Oklahoma State University Athletics
Game Notes - Cowboys Battle Oregon in NCAA Tournament
March 16, 2015 | Cowboy Basketball
Complete Release in PDF Format 
Up Next For Cowboy Basketball
vs. Oregon
March 20, 2015 ► 5:50 p.m. CT ► CenturyLink Center (17,630 capacity)
TV: TBS (Marv Albert, Chris Webber, Len Elmore & Craig Sager)
In Stillwater - Suddenlink 62, DirecTV 247, Dish 139, U-verse 112
In OKC - Cox 62/HD 731, DirecTV 247, Dish 139, U-verse 112
In Tulsa - Cox 47/HD 731, DirecTV 247, Dish 139, U-verse 112
Radio: Cowboy Radio Network (Dave Hunziker & John Holcomb)
Satellite Radio: Sirius Channel 84, XM Channel 201
Live Stats: okstate.com
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Basics
Making its third NCAA Tournament appearance in the last four years and its 27th trip to the Big Dance all-time, the Oklahoma State men's basketball team (18-13 overall; 8-10 Big 12) is the ninth seed in the West region and takes on No. 8-seed Oregon (25-9; 13-5 Pac-12) at 5:50 p.m. CT Friday in the CenturyLink Center in Omaha. The winner faces the winner of No. 1 Wisconsin vs. No. 16 Coastal Carolina on Sunday.
On the Air
Friday's game will be televised by TBS with Marv Albert, Chris Webber, Len Elmore and Craig Sager calling the action. The game can be heard on the Cowboy Radio Network with Dave Hunziker and John Holcomb on the call.
Oklahoma State From a Distance
Oklahoma State piled up three wins over teams with RPIs in the top 10, six wins over teams with RPIs in the top 50 and eight wins over teams with RPIs in the top 100 during the regular season. Regular-season highlights for the Cowboys included wins over RPI-No. 2 Kansas and No. 9 Baylor in Stillwater, then a second win over Baylor in Waco.
The Cowboys are led by forward Le'Bryan Nash, who ranks second in the Big 12 with 17.1 points per game and was a second-team all-Big 12 honoree. Nash has scored in double figures every game this season and is the Big 12's active leader with 1,821 career points. Third-team all-Big 12 selection Phil Forte is a key component in the Oklahoma State attack. In OSU's 18 wins, Forte averages 17.6 points on .474 pct. shooting from the field. In the Cowboys' 13 losses, Forte averages 11.6 points on .342 pct. shooting from the field.
Other key contributors include Big 12 all-newcomer team and Big 12 all-defensive team selection Anthony Hickey, junior guard Jeff Newberry, who has emerged as a solid defensive player as the season has progressed, and two-time Big 12 all-defensive team honoree Michael Cobbins.
Oklahoma State is at its best when its defense is creating its offense. The Cowboys are a top-50 team nationally in steals, blocked shots, field goal percentage defense and free throw percentage.
Veteran Group of Cowboy Starters
Oklahoma State's starting five includes three seniors and two juniors who have combined to start 359 games at the Division I level. Le'Bryan Nash and Michael Cobbins have started most games of their Cowboy career. Anthony Hickey was a three-year starter at LSU before transferring to Oklahoma State prior to this season and going on to start all but one game for the Cowboys in 2014-15. Though Phil Forte is in his first year as a full-time starter, he averaged starter minutes as both a freshman (25.3 mpg) and as a sophomore (28.7 mpg). OSU's fifth starter, Jeff Newberry, started his career at Ole Miss, where he redshirted in 2011-12. He played junior college ball in 2012-13 and 2013-14 before coming to Stillwater for this season.
An Oklahoma State Win Over Oregon Would...
► Set up a matchup with the winner of the game between No. 1 Wisconsin and No. 16 Coastal Carolina.
► Improve the Cowboys to 2-0 against Pac-12 opponents this year. OSU previously beat Oregon State in Las Vegas on Nov. 24.
► Improve the Cowboys to 8-5 against the Pac-12's current membership since Travis Ford took over as coach in 2008. OSU has won its last two vs. Pac-12 squads, claiming a 78-73 win over Colorado in Las Vegas last season and the aforementioned win over Oregon State in Las Vegas this season.
► Mark the Cowboys' first win in the NCAA tournament since a first-round victory over Tennessee in 2009.
► Be its first over Oregon. The two teams have only met twice before, with the Ducks claiming victory both times.
► Mark the fifth time that the Cowboys have won an NCAA tournament game as the lower seed.
Streaks & Trends Entering the NCAA Tournament
► In the last five games, Oklahoma State is shooting better from the field, better from three-point range and better from the free throw line than its season averages in all three areas, yet is 1-4 during that span because its last five opponents are also shooting better in all three areas than OSU has allowed season-long.
► Oklahoma State is 7-1 this year when outrebounding its opponent.
► Oklahoma State has been outrebounded or matched in the rebounding column by 12 of its last 13 opponents and has allowed 14.3 offensive rebounds per game over the span of the last six games.
► Oklahoma State's last six opponents have made more free throws (118) as the Cowboys have attempted (110).
► Anthony Hickey has converted on 17 of his last 30 from three-point range (.567 pct.), a significant upgrade from the .322 pct. conversion rate he averaged before his current hot streak.
► Le'Bryan Nash has led the team in scoring in nine of the last 10 games, highlighted by a 27-point, 12-rebound eruption last time out against Oklahoma in the quarterfinal round of the Big 12 tournament.
