Cowboy Basketball Headed To Austin For Key Road Showdown

Saturday, February 24

Austin, Texas

1 p.m.

Oklahoma State University

Texas

February 23, 2018 | Cowboy Basketball

Game Center
Opponent: Texas (16-12, 6-9 Big 12)
Date / Tipoff: Feb. 24, 2018 / 1 p.m. Central
Site: Frank Erwin Center (Capacity: 16,540)
Series: Texas leads 49-43 overall, 29-13 in Austin
Last: OSU won 65-64 in Stillwater on Jan. 13
TV: Longhorn Network (Lowell Galindo, Lance Blanks)
Webcast: ESPN3.com or WatchESPN app
Radio: Cowboy Radio Network (Dave Hunziker, John Holcomb)
Satellite Radio: Sirius 81, XM 81 (UT radio call)
Live Stats: okstate.statbroadcast.com
OSU Game Notes

The Basics
Oklahoma State (16-12, 6-9 Big 12) added another impressive victory to its postseason resume with a 79-71 win over No. 6 Texas Tech on Wednesday night. It was OSU's third win over an Associated Press top-10 team this season, which tied the 1995 and 2004 Final Four Cowboy squads for the most in school history. OSU will now travel to Austin, Texas with an opportunity to sweep the season series with the Longhorns (16-12, 6-9 Big 12) for just the fourth time in the Big 12 era. The two squads staged a thriller in the season's first meeting in Stillwater, with the Cowboys pulling out a 65-64 win on Tavarius Shine's tip-in with six seconds remaining. In all, OSU has taken eight of the last 12 meetings with the Longhorns.

On the Air
The matchup between the Cowboys and Longhorns will air Saturday on the Longhorn Network at 1 p.m. Central. Lowell Galindo and Lance Blanks 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.

The Ever-Growing OSU Postseason Resume
• OSU has piled up five AP top-25 wins this season, including three against top-10 teams and three away from Gallagher-Iba Arena.
• The Cowboys own three RPI top-25 wins and five RPI top-50 victories. Only 10 other teams can make that claim, including only two other teams ranked lower than 30 in the RPI.
• The Cowboys are one of just seven teams to take down two ranked opponents in true road games, joining Oklahoma, Kansas, Florida, Wichita State Duke and Texas A&M.
• The official NCAA RPI report separates every team's games into four quadrants, and the NCAA Tournament selection committee places heavy emphasis on the first and toughest quadrant. OSU has four first-quadrant wins, which is tied for 25th most nationally. OSU's win over Oklahoma is two RPI points from moving up to a first-quadrant victory.
• OSU has faced the nation's 29th toughest schedule according to KenPom, and has six wins over current top-50 squads.
• Every loss on OSU's schedule is to a team currently among the projected NCAA Tournament field according to ESPN's Joe Lunardi. Conversely, the Cowboys have five wins over projected tournament teams.

Running The Point
Kendall Smith has scored in double-figures in each of his last nine games, including five 20-point performances. Over this span, the graduate transfer has averaged 17.9 points on 47.2 percent shooting from the floor and 50.0 percent from beyond the arc. In Big 12 play, Smith is now shooting 46.5 percent from 3-point, which ranks third in the Big 12, and he's also averaging 14.1 points, which ranks 14th in the league.

Double-Threat Cowboy
Jeffrey Carroll is one of just 14 players in school history - one of just eight Cowboys listed 6-6 or shorter - to rank in the top 25 in school history in both career scoring and rebounding. The senior now ranks 23rd in school history with 1,283 career points, which is third among all active Big 12 players behind only Jevon Carter (1,588) and Devonte Graham (1,553). He also ranks 24th in rebounding with 525 boards. Carroll is only 26 rebounds behind teammate Mitchell Solomon (551 boards) for 23rd place in school history.

Cowboy Quick Hitters
• The win over Texas Tech was OSU's 12 home victory of the season, which is the most by OSU since the 2013-14 squad won 13 games.
• In Big 12 play, OSU is 5-1 when playing on Saturdays, including the wins at Kansas and West Virginia.
• OSU appears to have a magic number when it comes to 3-pointers. The Cowboys are 13-1 when they make nine or more 3-pointers in a game, and 3-11 when they hit eight or less.
• OSU ranks 28th nationally with a 76.4 percent clip from the free throw line. Every Cowboy with at least 30 attempts is shooting 72.6 percent or better from the stripe on the year.

The Series With The Longhorns
OSU has won each of the last two matchups against the Longhorns to close UT's gap in the overall series to 49-43. However, the Cowboys have lost in their last two trips to the Frank Erwin Center and are 13-29 overall in Austin. In all, Oklahoma State has won eight of the last 12 meetings with the Longhorns.

Cleaning The Glass
Two of the Big 12's top offensive rebounders will square off on Saturday. Longhorn freshman Mohamed Bamba ranks second in the league at 3.3 offensive rebounds per game, and Cowboy senior Mitchell Solomon isn't far behind in fourth place with an average of 3.0 offensive boards per game.

Carroll's Success Against The Longhorns
Jeffrey Carroll scored just seven total points against Texas in his first two seasons at OSU, but he had a pair of breakout performances as a junior last season and has scored at least 17 points in each of the last three meetings against UT. Carroll is averaging 19.7 points on 51.0 percent shooting in the last three matchups.