Oklahoma State University Athletics
Wednesday, February 8
Stillwater, OK
6 p.m.
Oklahoma State University
vs
Baylor
Fresh Off Top-10 Road Win, Cowboy Basketball Hosting No. 6 Baylor
February 06, 2017 | Cowboy Basketball
Game Center
Opponent: No. 6/8 Baylor (20-3, 7-3 Big 12)
Date/Tipoff: Feb. 8, 2017 / 6 p.m. Central
Series: OSU leads 54-25 • In Stillwater: OSU leads 26-6
Tickets: okstate.com/tickets or 877-ALL-4-OSU
TV: ESPNU (Clay Matvick & Tim Welsh)
Webcast: ESPN3.com
Radio: Cowboy Radio Network (Dave Hunziker & John Holcomb)
Satellite Radio: Sirius 81, XM 81
Internet Radio: http://okla.st/osutunein
Live Stats: okstate.statbroadcast.com
OSU Game Notes
The Basics
• Oklahoma State (15-8, 4-6 Big 12) knocked off the rival Sooners and No. 7 West Virginia in a pair of road contests last week, and can now boast a Big 12-best five-game win streak. The win over the Mountaineers was the program's 49th over an AP top-10 team, and the Cowboys are hoping to pick up No. 50 against No. 6/8 Baylor (20-3, 7-3 Big 12) on Wednesday night in Gallagher-Iba Arena. This marks the first time since the 2004 NCAA Tournament in which the Cowboys will face top-10 teams in back-to-back games. The Cowboys and Bears played a thriller in Waco, Texas a month ago. OSU was within two points inside the final minute, but Baylor pulled it out.
On the Air
• Oklahoma State and Baylor will face off on ESPNU with Clay Matvick and Tim Welsh on the call. This is the ninth of 13 scheduled appearance on ESPNU for the Cowboys this season. OSU is 6-2 on the network this season, and 35-30 all-time on the network, which hosted its inaugural broadcast at Gallagher-Iba Arena on March 5, 2005. 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 has faced the nation's toughest schedule up to this point according to KenPom, and that only gets tougher when No. 6/8 Baylor visits GIA on Wednesday. The last time OSU faced AP top-10 teams in back-to-back games was in the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight rounds of the 2004 NCAA Tournament. The Cowboys won those matchups against No. 9 Pittsburgh (63-51) and No. 5 Saint Joseph's (64-62). With Saturday's win over No. 7 West Virginia, OSU is 49-117 all-time against AP top-10 teams. The last time OSU played consecutive conference games on the road, won both, and beat a ranked team in the process was in 1954.
• Jeffrey Carroll is the nation's most improved player. The redshirt junior is only playing 2.6 more minutes per game this year, but boasts a scoring improvement of +9.1 points per game over his 2015-16 season. He is the only Big 12 player averaging at least 17 points (17.3, 3rd Big 12) and seven rebounds (7.1, 7th 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 14 times this season, including in eight of the last 10 games. He has 11 20-point scoring games this season, including six in Big 12 play, and ranks third in scoring in league games at 18.5 per contest. Carroll is shooting an incredible 59.4 percent from 3-point in Big 12 play, which is tops in the conference.
• A minor shift in defensive philosophy has been at the heart of OSU's five-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, 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 200 minutes of clock time in this five-game win streak, OSU has only trailed for a total of 35:25.
• Phil Forte III was the big man on campus last week. 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 304 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 46.8 percent shooting from deep, which ranks third in the league.
• KenPom ranks the Oklahoma State offense No. 2 in efficiency behind only UCLA. At 87.2 points per game, OSU is seventh 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 22.8 points per game in the first seven seconds of each possession.
• Jawun Evans 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 (18.3), third in assists (5.4) and third 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 6.6 points on 55.0 percent shooting and 3.4 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 103-22, Underwood owns an 82.4 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 ranks eighth nationally in scoring at 87.2 points per game, but their high-pressure defense is the main reason why. The Cowboys rank 22nd in the country with 8.3 steals per game and 19th in turnovers forced at 16.4. According to KenPom, OSU is holding opponents to an average possession of just 15.9 seconds - 7th shortest in the country - and they rank 27th in turnover percentage with a mark of 21.7.
