Cowboy Basketball Looking To Heat Up Against Longhorns

Wednesday, January 15

Stillwater, OK

7 p.m.

Oklahoma State University

Texas

January 13, 2020 | Cowboy Basketball

• Game Center
Oklahoma State (9-6, 0-3 Big 12) vs Texas (11-4, 1-2 Big 12)
Date / Tipoff: Jan. 15, 2020 / 7 p.m. CT
Site: Gallagher-Iba Arena (13,611)
Tickets: okstate.com/tickets or 877-ALL-4-OSU
Series: Texas leads 51-44 (OSU leads 24-14 in Stillwater)
Last: Texas won 69-57 in Austin on Feb. 16, 2019
Streak: Home team has won each of last 6 matchups
Webcast: ESPN+ (Chuckie Kempf, Tim Welsh)
Radio: Cowboy Radio Network (Dave Hunziker, John Holcomb)
Satellite Radio: XM 386
Live Stats: okstate.statbroadcast.com
Oklahoma State Game Notes

• The Basics
Oklahoma State's defense held TCU to 33.3 percent shooting and an opponent season-low 10 points in the paint, but the Cowboy offense couldn't get going in a loss that dropped OSU to 0-3 in Big 12 play. The Cowboys will look to get back in gear against Texas, which picked up its first league victory with a 64-50 win over Kansas State on Saturday in Austin. The Longhorns are led by the guard trio of Matt Coleman III, Courtney Ramey and Andrew Jones, which has helped UT rank second in the Big 12 with 8.3 3-pointers made per game.

• On the Air
The game will appear on Big 12 Now on ESPN+, the new digital home for thousands of live Big 12 and ESPN events, on-demand content and original programing. ESPN+ is available via the ESPN App, ESPN.com or espnplus.com, as well as on most major mobile and connected TV platforms for just $4.99 per month. The announcing team of Chuckie Kempf and Tim Welsh will have the ESPN+ call. Dave Hunziker and John Holcomb will have Cowboy Radio Network call from historic Eddie Sutton Court.

• Cowboy Quick Hitters

Oklahoma State has won seven of the last eight meetings against Texas in GIA, including each of the last three matchups.
OSU's opponents this year are a combined 160-85 (.653), which is the 12th highest opponent win percentage in the country.
The last time OSU started Big 12 play with an 0-3 record was in 2016-17. That season, the Cowboys turned around an 0-6 conference start to finish 9-9 and earn an at-large bid to the NCAA Tourney.
Entering last week, OSU was 12-0 in the Mike Boynton era when holding its opponent under 60 points, but the Cowboys have now lost back-to-back games despite giving up just 55 and 52 points.
In its nine wins, OSU limited its opponents to 19.3 points and 44.8 percent shooting inside the paint. In the six losses, opponents are averaging 25.0 points and 56.0 percent shooting in the paint.

• Stout Defense
Oklahoma State's defense has been giving the Cowboys a fighting chance. Overall, OSU ranks 24th nationally in field goal defense (37.9 percent) and 15th in 3-point field goal defense (27.7 percent), while KenPom ranks OSU 20th in the country in defensive efficiency. The Cowboys have held 10 of their 15 opponents under 40 percent shooting overall, and 11 opponents have shot 32.0 percent or lower from 3-point. OSU held TCU to just 10 points in the paint (35.7 percent in the paint) and just three fast-break points, while West Virginia shot just 38.8 percent and turned the ball over 20 times. Prior to Isaac Likekele's illness, the Cowboys ranked fourth nationally in both field goal defense and 3-point field goal defense.

• Avery's Arrow Pointed Up
Over the last five games, the lightning-quick Avery Anderson III has emerged as a potent one-two punch alongside bruiser point guard Isaac Likekele. In that span, Anderson has averaged 9.2 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game while seeing his minutes increase significantly in each contest. The freshman scored a season-high 16 points against Minnesota and at TCU on Saturday he posted eight points, six boards and three assists in 28:16. Anderson was only five years old when he and his family fled from their home in the Ninth Ward of New Orleans due to Hurricane Katrina. After a year living with family in Alabama, the Andersons eventually landed in Justin, Texas, where Anderson developed into a consensus four-star recruit and national top-100 player.

• The Series With Texas
After splitting the season series in each of the past three years, Oklahoma State and Texas are meeting for the 96th time in a hoops rivalry that dates back to 1918. The Longhorns lead the all-time series, 51-44, although the Cowboys lead, 24-14, in Stillwater. The home team has won each of the last six games in the series, including a 61-58 OSU victory in GIA in 2019. The Cowboys have won seven of the last eight games against the Longhorns in Stillwater. In Austin, UT has won the last four matchups against the Cowboys.

• Staging A Thriller
Since 2015, six of the 10 meetings between OSU and UT were decided by five points or less. In fact, the two 2018 meetings were both decided in the final 10 seconds and both had the same final score, 65-64, with the home team winning each time. A Tavarius Shine tip-in with six seconds remaining gave OSU the win in Stillwater, while Kerwin Roach's driving bucket with 1.2 on the clock gave the Longhorns in the win in Austin. Lindy Waters was terrific in both meetings, and averaged 12.0 points on 62.5 percent shooting from the floor and 57.1 percent from 3-point.

• Dialing It Up Against Texas
In his last outing against Texas, Thomas Dziagwa knocked down 7-of-11 shots from 3-point for a game-high 23 points. In 2018-19, Dziagwa averaged 16.5 points on 45.0 percent shooting against UT. Conversely, Lindy Waters III is coming off the only single-digit scoring game of his career against the Longhorns. After a 5-point outing in the last meeting, the senior is averaging 12.0 points, 4.8 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 2.3 steals on 64.3 percent shooting from 3-point in his career against UT.