In-State Foe Oral Roberts Making GIA Visit Thursday

Game Center
Opponent: Oral Roberts Golden Eagles (1-1, 0-0 Summit League)
Date / Tipoff: Nov. 16, 2017 / 7 p.m. Central
Site: Gallagher-Iba Arena (Stillwater, Okla.)
Series: OSU leads 15-5, 9-1 in Stillwater
Tickets: Start at $10 at okstate.com/tickets or 877-ALL-4-OSU
TV: Fox-Plus (Mike Wolfe, Bryndon Manzer & Allison Gappa)
Webcast: FoxSportsGo.com
Radio: Cowboy Radio Network (Dave Hunziker & John Holcomb)
Satellite Radio: None
Live Stats: okstate.statbroadcast.com

Oklahoma State Game Notes

STILLWATER - Active defense helped Oklahoma State begin the Mike Boynton era with a pair of wire-to-wire wins. Now the Cowboys turn their attention to in-state foe Oral Roberts, which has taken two of the last three meetings in the series and has a potent post game.

• On the Air
The matchup between the Cowboys and the Golden Eagles will air on Fox Sports-Plus at 7 p.m. Central. Mike Wolfe, Bryndon Manzer and Allison Gappa will handle the on-air duties. As always, Dave Hunziker and John Holcomb will have the Cowboy Radio Network call from the historic white maple floor of GIA.

• Stifling Defense
The Cowboys have held their two opponents to 31.6 percent shooting, which ranks 21st nationally, and a combined 47 first-half points. Now the Cowboys turn their attention to in-state foe Oral Roberts, which has taken two of the last three meetings in the series.

• Stifling Defense II
According to KenPom, OSU ranks ninth nationally in effective field goal percentage defense (35.2 percent), and has held their opponents to 34.8 percent on two-point field goal attempts, which ranks 17th in the country. The Cowboys hadn't held back-to-back opponents under 35 percent shooting since midway through the 2015-16 season (29.0 percent at Auburn, 32.7 percent at Texas Tech). The last time OSU accomplished that feat in three straight games was the opening three games of the 2014-15 season.

• Cowboys On Point
Thanks to Kendall Smith and Brandon Averette, the Cowboys have received outstanding play from the point guard position so far this year. Smith, a graduate transfer from CSUN, has started both games and leads the team in scoring (14.5 ppg), assists (5.5 apg) and steals (1.5 spg), while Averette has provided an explosive defensive spark to go with 11.5 points per game on 47.4 percent shooting. The two players have combined for 26.0 points, 10.0 assists, 8.5 rebounds and just 3.0 turnovers per game on 46.5 percent shooting.

• Sutton Connection
Oklahoma State assistant coach Scott Sutton spent 18 seasons as the head coach at Oral Roberts, and with 328 victories is the winningest coach in that program's history. Sutton guided the Golden Eagles to eight postseason appearances, including three NCAA Tournament bids, and was a three-time Summit League Coach of the Year. He helped produce four Associated Press All-Americans and four conference players of the year at ORU. Sutton joined Bill Self's ORU coaching staff immediately after graduating from Oklahoma State in 1995, and was named the head coach in April of 1999.

• New Man In Charge For ORU
New ORU head coach Paul Mills is quite familiar with Gallagher-Iba Arena thanks to his 14 seasons on the coaching staff at Baylor. Mills was named the head coach on April 28 after helping Scott Drew coach the Bears to a pair of NCAA Elite Eights, four Sweet 16's and four straight NCAA Tournament appearances. He served as Baylor's coordinator of operations from 2003-09 and was an assistant coach from 2009-17. He is a 1996 graduate of Texas A&M with a degree in finance.

• Preseason Predictions/Honors
ORU was picked to finish seventh in the Summit League preseason coaches poll, while senior Albert Owens was named to the preseason All-Summit League first team and the reigning freshman of the year Emmanuel Nzekwesi was selected to the preseason second team. South Dakota State was tabbed the preseason favorite in the Summit League.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Brandon Averette

Kendall Smith

Oklahoma State University Athletics