Cowboy Basketball Welcomes Cyclones To GIA Saturday

Saturday, January 6

Stillwater, Okla.

3 p.m.

Oklahoma State University

Iowa State

January 04, 2018 | Cowboy Basketball

Game Center
Opponent: Iowa State (9-4, 0-2 Big 12)
Date / Tipoff: Jan. 6, 2018 / 3 p.m. Central
Site: Gallagher-Iba Arena (Capacity: 13,611)
Series: Tied 63-63 / OSU leads 37-17 in Stillwater
Tickets: okstate.com/tickets / 877-ALL-4-OSU
TV: ESPNU (Doug Sherman, Bryndon Manzer)
Webcast: ESPN3.com or WatchESPN app
Radio: Cowboy Radio Network (Dave Hunziker, John Holcomb)
Satellite Radio: Sirius 81, XM 81 (OSU radio call)
Live Stats: okstate.statbroadcast.com
Oklahoma State Game Notes

The Basics
Oklahoma State returns to Stillwater looking to shake off its 0-2 start in Big 12 play against an Iowa State squad hoping to do the same. The Cowboys dropped to 10-4 on the year after the loss at No. 7/7 Oklahoma, but all four losses have come against teams ranked 11th or better in the AP poll. The Cyclones have won 10 straight games against the Cowboys, including four straight in Gallagher-Iba Arena, which is tied for the longest active winning streak in Stillwater.

On the Air
The matchup between the Cowboys and Cyclones will air Saturday on ESPNU at 3 p.m. Central. The play-by-play team of Doug Sherman and former Cowboy guard Bryndon Manzer will handle the on-air duties. ESPN3.com and the WatchESPN app will carry the webcast. As always, Dave Hunziker and John Holcomb will have the Cowboy Radio Network call.

Cowboy Quick Hitters
• Tavarius Shine only gets better as the competition level improves. Against OSU's five ranked opponents, Shine is averaging a team-best 14.6 points on 53.1 percent shooting.
• OSU ranks 20th nationally in free throw percentage (.770) despite a couple of uncharacteristic nights from the stripe. The Cowboys shot 69.4 percent (25-of-36) against West Virginia and 52.6 percent (10-of-19) against Oklahoma.
• Jeffrey Carroll is racing up the program's career scoring charts. The senior posted 15 points at Oklahoma to pass Marcus Smart for 35th place, and now has 1,076 to his credit.
• Mitchell Solomon has six 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.

Elite Schedule
Oklahoma State has faced five teams currently ranked in the Associated Press Top-25, which trails only Tennessee (6 ranked teams faced) for the most nationally. Of those five ranked opponents, four are currently ranked No. 11 or better in the AP poll. The Cowboys are currently slated to play nine more games against teams in the latest AP Top-25, and four additional games against teams receiving votes.

Dziagwa From Deep
Sophomore Thomas Dziagwa had a breakout performance at Oklahoma on Wednesday, and found himself on the program's all-time 3-point charts. The sophomore scored a career-high 19 points on 5-of-10 shooting from 3-point. That put Dziagwa over 50 career makes from 3-point, which qualified him for the program's 3-point shooting percentage list, where he currently ranks fourth with a mark of 42.5 percent (54-of-127).

The Series With Iowa State
Iowa State has won the last 10 meetings against the Cowboys, which has tied the overall series at 63-63. Six of those 10 losses have been by eight points or less, including five by five points or less and two in overtime. The Cyclones have won in their last four trips to GIA, which is tied with West Virginia for the longest current win streaks by any team in Stillwater. OSU's last win over the Cyclones came on Jan. 30, 2013 in Stillwater.

Leading The Cyclones
Steve Prohm is in his third year at Iowa State, and is a veteran of 149 wins and the 2017 Big 12 Conference Tournament title. In his seventh season as a head coach overall, Prohm has won at least 21 games every year. In his first year at Murray State, Prohm led the Racers to a school-record tying 31 wins and an NCAA Tournament win over Colorado State, 58-41. In 2015-16, he coached Iowa State to the Sweet 16 in his first year in Ames.

Changing Of The Guard
Iowa State is in the process of replacing several key seniors from last year's Big 12 Tournament championship squad, including Monte Morris, Deonte Burton, Matt Thomas and Naz Mitrou-Long. Those four players alone played in a combined 470 games for the Cyclones, including a pair of Sweet 16 runs, and each earned at least one All-Big 12 postseason honor in their career.

Disciplined Squad
Despite the new faces on the roster one thing has remained the same - the Cyclones are still one of the nation's most disciplined teams. The Cyclones rank 22nd nationally in fewest turnover committed (36th in turnovers per game at 11.5), and 16th in fewest fouls (24th in fouls per game at 15.5). Nick Weiler-Babb ranks 10th nationally with 7.2 assists per game and also ranks 31st in assist-to-turnover ratio at 2.85.

The Cyclones Attack
Donovan Jackson leads four Cyclones in double-figures scoring with an average of 15.7 per contest, which ranks eighth in the Big 12. The senior is leading the Big 12 in free throw shooting at 93.9 percent, and is one of the league's top 3-point threats at 3.2 makes from deep per game. Lindell Wigginton isn't far behind at 15.2 points per game, while do-it-all junior guard Nick Weiler-Babb is averaging 12.3 points and a team-high 7.5 rebounds and 7.2 assists per game.