Pentagon has been sold out for months, and they're in for yet another high-major showdown on the high plains.

"I hear they love their basketball," said Cowboy head coach Travis Ford. "The Pentagon is a special place to play, and we're excited because of all the great things we've heard about it and the people there. We did a lot of checking before we committed to the game, and every raved about the place."

The matchup between the Cowboys and Golden Gophers will be the sixth Division I basketball game at the Sanford Pentagon since the 2013-14 season, including Iowa State's 68-62 win over Colorado last month. Two more games are scheduled are scheduled at the facility in December.

Oklahoma State From a Distance
• The Cowboys are coming off a pair of uncharacteristic home losses to Tulsa and Missouri State. OSU hadn't lost back-to-back home non-conference games since 1985. OSU is 196-7 in home games versus non-league foes since 1987. In the Travis Ford era, OSU is 52-5 inside Gallagher-Iba Arena against non-conference opponents.

• OSU showed its grit in overcoming a 17-point second-half deficit to Missouri State last Saturday. Had the Cowboys held on for the victory, it would have gone down as the largest second-half comeback since 1989-90, and tied for the second-largest comeback overall in that time span.

• The Cowboys field a solid defensive unit that ranks 58th nationally in field goal percentage defense (39.0 percent) and 87th in the country in scoring defense at 66.5 points allowed per game. OSU's interior defense ranks 19th in the country with 6.1 blocked shots per game.

• OSU has a knack for getting to the free throw line, and making opponents pay from the charity stripe. The Cowboys are second in the Big 12 in total free throws made (141) and lead the league and rank 11th nationally with a free throw mark of 77.5 percent. Jeff Newberry, who has made 17 straight free throws, leads OSU's efforts from the stripe with a mark of 87.8 percent, which ranks fifth in the Big 12 and 56th in the country. Tyree Griffin has hit all 13 of his attempts this year.

• Senior Phil Forte injured his elbow in the first half of the win over Towson, which snapped his streak of consecutive games played at 102. The senior hadn't missed a single game in his career up to that point. 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.

• 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 (148) and win percentage (61.1 percent). Ford ranks behind only Eddie Sutton and Mr. Henry Iba in both categories.

Minnesota From A Distance
• The Gophers hosted a pair of teams from the state of South Dakota before heading to the Mount Rushmore State to take on the Cowboys in Sioux Falls.
• South Dakota 85 at Minnesota 81, 2OT - Minnesota's freshman sensation Jordan Murphy tied the game with a tip-in with one second left in regulation, but South Dakota's Casey Kasperbaur hit four free throws in the final 10 seconds of overtime to seal the program's biggest win since joining Division I seven years ago.
• South Dakota State 84 at Minnesota 70 - A pair of 25-point scorers led the Jackrabbits to a wire-to-wire win over the Gophers. Nate Mason paced the UM attack with 18 points, while Kevin Dorsey tallied 16. SDSU led by as much as 24 points in the second half and shot 49.2 percent from the floor for the game while holding Minnesota to 36.8 percent.

• Jordan Murphy was recognized as the Big Ten Conference Freshman of the Week. He posted two double-doubles last week, including 24 points and 10 rebounds in the win over Clemson and 19 points and 17 boards against South Dakota. On the year, the San Antonio, Texas native is averaging 10.0 points on 53.7 percent shooting and 7.3 rebounds.

• The relationship between Minnesota head coach Richard Pitino and OSU skipper Travis Ford goes back decades to Ford's playing days at Kentucky under Rick Pitino. Ford transferred from Missouri to play for Rick and the Wildcats in 1990, just before Richard's eighth birthday. At Kentucky, Ford helped lead the Wildcats to the Final Four in 1993, and was the 1993 and 1994 SEC Tournament MVP.

• Minnesota is led offensively by Joey King, who was named Big Ten Conference Co-Player of the Week on Nov. 16. King is pouring in 15.8 points per game thanks to 52.3 percent (23-of-44) shooting from 3-point. He's also a 91.7 percent shooter from the free throw line.

• The Gophers are facing a Big 12 opponent for the second time this year. Texas Tech took down the Gophers, 81-68, in San Juan, Puerto Rico on Nov. 22. The Red Raiders got 21 points from Devaugntah Williams and shot 48.2 percent overall.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Tyree Griffin

Jeff Newberry

Oklahoma State University Athletics