Oklahoma State University Athletics
Saturday, February 11
Stillwater, OK
3 p.m.
Oklahoma State University
vs
Texas
High-Powered Cowboy Offense Welcomes Texas To GIA
February 10, 2017 | Cowboy Basketball
Game Center
Opponent: Texas (10-14, 4-7 Big 12)
Date/Tipoff: Feb. 11, 2017 / 3 p.m. Central
Series: UT leads 49-41 • In Stillwater: OSU leads 21-14
Tickets: okstate.com/tickets or 877-ALL-4-OSU
TV: ESPN2 (Jason Benetti & Reid Gettys)
Webcast: ESPN3.com or WatchESPN app
Radio: Cowboy Radio Network (Dave Hunziker & John Holcomb)
Satellite Radio: Sirius 145, XM 199
Internet Radio: http://okla.st/osutunein
Live Stats: okstate.statbroadcast.com
The Basics
• The win streak might have ended, but not the fight. On Wednesday night, Oklahoma State (15-9, 4-7 Big 12) used a late 12-0 run to close the Baylor lead to just one point with 1:01 remaining, but the Cowboys couldn't get the last bucket to fall. The loss ended OSU's five-game winning streak that helped put the Cowboys back into the NCAA Tournament picture. On Saturday, OSU rounds out its two-game homestand with Texas, which beat the Cowboys, 82-79, in Austin back on Jan. 4. The Longhorns have won the last three meetings between the two programs, although the Cowboys own a 21-14 edge over UT in Stillwater.
On the Air
• Oklahoma State and Texas will face off on ESPN2 with Jason Benetti and Reid Gettys on the call. This will be OSU's fourth appearance on ESPN2 this season, and the Cowboys are 1-2 this year and 38-42 all-time on the network. As always, Dave Hunziker and John Holcomb will have the Cowboy Radio Network call from the historic white maple floor.
Oklahoma State Snapshot
• Oklahoma State split its back-to-back showdowns against AP top-10 opponents by winning at No. 7 West Virginia, 82-75, last Saturday. It was the program's 49th all-time victory over an AP top-10 team, and marked the first time OSU had faced consecutive top-10 opponents since the 2004 NCAA Tournament. The Cowboys' late rally against No. 6 Baylor fell just short. The Bears led by 13 points with 3:57 remaining, but the Cowboys used a 12-0 run over the next 3:34 to make it a one-point ballgame. That's when Manu Lecomte hit a pair of free throws with 14.7 seconds left to seal the game. Despite the loss, the Cowboys have the No. 1 strength of schedule according to KenPom.
• Jeffrey Carroll is the nation's most improved player. The redshirt junior is only playing 3.0 more minutes per game this year, but boasts a scoring improvement of +9.3 points per game over his 2015-16 season. He is the only Big 12 player averaging at least 17 points (17.5, 3rd Big 12) and 6.8 rebounds (6.8, T8th Big 12), and he is the nation's only active power conference player averaging 17 points or more that can claim an improvement of +9.0 points from last season. Carroll joins Bryant "Big Country" Reeves as the only Oklahoma State players to ever make the same leap from one year to the next.
• Carroll entered the 2016-17 season with a career high scoring game of 18 points, but has tied or topped that mark 15 times this season, including in nine of the last 11 games. He has 12 20-point scoring games this season, including seven in Big 12 play, and ranks second in scoring in league games at 18.6 per contest. Carroll is shooting an incredible 58.8 percent from 3-point in Big 12 play, which is tops in the conference.
• The Cowboy offense is on record-setting pace. KenPom ranks the Oklahoma State offense No. 2 in efficiency behind only UCLA. At 86.5 points per game, OSU is on pace to set a new school record for scoring average (current record: 83.5 in 1988-89), and in fact, is on pace to be the second-highest scoring squad in Big 12 history behind only the 2001-02 Kansas team that averaged 90.9 per game. The Cowboys have scored 95 points or more eight times this season, including a school-record tying five 100-point performances.
• A minor shift in defensive philosophy has been at the heart of OSU's recent resurgence. 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, hammered Arkansas by 28 points in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge, ended a seven-game losing streak to Oklahoma and knocked off No. 7 West Virginia in Morgantown. In 240 minutes of clock time in this six-game resurgence, OSU has only trailed for a total of 73:15.
