Cowboys Bring Three-Game Win Streak Into Bedlam Showdown

Game Center
Opponent: Oklahoma (8-12, 2-6 Big 12 Big 12)
Date/Tipoff: Jan. 30, 2017 / 8 p.m. Central
Series: OU leads 136-95 • In Norman: OU leads 83-26
Tickets: SoonerSports.com
TV: ESPN (Bob Wischusen & Fran Fraschilla)
Radio: Cowboy Radio Network (Dave Hunziker & John Holcomb)
Satellite Radio: Sirius 84, XM 84 (OU Broadcast)
Internet Radio: http://okla.st/osutunein
Live Stats: okstate.statbroadcast.com
OSU Game Notes

The Basics
• A shift in defensive philosophy has the Oklahoma State basketball team surging. The Cowboys (13-8, 2-6 Big 12) have won three straight games by double-digit margins over KenPom top-50 opponents, and haven't trailed in any of them. On Saturday, a sold-out Gallagher-Iba Arena crowd witnessed Phil Forte passing Keiton Page for the program's career 3-point record in a 28-point thumping of Arkansas. Now, just three games out of third place with 10 Big 12 games remaining, the Cowboys will make the short trip down I-35 to Norman to face the rival Sooners (8-12, 2-6 Big 12) in the year's first Bedlam matchup.

On the Air
• This marks the 17th time the Bedlam rivalry has been featured on ESPN's Big Monday, and Oklahoma State holds a 9-7 edge in the showcase. The Cowboys are 56-53 all-time on ESPN, including a 19-24 mark in Big Monday games. Bob Wischusen and Fran Fraschilla will be the on-air talent for ESPN. As always, Dave Hunziker and John Holcomb will have the Cowboy Radio Network call from the Lloyd Noble Center.

Oklahoma State Snapshot
• A minor shift in defensive philosophy has been at the heart of OSU's three-game winning streak. After five straight losses in close games (one or two possession games in the final five minutes) the Cowboys tweaked their defense and the results are staggering. Since the change, OSU ended Texas Tech's 17-game homecourt win streak, rolled over TCU in Stillwater and hammered Arkansas by 28 points in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge. What's more, OSU hasn't trailed in this three-game win streak.
• KenPom ranks the Oklahoma State offense No. 2 in efficiency behind only UCLA. At 88.4 points per game, OSU is fifth in the country in scoring, and is on pace to set a new school record for scoring average (current record: 83.5 in 1988-89). The Cowboys have scored 95 points or more eight times this season, including a school-record tying five 100-point performances. OSU averages 23.2 points per game in the first seven seconds of each possession.
• Phil Forte III is the new 3-point king of Oklahoma State. The redshirt senior hit four from deep against the Razorbacks on Saturday, which moved him ahead of Keiton Page (299 from 2009-12) for the school record. Forte now has 300 career 3-pointers, which makes him just the seventh player in Big 12 history to reach that mark. Forte is now 300-of-766 (.392) from 3-point, which is third most among all active players nationwide.
• Forte has been on fire since Big 12 play began. He leads all players with 3.1 three-pointers per game, and his clip of 50.0 percent ranks third behind his teammate Jeffrey Carroll (64.0) and Frank Mason (56.8). Forte is averaging 15.0 points per conference game, which ranks 12th in the league.
• Jeffrey Carroll joins Bryant "Big Country" Reeves as the only players in OSU history to increase their scoring average from single digits (9.9 ppg or less) in one season to 17 points or more the next. The redshirt junior averaged 8.2 points in 2015-16, and is up to 17.7 points in 2016-17. Carroll is the Big 12's only player ranked inside the league's top seven in scoring (3rd, 17.7 ppg), rebounding (7th, 7.3 rpg) and field goal percentage (4th, .587), and he has scored 20 points or more nine times this season.
• Carroll has scored 19 points or more and hauled in at least seven rebounds in each of the last six games. In that span, Carroll has scored 132 points on 71 field goal attempts (1.9 points/attempt), and is averaging 22.0 points and 8.0 rebounds on 59.2 percent shooting and a 65.0 percent clip from 3-point. The redshirt junior leads the Big 12 in field goal percentage (.611) and 3-point percentage (.640) in conference play.
• One of the nation's elite point guards, Jawun Evans ranks second in the Big 12 in scoring (18.1) and assists (5.5) and is fourth in steals (2.0). In league play, the sophomore leads all Big 12 players with 6.4 assists per game. The Naismith Trophy and Cousy Award watch list member has eight 20-point games and three 30-point games this season alone, and he also earned a spot on the Maui Invitational All-Tournament team. Evans owns two of the Big 12's top three scoring performances this season - 35 points against UConn, and 34 points against Campbell.
• OSU leads the Big 12 and ranks fifth nationally in scoring at 88.4 points per game, but their high-pressure defense is the main reason why. The Cowboys rank 16th in the country with 8.5 steals per game and 14 in turnovers forced at 16.9. According to KenPom, OSU is holding opponents to an average possession of just 15.6 seconds - the second shortest in the country - and they rank 21st in turnover percentage with a mark of 22.2.
• With the win at Texas Tech, Brad Underwood picked up his 100th career victory in his 122nd game, which tied him for the 10th fastest coach to reach the century mark in college basketball history. Underwood owns an 82.2 career win percentage, which is tops among all active coaches, and his 89 wins at Stephen F. Austin tied him with Brad Stevens of Butler for the most victories by any coach after three seasons. Underwood is also tied for the ninth-best win percentage by a fourth-year head coach.
• OSU fields one of the youngest and most inexperienced lineups in the country. Even with fifth-year senior Phil Forte and his 123 career games, OSU still ranks 279th nationally in experience according to KenPom. The Cowboys entered the 2016-17 with just 15 combined years of collegiate experience, and currently have just 258 collegiate starts on the roster. OSU's average age of 20.2 years is tied with Texas for the youngest in the Big 12.
• The Cowboys have cleaned up on the offensive glass this year. OSU is eighth nationally with 14.52 offensive boards per game and seventh in offensive rebound percentage at 39.4 percent. A true team effort, only one player on the team ranks inside the top 100 in the country in offensive boards - Mitchell Solomon (93rd, 2.76). The Cowboys have pulled down 15-plus offensive boards in 11 games this year, including eight of the last 14 outings.

