Final Big 12 Road Trip Awaits Cowboy Basketball

Game Center
Opponent: Iowa State (20-9, 9-7 Big 12)
Date/Tipoff: Feb. 29, 2016 / 6 p.m. Central
Tickets: Cyclones.com
TV: ESPNU (Dave Armstrong & Malcolm Huckaby)
Radio: Cowboy Radio Network (Dave Hunziker & John Holcomb)
Satellite Radio: Sirius 81 & XM 81 (ISU Broadcast)
Internet Radio: http://okla.st/osutunein
Live Stats: okstate.statbroadcast.com
Oklahoma State Game Notes

The Basics
• A banged-up Oklahoma State (12-17, 3-13 Big 12) squad is headed to Ames for its last regular season road trip at No. 17/17 Iowa State (20-9, 9-7 Big 12). The Cowboys, who lost to No. 14/12 West Virginia on Saturday night, are the only team in the country slated to face four ranked opponents to close out the 2015-16 regular season.

On the Air
• ESPNU will carry the matchup between the Cowboys and Cyclones with Dave Armstrong and Malcolm Huckaby on the call. As always, the game can be heard on the Cowboy Radio Network with Dave Hunziker and John Holcomb. Sirius channel 81 and XM channel 81 will carry the Iowa State radio call.

Oklahoma State Snapshot
• Travis Ford has jokingly said he is coaching his third or fourth different Cowboy team this season, but there's a lot of truth to that. After losing three starters from last year's team, Ford and the staff spent the offseason molding the squad around senior captain Phil Forte. OSU lost Forte to a left elbow injury in the third game of the season, and OSU spent the next month redefining itself. Point guard Jawun Evans emerged as one of the nation's top freshmen, but an injury to his right shoulder on Feb. 3 had Ford once again going to the drawing board.
• Point guard Tyree Griffin has filled in admirably in the absence of freshman phenom Jawun Evans. Over the last seven games the sophomore has posted 40 assists to just 22 turnovers while playing a whopping 37.1 minutes per contest. Griffin dished out 12 assists on a rolled ankle against Kansas at Allen Fieldhouse, which was just one dime shy of the KU opponent record set by Texas' D.J. Augustin. He followed that up with eight assists and zero turnovers against Texas Tech. Griffin is now averaging 4.3 assists per game in league play, which ranks fourth in the Big 12.
• Jeff Newberry can affect the game in many ways, and is at his best when he's filling up the stat sheet. With two double-doubles, the senior is the first OSU player under 6-foot-2 with multiple points/rebounds double-doubles since Maurice Baker in 2001. The defensive glue guy for the Cowboys, Newberry is averaging 1.9 steals per Big 12 game, which tied for second in the league. His 11.6 points per league game ranks 18th.
• The Cowboys field a solid defensive unit that ranks second in the Big 12 in scoring defense at 67.3 points allowed and field goal percentage defense at 40.5 percent. OSU has held four of its last eight opponents under 40 percent shooting and to 23 points or less in the first half. The Cowboys have held their Big 12 opponents to 70.5 points and 42.8 percent shooting, which ranks third and fourth in the conference, respectively.
• Leyton Hammonds' game has evolved tremendously since his arrival in Stillwater in 2013. Primarily a spot shooter in his first two seasons, the junior has molded himself into a stretch forward with the ability to drive or pull up with a formidable 12-foot jumper. Hammonds has reached double figures 13 times this year, including seven of the last 10 games.
• The Cowboys have put themselves in position to win nearly every Big 12 game this season. Five of OSU's 13 league losses have been by five points or less. OSU was tied with both No. 13 Iowa State and No. 17 Baylor inside the final two minutes, and fell to Texas Tech on the last shot of overtime. The potential game-winning 3-pointer rimmed out for the Cowboys against No. 2 Oklahoma, while a furious second half rally whittled Texas' lead to just three points with 14 seconds on the clock. The Feb. 8 loss at TCU was a two-possession ballgame inside the last two minutes.
• Head coach Travis Ford ranks third in school history in both total wins (155) and win percentage (58.9 percent). Ford ranks behind only Eddie Sutton and Mr. Henry Iba in both categories, and recently picked up his 21st win over a ranked opponent with the victory over No. 3 KU on Jan. 19.

Iowa State Snapshot
• The Cyclones are coming off an 80-61 win over Kansas State on Saturday night. Matt Thomas led five Iowa State players in double figures with 20 points on 5-of-8 shooting from 3-point. ISU shot 54.7 percent from the floor for the night. Jameel McKay came off the bench and posted 14 points and 17 rebounds.
• Every Iowa State conversation starts with the dynamic duo of junior point guard Monte Morris and senior do-it-all forward Georges Niang. Morris leads the Big 12 in assists (7.21) and is tied for second in steals (1.83), and his 50.9 field goal percentage has helped him rank sixth in the league in scoring at 14.6 points per game. Niang, an All-American as a junior in 2014-15, is second in the Big 12 only to OU's Buddy Hield in scoring (19.4), and is also top 10 in the conference in rebounding (6.1), field goal percentage (54.3 percent), 3-point percentage (39.8) and free throw percentage (82.8 percent).
• The Cyclones are led by first-year head coach Steve Prohm, who amassed a 104-29 record in four seasons at Murray State. He was the 2012 Basketball Times National Coach of the Year.

Inside the Iowa State Series
• The Cyclones have taken the last six meetings in the series, although the games have been nail-biters. A total of 17 points have decided the last five meetings, including a pair of overtime affairs that combined for four OT periods.
• Iowa State owns a 37-14 edge in the all-time series in Ames, including a four-game win streak over the Cowboys, although those four games have been decided by just 20 points.
• OSU is 37-16 all-time in Stillwater against Iowa State, including a 4-3 mark in the Travis Ford era.
• Overall, Oklahoma State leads the Iowa State series, 63-59. These two programs first met in 1927, with the Cyclones taking a 40-21 decision in Ames. This will be the 123rd meeting.
• The triple-overtime slugfest against the Cyclones on Feb. 3, 2014 in Stillwater is still tied for the third longest game in OSU history. Le'Bryan Nash posted 26 points and 10 rebounds and Markel Brown also recorded a double-double 19 points and 10 boards, but Iowa State's Monte Morris hit a 3-pointer from the corner with 43 seconds left in the third overtime to seal the game at 96-95.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Jawun Evans

Tyree Griffin

Leyton Hammonds

Le'Bryan Nash

Jeff Newberry

Oklahoma State University Athletics