New York State Of Mind For Cowboy Basketball

• Game Center
Syracuse (4-1, 0-0 ACC) vs Oklahoma State (5-0, 0-0 Big 12)
Date / Tipoff: Nov. 27, 2019 / 6 p.m. CT
Site: Barclays Center (19,000)
Tickets: Start at $27.50 at espnevents.com/nit-tip-off/
Series: OSU leads 3-2 (3-1 on neutral courts)
Last: OSU won 72-68 on Dec. 5, 2006 at Madison Square Garden
Broadcast: ESPN2 (Doug Sherman, Fran Fraschilla)
Radio: Cowboy Radio Network (Dave Hunziker, John Holcomb)
Satellite Radio: XM 371 (OSU call), XM (371 Syracuse call)
Live Stats: okstate.statbroadcast.com
Oklahoma State Game Notes

• The Basics
Oklahoma State is headed to Mike Boynton's hometown of Brooklyn, New York for the NIT Season Tip-Off at the Barclays Center. The 5-0 Cowboys are off to their best start since 2014-15 thanks to their high-pressure defense that is averaging 5.8 blocks per game and is holding opponents to 36.0 percent shooting. The Cowboys will take on a 4-1 Syracuse squad led by Hall-of-Fame head coach Jim Boeheim. In his 42nd season at the helm of the Orange, Boeheim is second only to Duke's Mike Krzyzewski in career victories.

• On the Air
The Cowboys and Orange will battle on ESPN2 with Doug Sherman and Brooklyn's own Fran Fraschilla on the call. Tipoff is slated for 6 p.m. CT and will immediately follow the NIT Season Tip-Off opener featuring Ole Miss and Penn State at 4 p.m. CT. OSU will face either the Rebels or Nittany Lions on Friday at the Barclays Center. Dave Hunziker and John Holcomb will have Cowboy Radio Network call.

• Lock-Down Cowboys
Expect a battle of contrasting, yet potent defenses when Oklahoma State and Syracuse meet in Brooklyn. The Cowboys employ a high-pressure defense that is led by the Big 12's top shot blocker, Yor Anei. OSU ranks second nationally in block percentage at 20.3 percent, which has allowed OSU's guards to extend their pressure on the perimeter. As a result, the Cowboys are 36th nationally in field goal percentage defense (36.0) and 29th in defensive 3-point field goal percentage (25.7). Overall, the Cowboys rank 39th in the country in defensive efficiency according to KenPom.

• Paint Protector
Yor Anei's unique ability has a suffocating effect on opposing offenses. When he is on the floor, Anei is responsible for blocking 20.1 percent of the opposition's 2-point field goal attempts, a figure that ranks second nationally according to KenPom. The sophomore has blocked at least one shot in 22 straight games, and now has 102 career blocks. Nationwide, only 39 active players have 100 career blocks, and Anei is the only sophomore on that list. Last season, Anei ranked fourth nationally with a block percentage of 13.65 while racking up 85 rejections. A Preseason All-Big 12 honorable mention selection, Anei already owns two of the three biggest single-game block totals in school history, tied the OSU single-season blocks record (85) and is already 10th in career blocks (102).

• Cowboys In New York
This will be OSU's 36th and 37th games in the state of New York, and the Cowboys own a 17-18 record in the Empire State. The most notable of those games are OSU's wins in the 1945 and 1946 NCAA Championship games in Madison Square Garden where they took down NYU and North Carolina.

• Last Time At The Barclays Center
In its last trip to New York, Oklahoma State played in the Barclays Center as a part of the 2017 Legends Classic and split a pair of games against No. 16 Texas A&M (L, 72-55) and Pittsburgh (W, 73-67). Then-sophomore Thomas Dziagwa was a combined 5-of-9 from 3-point in the two games in the Barclay Center, while Cameron McGriff averaged 7.0 points and 6.0 rebounds, and Lindy Waters posted 6.0 points and 6.0 boards per game.

• OSU In The NIT Season Tip-Off
This is OSU's third trip to New York for the NIT Season Tip-Off. The No. 11 Cowboys won the 1991 NIT Season Tip-Off title after taking down No. 24 Pitt (74-63) and No. 18 Georgia Tech (78-71) in Madison Square Garden. OSU also played in the 2011 Tip-Off, where they fell to Stanford (82-67) and Virginia Tech (59-57). The Cowboys failed to advance to New York in he 1996 NIT Season Tip-Off after falling at Tulsa (72-54). All-time, OSU owns a 9-3 record in the event including campus site games.

• Brooklyn Born & Raised
Cowboy head coach Mike Boynton is from the Clinton Hill area of Brooklyn and played his high school ball at Bishop Loughlin in the Ft. Greene neighborhood, which is located blocks away from the Barclays Center. In fact, Boynton is one of just 16 members of the 1,000-point club in Loughlin history, and his name is inscribed in a banner in the gym.

• The Series With Syracuse
The Cowboys are 3-2 all-time against Syracuse, including wins in the last two meetings, which also took place in New York. OSU took down the Orange in Madison Square Garden as a part of the 2004 (W, 74-60) and 2006 (W, 72-68) Jimmy V Classics.

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Players Mentioned

Yor Anei

Thomas Dziagwa

Cameron McGriff

Oklahoma State University Athletics