• Phil Forte III is the big man on campus lately. The redshirt senior became the program's all-time 3-point king in the win over Arkansas, and just two-days later hit the game-winning 3-pointer with 11 seconds remaining to beat Oklahoma in Norman for the first time since 2004. Forte is now up to 307 career 3-pointers, which ranks sixth in Big 12 Conference history and is third among all active players nationwide. Forte has been on fire since Big 12 play began, and is averaging a league-best 2.9 3-pointers per game on 47.1 percent shooting from deep, which ranks fourth in the league.
• Jawun Evans was named one of 30 players still in consideration for the Naismith Trophy, given to the nation's best player. The sophomore is one of just three players to win multiple Big 12 Player of the Week awards this season (Jan. 30 & Dec. 5), and ranks second in the Big 12 in scoring (18.2), third in assists (5.4) and fourth in steals (2.0). In league play, the sophomore leads all Big 12 players with 6.0 assists per game. Evans has nine 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.
• Key contributions off the bench from Lindy Waters III and Davon Dillard have helped OSU close the door on opponents during this five-game win streak. Waters is the current Big 12 Newcomer of the Week after he knocked down all five of his 3-point attempts last week, including a late key 3-pointer at Oklahoma and at No. 7 West Virginia. Dillard has brought a dose of attitude and athleticism to the Cowboy lineup. The sophomore has made the SportsCenter Top 10 twice in the last in the last two weeks with explosive dunks, including a slam from outside the paint that helped cement the win at West Virginia. In the last five games, Dillard is averaging 7.6 points on 50.0 percent shooting and 4.2 rebounds per game.
• 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. At 104-23, Underwood owns an 81.9 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 126 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 273 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 seventh nationally with 14.17 offensive boards per game and sixth in offensive rebound percentage at 39.1 percent. A true team effort, only one player on the team ranks inside the top 100 in the country in offensive boards - Mitchell Solomon (77th, 2.79). The Cowboys have pulled down 15-plus offensive boards in 12 games this year, including nine of the last 17 outings.
Texas Connections & Snapshot
• This will be the third meeting between head coaches Brad Underwood and Shaka Smart, although the two were at previous schools for the first showdown in the opening round of the 2014 NCAA Tournament. Underwood's Stephen F. Austin squad closed out regulation on a four-point play from Desmond Haymon to tie the game at 67, and then closed out Smart's VCU team 10-8 in overtime to advance. The Lumberjacks (32-2) trailed the Rams (26-9) by five points (66-61) with 32 seconds remaining and made a charge in the final minute. Jacob Parker (Bixby, Okla.) led SFA offensively with 22 points, while Traveon Graham led VCU with 19.
• Texas was tabbed to finish third in the Big 12 in the annual preseason coaches poll thanks to a stable of young talent. Sophomores Tevin Mack (14.8 ppg) and Kerwin Roach, Jr. (10.0 ppg), and freshmen Jarrett Allen (12.9 ppg, 8.4 rpg) and Andrew Jones (11.2 ppg) lead the Longhorns on both ends of the court.
• The Longhorns are coming off a gritty home win over Iowa State on Tuesday night. Jarrett Allen posted 17 points, including the game-winning free throws with seven seconds remaining, and nine rebounds to help Texas hold off a hard-charging Iowa State team in the second half. Matt Thomas led the Cyclones with 17 points on 5-of-10 shooting from 3-point. ISU shot 50.0 percent in the second half to close in on what was a 17-point lead for Texas in the first half.
• Texas leads the series with the Cowboys 49-41 overall, including wins in each of the last three meetings. The Longhorns swept the two-game series last season, but OSU took both meetings in 2015. Prior to last year's loss in Stillwater, OSU had won the previous four meetings in Gallagher-Iba Arena, and are 21-14 at home against Texas.
• Jawun Evans and Phil Forte have had success against the Longhorns over their careers. Evans is averaging 15.5 points, 50.0 percent shooting from 3-point and 5.5 assists per game. Forte has faced the Longhorns seven times over his career, and is averaging 11.6 points on 40.5 percent shooting from deep. He has four double-digit scoring performances against UT.