• OSU fields one of the youngest and most inexperienced lineups in the country. Even with fifth-year senior Phil Forte and his 125 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 268 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 fifth nationally with 14.5 offensive boards per game and third in offensive rebound percentage at 39.9 percent. A true team effort, only one player on the team ranks inside the top 100 in the country in offensive boards - Mitchell Solomon (85th, 2.78). The Cowboys have pulled down 15-plus offensive boards in 12 games this year, including nine of the last 16 outings.
Baylor Connections & Snapshot
• Following OSU's game at Baylor in January, the Bears jumped to No. 1 in the latest Associated Press poll for the first time in the program's history. Now, Baylor comes to Stillwater with a No. 6 ranking in the AP Poll. All-time, OSU has 48 wins over top-10 teams, including 29 victories against teams ranked sixth or better in the AP poll.
• Jo Lual-Acuil Jr. is one of the nation's top shot blockers. The 7-footer from Melbourne, Australia is averaging 2.7 blocks per game, which leads the Big 12 and ranks 13th nationally. His rim-protecting accolades and Baylor's length in their patented zone defense have helped the Bears hold opponents to 61.4 points per game, which ranks seventh nationally.
• Baylor head coach Scott Drew has secured a sixth consecutive 20-win season with the Bears. Drew and the Bears have taken down 16 ranked opponents over the last three seasons. Since his arrival in Waco, OSU is 15-13 against Drew, although Baylor has taken the last three meetings.
• Oklahoma State leads the all-time series against Baylor, 54-25, including a 26-6 split in Stillwater. The two programs have split the last six meetings in historic Gallagher-Iba Arena. Last season, OSU fell just short, 69-65, on the 15th anniversary of the Remember The Ten tragedy.
• OSU point guard Jawun Evans is averaging 8.0 assists per game against the Bears, which is his best against any Big 12 opponent. In two games against the Bears last season, Evans racked up 19 total assists (9.5 apg). The Big 12 Freshman of the Year tallied eight points and nine assists against the Bears in Waco, and had nine points and a then-career-high 10 assists in the return trip to Stillwater. He had five assists in the Jan. 7 meeting in Waco.
Â
Opponent: No. 6/8 Baylor (20-3, 7-3 Big 12)
Date/Tipoff: Feb. 8, 2017 / 6 p.m. Central
Series: OSU leads 54-25 • In Stillwater: OSU leads 26-6
Tickets: okstate.com/tickets or 877-ALL-4-OSU
TV: ESPNU (Clay Matvick & Tim Welsh)
Webcast: ESPN3.com
Radio: Cowboy Radio Network (Dave Hunziker & John Holcomb)
Satellite Radio: Sirius 81, XM 81
Internet Radio: http://okla.st/osutunein
Live Stats: okstate.statbroadcast.com
OSU Game Notes
The Basics
• Oklahoma State (15-8, 4-6 Big 12) knocked off the rival Sooners and No. 7 West Virginia in a pair of road contests last week, and can now boast a Big 12-best five-game win streak. The win over the Mountaineers was the program's 49th over an AP top-10 team, and the Cowboys are hoping to pick up No. 50 against No. 6/8 Baylor (20-3, 7-3 Big 12) on Wednesday night in Gallagher-Iba Arena. This marks the first time since the 2004 NCAA Tournament in which the Cowboys will face top-10 teams in back-to-back games. The Cowboys and Bears played a thriller in Waco, Texas a month ago. OSU was within two points inside the final minute, but Baylor pulled it out.
On the Air
• Oklahoma State and Baylor will face off on ESPNU with Clay Matvick and Tim Welsh on the call. This is the ninth of 13 scheduled appearance on ESPNU for the Cowboys this season. OSU is 6-2 on the network this season, and 35-30 all-time on the network, which hosted its inaugural broadcast at Gallagher-Iba Arena on March 5, 2005. 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 has faced the nation's toughest schedule up to this point according to KenPom, and that only gets tougher when No. 6/8 Baylor visits GIA on Wednesday. The last time OSU faced AP top-10 teams in back-to-back games was in the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight rounds of the 2004 NCAA Tournament. The Cowboys won those matchups against No. 9 Pittsburgh (63-51) and No. 5 Saint Joseph's (64-62). With Saturday's win over No. 7 West Virginia, OSU is 49-117 all-time against AP top-10 teams. The last time OSU played consecutive conference games on the road, won both, and beat a ranked team in the process was in 1954.
