1-Minute Matchup: UMKC Presents Tough Test After Holiday Break

Tuesday, December 29

Stillwater, OK

6 p.m.

Oklahoma State University

UMKC

1-Minute Matchup: UMKC Presents Tough Test After Holiday Break

December 28, 2015 | Cowboy Basketball

STILLWATER – The holidays are a great time to recharge the batteries and spend time with friends and loved ones, and that's exactly what the Cowboys did for five days after taking on Florida on Dec. 19.

OSU returned to work on Christmas night, and to the delight of the coaching staff, they hardly missed a beat since playing their most complete game overall game against the Gators.

"They came back from their Christmas break in great spirits, and actually in better shape than I anticipated," said OSU head coach Travis Ford. "There was a lot of positives coming out of the Florida game. Obviously we were disappointed we didn't come out with a win, but I thought it was a step in the right direction for our basketball team."

On Tuesday night, OSU will take on a UMKC team that beat Mississippi State just a few weeks ago, and has the WAC Player of the Year in Martez Harrison. The junior leads the Roos attack with 15.2 points and 4.8 assists per game.

Game Center
• Oklahoma State (7-4) vs. UMKC (7-6)
• Dec. 29, 2015 • 6 p.m. Central
• Gallagher-Iba Arena • Stillwater, Okla.
• Tickets: okstate.com/tickets or toll-free 877-ALL-4-OSU
• TV: Fox Sports Oklahoma-Plus (Mike Wolfe, Bryndon Manzer & Allison Gappa)
• Radio: Cowboy Radio Network (Dave Hunziker & John Holcomb)
• Internet Radio: http://okla.st/osutunein
• Sat Radio: Sirius 93
• Live Stats: okstate.statbroadcast.com
• OSU Game Notes

The Basics
• Oklahoma State (7-4 overall; 0-0 Big 12) returns from a five-day holiday break to face UMKC (7-6, 0-0 WAC) in the final tune-up game before opening Big 12 conference play against TCU on Saturday, Jan. 2.

On the Air
• The final non-conference home game at Gallagher-Iba Arena will be broadcast by Fox Sports Oklahoma-Plus, with Mike Wolfe, Bryndon Manzer and Allison Gappa on the call. As always, the game can be heard on the Cowboy Radio Network with Dave Hunziker and John Holcomb.

UMKC From A Distance
• The Roos enter Tuesday's matchup at Gallagher-Iba Arena sporting a 7-6 record, but on a two-game skid thanks to losses at Louisville (75-47) and against UNC-Wilmington (76-56) in Louisville's KFC Yum! Center.
• Last Time Out: Darius Austin posted 16 points on 3-of-3 shooting from 3-point, but UMKC couldn't keep up with UNC-Wilmington in a 76-56 loss in Louisville, Ky. The Seahawks shot just 39.7 percent from the floor, but used 13 points off turnovers, 13 second-chance points and 37 points off the bench to take down the Roos. UNCW led for 39:20, and by as much as 23 points in the contest.
• Martez Harrison, last year's WAC Player of the Year, once again leads the UMKC attack. The junior is eighth in the country with 238 made free throws and 21st with 257 attempts. His 15.2 points per game ranks fifth in the WAC, while his 4.8 assists per game is tied for third in the league. Last year, Harrison became the first UMKC player to receive All-America votes, and finished as an AP honorable mention selection.
• UMKC defeated Mississippi State, 72-67, on Dec. 12 in Kansas City to pick up a win over an SEC team for the second year in a row. The Roos opened the 2014-15 season with a win at Missouri. Martez Harrison led the way against Bulldogs with 21 points and four assists. With the win over Mississippi State, UMKC improved to 6-4 on the season to give the Roos six victories at the earliest date (Dec. 12) in the Division I history of the program.
• The Roos are a potent team at home, but have struggled on the road. UMKC is a perfect 6-0 at home, but is 1-5 in true road games and 0-1 in neutral site contests.
• UMKC and OSU have two common opponents - Minnesota and UT Martin. The Cowboys picked up wins against both the Gophers (62-60) and Skyhawks (91-57), while the Roos fell at Minnesota (76-58) before knocking off UT Martin (74-70) at home.
• Much like Travis Ford, third-year UMKC head coach Kareem Richardson was a standout point guard in college. Richardson went to the NCAA Tournament with East Carolina as a freshman before transferring to Evansville in 1995. He quickly established himself as the Purple Aces top point guard, and was a two-year captain. Richardson was named to the MVC All-Underrated Team in 1996, and was a two-time MVC All-Academic Team selection.

Inside the Series with UMKC
• Oklahoma State leads the all-time series with UMKC, 7-0, including a 3-0 mark in Gallagher-Iba Arena. The average margin of victory in the series is 20 points (81-61).
• The Dec. 19, 1988 matchup in Gallagher-Iba Arena is still one of the notable performances in school history. OSU's 109 points are tied for 16th most by a Cowboy team, and the 45 field goals are tied for fourth most. OSU also tallied 19 steals, which are tied for the most in school and GIA history.
• In the last meeting in 2002, UMKC posted 18 steals - still the most by any opponent in Gallagher-Iba Arena.
• The Cowboys are 19-1 against current members of the Western Athletic Conference. Here's the breakdown;
• CSU-Bakersfield: Never Met
• Chicago State: 2-0 (Last: OSU 67-59 in 1990)
• Grand Canyon: Never Met
• New Mexico State: 7-1 (Last: OSU 65-55 in 1994)
• UMKC: 7-0 (last: OSU 85-61 in 2002)
• Seattle: 2-0 (Last: OSU 86-64 in 2009)
• Utah Valley: 1-0 (Last: OSU 93-40 in 2013)
• UT-Rio Grande Valley: Never Met (OSU was 5-2 against UT-Pan American, but never played UT-Brownsville)

Oklahoma State From a Distance
• The Cowboys return to action after a 10-day holiday layoff, having lost a one-possession ballgame to RPI No. 11 Florida, 72-70, in Sunrise, Fla. on Dec. 19.
• Freshman Jawun Evans continues to make strides - and spectacular no-look passes - as the Cowboy point guard. Evans was named the Big 12 Newcomer of the Week after racking up a game-high 17 points to go with a career-high seven rebounds against the Gators. The Dallas native tallied five assists in the game, and now ranks sixth in the Big 12 with 4.55 assists per game.
• Three of OSU's four losses this season have been by three points or less, including the team's last two losses.
• The Cowboys field a solid defensive unit that ranks 58th nationally in field goal percentage defense (39.4 percent) and 64th in the country in scoring defense at 65.4 points allowed per game. OSU's interior defense ranks 49th in the country with 5.1 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 rank fourth in the Big 12 in total free throws made (194) and lead the league and rank 15th nationally with a free throw mark of 76.4 percent. Leyton Hammonds leads the OSU efforts from the free throw line. At 21-of-22 (.955), Hammonds leads all Big 12 players from the charity stripe.
• 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.
• Head coach Travis Ford enters his eighth season with the Cowboys, and ranks third in school history in both total wins (150) and win percentage (61.2 percent). Ford ranks behind only Eddie Sutton and Mr. Henry Iba in both categories.