Underwood Facing Familiar Foe In Central Arkansas Monday

Monday, November 14

Stillwater, OK

7 p.m.

Oklahoma State University

Central Arkansas

November 13, 2016 | Cowboy Basketball

Game Center
• Opponent: Central Arkansas (0-1, 0-0 Southland)
• Date/Tipoff: Nov. 14, 2016 / 7 p.m. Central
• Tickets: Start at $10 at okstate.com/tickets or 888-ALL-4-OSU
• TV: FSSW+ (Mike Wolfe, Bryndon Manzer & Allison Gappa)
• Webcast: FoxSportsGo.com
• Radio: Cowboy Radio Network (Dave Hunziker & John Holcomb)
• Satellite Radio: None
• Internet Radio: http://okla.st/osutunein
• Live Stats: okstate.statbroadcast.com
• Oklahoma State Game Notes

Scouting The Cowboys
• After opening the Brad Underwood era with a 102-65 victory over Campbell - the 90th of Underwood's career - the Oklahoma State basketball team will suit up against Underwood's former Southland Conference rival in Central Arkansas on Monday, Nov. 14. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m. Central at Gallagher-Iba Arena.
• The Underwood era got off to a hot start thanks to a trio of 20-point scorers, led by Naismith Trophy and Bob Cousy Award watch list selection Jawun Evans. The sophomore tallied 34 points, six boards and five steals, while Jeffrey Carroll and Phil Forte each had 22. It marked the first time OSU had three 20-point scorers since Jan. 21, 2009 against Missouri (Obi Muonelo, 22, Byron Eaton, 21, Terrel Harris, 21).
• Jawun Evans ended his freshman season on fire, and he seems to be picking up right where he left off. Evans had 26 points by halftime and finished with 34 in the season opener against Campbell. It's his second-best scoring performance behind only the 42 he had against Oklahoma last year, and it goes down as the 28th best scoring game in OSU history. Last year, he averaged 19.5 points, 6.0 rebounds and 6.3 assists in the six games prior to his shoulder injury.
• Freshman Cameron McGriff came off the bench and grabbed 13 boards against Campbell. That total is tied for the fifth most by a player off the bench in OSU history, and tied for the 10th most ever by an OSU freshman.

Scouting the Bears
• The Bears are led by third-year head coach Russ Pennell, who is a former OSU assistant coach under Eddie Sutton from 1990-92. Pennell played for Sutton at Arkansas from 1980-82 before finishing his career at Central Arkansas from 1982-84. While Pennell was an assistant coach in Stillwater, the Cowboys were 52-16 and advanced to the Sweet 16 twice. He later coached under Rob Evans at Ole Miss (1992-98) and Arizona State, and was the interim head coach at Arizona in 2008-09. He was the head coach at Grand Canyon from 2009-13 and interim head coach of the the Phoenix Mercury (WNBA) in 2013.
• The Bears are coming off a 79-47 loss at Wisconsin on Friday night. Derreck Brooks led the UCA attack with 12 points, while Jordan Howard wasn't far behind with 12 points. The Badgers held the Bear to 28.3 percent shooting and just three second-chance points despite hauling in 13 offensive rebounds. Bronson Koenig led the way for Wisconsin with 16 points. The Badgers shot 47.2 percent from the field.
• UCA was tabbed to finish ninth in the annual preseason Southland Conference SID poll and 11th in the preseason coaches poll. The Bears are coming off a 7-21 season that saw them go 2-14 away from Conway, Arkansas.
• Junior Jordan Howard was named First-Team Preseason All-Southland Conference. The guard ranked 31st nationally in 2015-16 with an average of 20.2 points per game, and set the school record with 95 three-pointers on the season.
• This will be the third meeting between the Cowboys and Bears, and both previous meetings have taken place since 2010. OSU is 2-0 against UCA, with an average margin of victory of 20 points.
• Brad Underwood is very familiar with Central Arkansas, having spent the last three seasons at fellow Southland Conference school Stephen F. Austin. Underwood's SFA squads won each of the last three SLC titles with a 53-1 record in league play. Underwood was 4-0 against UCA with an average margin of victory of 28.3 points.
• The Cowboys are 53-8 (.869) all-time against current members of the Southland Conference, and will face two more Southland opponents this season. OSU will take on New Orleans (OSU leads series 8-3) on Nov. 16 and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (OSU leads series 9-0) on Dec. 22.