► Le'Bryan Nash has made 28 of his last 32 free throw attempts (.875 pct.)
► Le'Bryan Nash has scored in double figures in 30 consecutive games (all of his games this season).
► Michael Cobbins has led the team in rebounding in five of the last six games.
► Michael Cobbins has blocked at least one shot in 26 of his 28 games this year and in 32 of his last 35 games, dating back to last season.
► OSU has made at least one three-pointer in 483 consecutive games dating back to Jan. 13, 2001.
Protect the Rim
Oklahoma State enters the NCAA tournament ranked 22nd nationally with 5.0 blocked shots per game, thanks largely to the efforts of seniors Michael Cobbins (second in the Big 12 with 1.89 blocks per game) and Le'Bryan Nash (0.97 blocks per game). With 164 career swats to his credit, Cobbins needs just three blocks to climb into the top five on Oklahoma State's career list. Nash has rejected 72 shots in his career to rank 14th all-time at OSU. Cobbins blocked three shots last time out against Oklahoma and has sent back as many as five shots in a game this season - a feat he accomplished in wins over Texas Tech and Baylor.
As a team, Oklahoma State has blocked as many as 10 shots in a game this season (against Texas Tech) and has three games with nine blocked shots.
Stealing Away
Pressuring opposing offenses - especially on the perimeter - is at the core of Oklahoma State's defensive success this season. The Cowboys rank second in the Big 12 and 24th nationally with 7.9 steals per game, with the majority of those steals coming from the duo of Phil Forte (1.94 steals per game) and Anthony Hickey (1.90 steals per game). Forte and Hickey rank first and second in the Big 12 in steals per game.
Forte's 60 steals this season more than doubles his 29 from last season and ranks 20th on the OSU single-season list. Hickey ranks fourth among all players nationally with 275 career steals.
Big 12 Leaders, Steals Per Game
1. Phil Forte, Oklahoma State - 1.94
2. Anthony Hickey, Oklahoma State - 1.90
3. Jevon Carter, West Virginia - 1.84
4. Monté Morris, Iowa State - 1.82
5. Lester Medford, Baylor - 1.55
6. Jordan Woodard, Oklahoma - 1.53
6. Taurean Prince, Baylor - 1.53
8. Frank Mason III, Kansas - 1.41
9. Buddy Hield, Oklahoma - 1.41
10. Chris Washburn, TCU - 1.39
Converting at the Line
Draining free throws at a .726 pct. clip on the season, Oklahoma State is effective from the charity stripe. Why? Because the Cowboys get the right people to the line. Le'Bryan Nash (.792 pct.) and Phil Forte (.839 pct.) have combined to attempt 367 of Oklahoma State's 632 free throw chances this year, a mark that represents .581 pct. of the team's total. Nash has made 168 free throws and Forte has made 130 to rank first and second in the league in that category.
Taking Away Opponents' Strengths
Oklahoma State played 14 games against teams appearing in this year's NCAA tournament field. In 11 of those 14 games, the Cowboys held the opponent to a lesser point total than its season average. In nine of those 14 games, the Pokes held the opponent below its season field goal percentage.
Nash, Forte Are A Formidable Combination
In Le'Bryan Nash and Phil Forte, Oklahoma State has the highest-scoring duo in the Big 12 Conference. Nash ranks second in the league with 17.1 points per game and Forte is fourth with 15.1 points per contest. Averaging 32.2 points per game, Nash and Forte are the eighth-highest scoring duo in the power five conferences. A look:
1) 34.3 - Olivier Hanlan and Aaron Brown, Boston College
2) 33.6 - Chasson Randle and Anthony Brown, Stanford
2) 33.6 - Terran Petteway and Shavon Shields, Nebraska
4) 33.4 - Jahlil Okafor and Quinn Cooke, Duke
5) 33.1 - Bobby Portis and Michael Qualls, Arkansas
6) 32.8 - Terry Rozier and Montrezl Harrell, Louisville
7) 32.4 - Jarell Martin and Jordan Mickey, LSU
8) 32.2 - Le'Bryan Nash and Phil Forte, Oklahoma State
9) 31.9 - Yogi Ferrell and James Blackmon, Indiana
10) 31.8 - Melo Trimble and Dez Wells, Maryland
NCAA Tournament History
With two NCAA titles, six Final Four appearances, 11 Elite Eights and 11 Sweet 16s to its credit, Oklahoma State has compiled a rich tradition in its previous 26 trips to the NCAA tournament. Only UCLA, Kentucky, Indiana, North Carolina, Connecticut, Duke, Kansas and Louisville have more NCAA championships than Oklahoma State, who won it all in 1945 and 1946. The Cowboys earned a spot in the Final Four in 1945, 1946, 1949, 1951, 1995 and 2004.
The title-winning 1945 and 1946 squads were led by Hall-of-Famer Bob Kurland, who was recognized as the most outstanding player of the tournament both times. Bryant "Big Country" Reeves and John Lucas also earned NCAA tournament glory during their time at Oklahoma State, with Big Country earning most outstanding player honors at the 1995 East regional as well as a spot on the 1995 Final Four all-tournament team and Lucas recognized as most outstanding player of the 2004 East regional.
Oklahoma State is 12-5 all-time in the round of 64 and is 6-6 in the round of 32.
This year's NCAA tournament bid marks the fifth time in seven seasons under head coach Travis Ford that OSU has competed in the Big Dance. On the current roster, five players have combined to compete in a total of seven NCAA tournament games.