Opponent: Texas (10-14, 4-7 Big 12)
Date/Tipoff: Feb. 11, 2017 / 3 p.m. Central
Series: UT leads 49-41 • In Stillwater: OSU leads 21-14
Tickets: okstate.com/tickets or 877-ALL-4-OSU
TV: ESPN2 (Jason Benetti & Reid Gettys)
Webcast: ESPN3.com or WatchESPN app
Radio: Cowboy Radio Network (Dave Hunziker & John Holcomb)
Satellite Radio: Sirius 145, XM 199
Internet Radio: http://okla.st/osutunein
Live Stats: okstate.statbroadcast.com
The Basics
• The win streak might have ended, but not the fight. On Wednesday night, Oklahoma State (15-9, 4-7 Big 12) used a late 12-0 run to close the Baylor lead to just one point with 1:01 remaining, but the Cowboys couldn't get the last bucket to fall. The loss ended OSU's five-game winning streak that helped put the Cowboys back into the NCAA Tournament picture. On Saturday, OSU rounds out its two-game homestand with Texas, which beat the Cowboys, 82-79, in Austin back on Jan. 4. The Longhorns have won the last three meetings between the two programs, although the Cowboys own a 21-14 edge over UT in Stillwater.
On the Air
• Oklahoma State and Texas will face off on ESPN2 with Jason Benetti and Reid Gettys on the call. This will be OSU's fourth appearance on ESPN2 this season, and the Cowboys are 1-2 this year and 38-42 all-time on the network. As always, Dave Hunziker and John Holcomb will have the Cowboy Radio Network call from the historic white maple floor.
Oklahoma State Snapshot
• Oklahoma State split its back-to-back showdowns against AP top-10 opponents by winning at No. 7 West Virginia, 82-75, last Saturday. It was the program's 49th all-time victory over an AP top-10 team, and marked the first time OSU had faced consecutive top-10 opponents since the 2004 NCAA Tournament. The Cowboys' late rally against No. 6 Baylor fell just short. The Bears led by 13 points with 3:57 remaining, but the Cowboys used a 12-0 run over the next 3:34 to make it a one-point ballgame. That's when Manu Lecomte hit a pair of free throws with 14.7 seconds left to seal the game. Despite the loss, the Cowboys have the No. 1 strength of schedule according to KenPom.
• Jeffrey Carroll is the nation's most improved player. The redshirt junior is only playing 3.0 more minutes per game this year, but boasts a scoring improvement of +9.3 points per game over his 2015-16 season. He is the only Big 12 player averaging at least 17 points (17.5, 3rd Big 12) and 6.8 rebounds (6.8, T8th Big 12), and he is the nation's only active power conference player averaging 17 points or more that can claim an improvement of +9.0 points from last season. Carroll joins Bryant "Big Country" Reeves as the only Oklahoma State players to ever make the same leap from one year to the next.
• Carroll entered the 2016-17 season with a career high scoring game of 18 points, but has tied or topped that mark 15 times this season, including in nine of the last 11 games. He has 12 20-point scoring games this season, including seven in Big 12 play, and ranks second in scoring in league games at 18.6 per contest. Carroll is shooting an incredible 58.8 percent from 3-point in Big 12 play, which is tops in the conference.
• The Cowboy offense is on record-setting pace. KenPom ranks the Oklahoma State offense No. 2 in efficiency behind only UCLA. At 86.5 points per game, OSU is on pace to set a new school record for scoring average (current record: 83.5 in 1988-89), and in fact, is on pace to be the second-highest scoring squad in Big 12 history behind only the 2001-02 Kansas team that averaged 90.9 per game. The Cowboys have scored 95 points or more eight times this season, including a school-record tying five 100-point performances.
• A minor shift in defensive philosophy has been at the heart of OSU's recent resurgence. 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, hammered Arkansas by 28 points in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge, ended a seven-game losing streak to Oklahoma and knocked off No. 7 West Virginia in Morgantown. In 240 minutes of clock time in this six-game resurgence, OSU has only trailed for a total of 73:15.
