High-Octane Cowboys Closing Homestand Against Privateers

Game Center
• Opponent: New Orleans (1-0, 0-0 Southland)
• Date/Tipoff: Nov. 16, 2016 / 7 p.m. Central
• Tickets: okstate.com/tickets or call 888-ALL-4-OSU
• TV: FSSW+ (Mike Wolfe, Bryndon Manzer & Allison Gappa)
• Radio: Cowboy Radio Network (Dave Hunziker & John Holcomb)
• Satellite Radio: None
• Internet Radio: http://okla.st/osutunein
• Live Stats: okstate.statbroadcast.com
• OSU Game Notes

Oklahoma State Snapshot
• Oklahoma State joins UCLA and Charlotte as the only teams to have topped the century mark in both of their first two games this season. This marks just the second time in program history that OSU reached 100-plus points in back-to-back games. The only other time the Cowboys accomplished this feat was in 1993-94, when they scored 100-plus points in three straight games.
• The trio of Phil Forte, III, Jawun Evans and Jeffrey Carroll is responsible for 152 of Oklahoma State's 204 points this season (74.5 percent). All three have reached the 20-point plateau in both games this season, and Forte (31 points) and Evans (34 points) have both had a 30-point game. Prior to this season, OSU last had three 20-point scorers in the same game on 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 posted 34 points in the season opener against Campbell, and followed it up with 23 points and eight assists against UCA. His scoring average of 28.5 per game ranks second in the Big 12, and his 5.5 assists per game is tied for fifth. Last year, he averaged 19.5 points, 6.0 rebounds and 6.3 assists in the six games prior to his shoulder injury.
• Only one player in the country has been perfect from the free throw line with more makes than Phil Forte, who is 17-of-17 from the stripe. Matt Harris from UMass-Lowell leads the country with a perfect 19-of-19 mark. Forte has hit 19 straight dating back to last season.
• Jeffrey Carroll is averaging 21.0 points - fifth in the Big 12 - and 10 rebounds per game - fourth in the Big 12 - off the bench this season. The redshirt-junior entered the season with a career scoring high of 19 points, but has topped that in both games this season.

New Orleans Snapshot
• The Privateers are coming off an impressive 103-67 victory over LaGrange College in their season opener on Friday. UNO lit up Lakefront Arena with 48.6 percent shooting and 50 points in the paint. Erik Thomas came off the bench to rack up 31 points and 10 boards - both game highs. Thomas was 11-of-15 from the floor and 9-of-10 from the stripe, and also posted three steals. UNO turned LaGrange over 23 times and turned them into 32 points off turnovers.
• Mark Slessinger is in his fifth season in New Orleans, having successfully led the Privateers back to the Division I level. Slessinger has previously coached at him alma mater, Aurora University, as well as Central Michigan, Northland Pioneer College and Northwestern State. As an assistant coach at Northwestern State, Slessinger helped the Demons engineer a magical 2006 season in which they produced a handful of upsets, including a win in Gallagher-Iba Arena over OSU (68-64) and an NCAA Tournament first-round win over third-seeded Iowa (64-63).
• UNO is coming off a 10-20 campaign in 2015-16, and was tabbed to finish ninth in the Southland Conference Preseason Coaches Poll and 10th in the annual SID poll.
• Christavious Gill was named a Preseason All-Southland Conference second-team selection. The Alexandria, La., native, led the Privateers with 14.8 points per game last year, and also ranked 44th nationally with 1.9 steals per game.
• Brad Underwood is quite familiar with the Privateers, 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 3-0 against UNO with an average margin of victory of 29.7 points.
• The Cowboys are 54-8 (.871) all-time against current members of the Southland Conference, and will face a total of three Southland opponents this season. OSU took down Central Arkansas on Monday, and the Cowboys will face Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (OSU leads series 9-0) on Dec. 22.

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Players Mentioned

Jeffrey Carroll

Jawun Evans

Phil Forte, III

Oklahoma State University Athletics