Oklahoma Connections & Snapshot
• A pair of Kansas State alums will square off as the head coaches of Oklahoma State and Oklahoma. Both OSU's Brad Underwood (1984-86) and OU's Lon Kruger (1971-74) played for the legendary Jack Hartman at K-State. Hartman, who played his college ball in Stillwater for Mr. Henry Iba, won 295 games and advanced to four Elite Eights and two Sweet 16s as the head coach at K-State.
• Oklahoma State and Oklahoma compete yearly in the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Oklahoma Bedlam Series, an all-sports competition between the two schools, which are separated by only 80 miles along Interstate 35. The series champion is decided by wins and losses in head to head competition. In sports where there is no head to head matchup, the Big 12 Championship final standings are used. Oklahoma State has won the overall Bedlam series each of the last three years.
• Jordan Woodard and Jawun Evans are the only players in the Big 12 averaging over 16.0 points and 2.0 steals per game. Woodard ranks sixth in the league in scoring at 16.2 per game and his 2.1 steals ranks third. Evans is second in scoring at 18.1 per game and fourth in steals at 2.0.
• In his only Bedlam appearance, Jawun Evan rewrote the record books with a 42-point performance in Gallagher-Iba Arena. The 42-points are the most by any player - OU or OSU - in the Bedlam rivalry, and the second-most by any Big 12 freshman. He was 18-of-31 (.581) from the floor, which are the second most field goals in school history.
• The Sooners lead the overall series, 136-95, including an 83-26 edge in Norman. The Sooners have won seven straight overall and 12 straight in the Lloyd Noble Center. OSU's last win in Norman came on Feb. 16, 2004, when the No. 7 Cowboys took down an unranked OU squad, 65-52. That OSU team would win the Big 12 regular season and tournament titles and advance to the Final Four.
• Lindy Waters III will make his first appearance in an Oklahoma State uniform in his hometown of Norman. Waters played for Norman North High School before signing with the Cowboys. This season, the freshman has averaged 6.2 points and 2.2 rebounds, and earned 12 starts.

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Players Mentioned

Jeffrey Carroll

Jawun Evans

Mitchell Solomon

Oklahoma State University Athletics