• Phil Forte III is the big man on campus lately. The redshirt senior became the program's all-time 3-point king in the win over Arkansas, and just two-days later hit the game-winning 3-pointer with 11 seconds remaining to beat Oklahoma in Norman for the first time since 2004. Forte is now up to 307 career 3-pointers, which ranks sixth in Big 12 Conference history and is third among all active players nationwide. Forte has been on fire since Big 12 play began, and is averaging a league-best 2.9 3-pointers per game on 47.1 percent shooting from deep, which ranks fourth in the league.
• Jawun Evans was named one of 30 players still in consideration for the Naismith Trophy, given to the nation's best player. The sophomore is one of just three players to win multiple Big 12 Player of the Week awards this season (Jan. 30 & Dec. 5), and ranks second in the Big 12 in scoring (18.2), third in assists (5.4) and fourth in steals (2.0). In league play, the sophomore leads all Big 12 players with 6.0 assists per game. Evans has nine 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.
• Key contributions off the bench from Lindy Waters III and Davon Dillard have helped OSU close the door on opponents during this five-game win streak. Waters is the current Big 12 Newcomer of the Week after he knocked down all five of his 3-point attempts last week, including a late key 3-pointer at Oklahoma and at No. 7 West Virginia. Dillard has brought a dose of attitude and athleticism to the Cowboy lineup. The sophomore has made the SportsCenter Top 10 twice in the last in the last two weeks with explosive dunks, including a slam from outside the paint that helped cement the win at West Virginia. In the last five games, Dillard is averaging 7.6 points on 50.0 percent shooting and 4.2 rebounds per game.
• 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. At 104-23, Underwood owns an 81.9 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 126 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 273 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 seventh nationally with 14.17 offensive boards per game and sixth in offensive rebound percentage at 39.1 percent. A true team effort, only one player on the team ranks inside the top 100 in the country in offensive boards - Mitchell Solomon (77th, 2.79). The Cowboys have pulled down 15-plus offensive boards in 12 games this year, including nine of the last 17 outings.
Texas Connections & Snapshot
• This will be the third meeting between head coaches Brad Underwood and Shaka Smart, although the two were at previous schools for the first showdown in the opening round of the 2014 NCAA Tournament. Underwood's Stephen F. Austin squad closed out regulation on a four-point play from Desmond Haymon to tie the game at 67, and then closed out Smart's VCU team 10-8 in overtime to advance. The Lumberjacks (32-2) trailed the Rams (26-9) by five points (66-61) with 32 seconds remaining and made a charge in the final minute. Jacob Parker (Bixby, Okla.) led SFA offensively with 22 points, while Traveon Graham led VCU with 19.
• Texas was tabbed to finish third in the Big 12 in the annual preseason coaches poll thanks to a stable of young talent. Sophomores Tevin Mack (14.8 ppg) and Kerwin Roach, Jr. (10.0 ppg), and freshmen Jarrett Allen (12.9 ppg, 8.4 rpg) and Andrew Jones (11.2 ppg) lead the Longhorns on both ends of the court.
• The Longhorns are coming off a gritty home win over Iowa State on Tuesday night. Jarrett Allen posted 17 points, including the game-winning free throws with seven seconds remaining, and nine rebounds to help Texas hold off a hard-charging Iowa State team in the second half. Matt Thomas led the Cyclones with 17 points on 5-of-10 shooting from 3-point. ISU shot 50.0 percent in the second half to close in on what was a 17-point lead for Texas in the first half.
• Texas leads the series with the Cowboys 49-41 overall, including wins in each of the last three meetings. The Longhorns swept the two-game series last season, but OSU took both meetings in 2015. Prior to last year's loss in Stillwater, OSU had won the previous four meetings in Gallagher-Iba Arena, and are 21-14 at home against Texas.
• Jawun Evans and Phil Forte have had success against the Longhorns over their careers. Evans is averaging 15.5 points, 50.0 percent shooting from 3-point and 5.5 assists per game. Forte has faced the Longhorns seven times over his career, and is averaging 11.6 points on 40.5 percent shooting from deep. He has four double-digit scoring performances against UT.
Players Mentioned
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