• Jeffrey Carroll is the nation's most improved player. The redshirt junior is only playing 2.6 more minutes per game this year, but boasts a scoring improvement of +9.1 points per game over his 2015-16 season. He is the only Big 12 player averaging at least 17 points (17.3, 3rd Big 12) and seven rebounds (7.1, 7th 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 14 times this season, including in eight of the last 10 games. He has 11 20-point scoring games this season, including six in Big 12 play, and ranks third in scoring in league games at 18.5 per contest. Carroll is shooting an incredible 59.4 percent from 3-point in Big 12 play, which is tops in the conference.
• A minor shift in defensive philosophy has been at the heart of OSU's five-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, 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 200 minutes of clock time in this five-game win streak, OSU has only trailed for a total of 35:25.
• Phil Forte III was the big man on campus last week. 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 304 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 46.8 percent shooting from deep, which ranks third in the league.
• KenPom ranks the Oklahoma State offense No. 2 in efficiency behind only UCLA. At 87.2 points per game, OSU is seventh 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 22.8 points per game in the first seven seconds of each possession.
• Jawun Evans 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 (18.3), third in assists (5.4) and third 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 6.6 points on 55.0 percent shooting and 3.4 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 103-22, Underwood owns an 82.4 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 ranks eighth nationally in scoring at 87.2 points per game, but their high-pressure defense is the main reason why. The Cowboys rank 22nd in the country with 8.3 steals per game and 19th in turnovers forced at 16.4. According to KenPom, OSU is holding opponents to an average possession of just 15.9 seconds - 7th shortest in the country - and they rank 27th in turnover percentage with a mark of 21.7.
• OSU fields one of the youngest and most inexperienced lineups in the country. Even with fifth-year senior Phil Forte and his 125 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 268 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 fifth nationally with 14.5 offensive boards per game and third in offensive rebound percentage at 39.9 percent. A true team effort, only one player on the team ranks inside the top 100 in the country in offensive boards - Mitchell Solomon (85th, 2.78). The Cowboys have pulled down 15-plus offensive boards in 12 games this year, including nine of the last 16 outings.
Baylor Connections & Snapshot
• Following OSU's game at Baylor in January, the Bears jumped to No. 1 in the latest Associated Press poll for the first time in the program's history. Now, Baylor comes to Stillwater with a No. 6 ranking in the AP Poll. All-time, OSU has 48 wins over top-10 teams, including 29 victories against teams ranked sixth or better in the AP poll.
• Jo Lual-Acuil Jr. is one of the nation's top shot blockers. The 7-footer from Melbourne, Australia is averaging 2.7 blocks per game, which leads the Big 12 and ranks 13th nationally. His rim-protecting accolades and Baylor's length in their patented zone defense have helped the Bears hold opponents to 61.4 points per game, which ranks seventh nationally.
• Baylor head coach Scott Drew has secured a sixth consecutive 20-win season with the Bears. Drew and the Bears have taken down 16 ranked opponents over the last three seasons. Since his arrival in Waco, OSU is 15-13 against Drew, although Baylor has taken the last three meetings.
• Oklahoma State leads the all-time series against Baylor, 54-25, including a 26-6 split in Stillwater. The two programs have split the last six meetings in historic Gallagher-Iba Arena. Last season, OSU fell just short, 69-65, on the 15th anniversary of the Remember The Ten tragedy.
• OSU point guard Jawun Evans is averaging 8.0 assists per game against the Bears, which is his best against any Big 12 opponent. In two games against the Bears last season, Evans racked up 19 total assists (9.5 apg). The Big 12 Freshman of the Year tallied eight points and nine assists against the Bears in Waco, and had nine points and a then-career-high 10 assists in the return trip to Stillwater. He had five assists in the Jan. 7 meeting in Waco.
Â
Players Mentioned
G/SF
/ Cowboy Basketball
G/SF
/ Cowboy Basketball
PG
/ Cowboy Basketball
F
/ Cowboy BasketballInside Oklahoma State Athletics: Dave Smith Previews the 2025 Cross Country Season
Thursday, September 11
Cowboys Face to Face: Tony Allen
Monday, September 08
Mike Gundy Previews Cowboys vs. Tulsa - Oklahoma State News Conference (9-15-2025)
Monday, September 08
Cowboy Football Ch. 2: Trailer vs Oregon - Opportunity
Saturday, September 06
