Cowboy Basketball Welcomes Tulsa To GIA Tuesday Night

Game Center
Opponent: Tulsa Golden Hurricane (7-4, 0-0 AAC)
Date / Tipoff: Dec. 19, 2017 / 8 p.m. Central
Site: Gallagher-Iba Arena (Stillwater, Okla.)
Series: OSU leads 72-38 (40-15 in GIA)
Tickets: okstate.com/tickets or 877-ALL-4-OSU
TV: FSOK (Mike Wolfe, Bryndon Manzer, Allison Gappa)
Radio: Cowboy Radio Network (Dave Hunziker, John Holcomb)
Satellite Radio: None
Live Stats: okstate.statbroadcast.com

• OSU Game Notes
• Tulsa Game Notes

The Basics
Oklahoma State earned a signature victory for head coach Mike Boynton by knocking No. 19 Florida State from the ranks of the unbeaten in Sunrise, Fla., on Saturday. The Cowboys have forced at least 19 turnovers in each of the last four games, and now rank 34th nationally in defensive efficiency. OSU will have little time to celebrate as in-state foe Tulsa comes to GIA on Tuesday. The Golden Hurricane is led by power forward Junior Etou, who is averaging 18.1 points and 6.5 rebounds per game this season.

On the Air
The matchup between the Cowboys and Golden Hurricane will air on Fox Sports Oklahoma at 8 p.m. Central. The play-by-play team of Mike Wolfe, Bryndon Manzer and Allison Gappa will handle the on-air duties. FoxSportsGo will carry the webcast. As always, Dave Hunziker and John Holcomb will have the Cowboy Radio Network call.

Cowboy Quick Hitters
• OSU is the only Big 12 team to take on three top-25 opponents this season, and the Cowboys are one of six teams in the league with a top-25 victory. OSU's only losses are to teams currently ranked in the top 15 of the AP poll.
• The win over No. 19 Florida State was OSU's 117th over an AP top-25 opponent and helped the Cowboys jump 58 spots in the official NCAA RPI report.
• Mitchell Solomon has five double-digit scoring performances this season, which are already the most by an OSU player listed 6-9 or taller since Marcus Dove had 14 double-digit games in 2007-08.
• Brandon Averette is one of the country's most efficient point guards, and ranks second in the Big 12 and 20th in the country with an assist-to-turnover ratio of 3.5.
• OSU is tops in the Big 12 and eighth nationally in free throw shooting at 79.4 percent. Every OSU player that has made at least 10 free throws is shooting 73 percent or better.

Bixby Big Man Heating Up
Mitchell Solomon is shooting 79.1 percent on 2-point field goal attempts this season, which ranks seventh nationally according to KenPom. Solomon posted his first career double-double (12 points, 11 rebounds) and made OSU's last two buckets in Saturday's win over No. 19 Florida State - including the go-ahead tip-in with 6 seconds to play. He also drew a charge inside the final second to seal the victory. Over the last five games, Solomon is averaging 11.6 points on 78.1 percent shooting and 7.4 rebounds. He now has 229 career offensive boards, which ranks eighth in OSU history.

Orange Bowl Classic MVP
Jeffrey Carroll became the 41st player in OSU basketball history to reach the 1,000-point plateau in his 23-point performance against No. 19 Florida State, which earned the senior Orange Bowl Classic MVP honors. It was a typical bounce-back performance from Carroll, who was held to a season-low three points against Wichita State. Over the last two seasons following a single-digit outing Carroll is now averaging 22.9 points on 47.8 percent shooting in the following game. He has scored 20-plus points in six of those seven bounce-back games.

The Tulsa Series
This will be the 111th hardwood meeting between Oklahoma State and Tulsa in a rivalry that dates back to 1908 - the first year of basketball for both schools. In fact, the initial meeting was the first game in Tulsa basketball history and just the second game for OSU. The only programs OSU has played more often than Tulsa are Oklahoma (233), Kansas (170), Kansas State (132), Iowa State (126), Missouri (119) and Nebraska (117). The Cowboys hold a 72-38 edge in the series, including a 40-15 mark in Stillwater.

Etou's Emergence
Forward Junior Etou has emerged as a force for Tulsa. The 6-8, 235-pound Rutgers transfer is averaging 18.1 points and 6.5 rebounds, which are both team highs. The redshirt-senior is shooting 57.5 percent from the floor, including a 48.0 percent clips from 3-point. He was a preseason All-AAC second-team honoree.

Familiar Face
Former OSU assistant Danny Henderson joined Frank Haith's coaching staff in April. A veteran of over 700 wins as a high school head coach in Texas, Henderson was the high school coach of Marcus Smart and Phil Forte, and helped the Cowboys earn an at-large berth in the NCAA Tournament in his lone season on staff in 2016-17.

Protecting GIA
The Golden Hurricane won the last matchup in Gallagher-Iba Arena in 2015, 66-56, thanks to a 17-7 run over the game's final five minutes. The loss was OSU's first in GIA at the hands of Tulsa since 1985 and broke a five-game win streak in Stillwater over the Golden Hurricane. OSU is now 31-6 in Gallagher-Iba Arena and 40-15 overall in Stillwater against TU.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Brandon Averette

Jeffrey Carroll

Mitchell Solomon

Oklahoma State University Athletics