Cowboy Basketball Closing Regular Season In Austin Saturday

Saturday, March 7

Austin, TX

3 p.m.

Oklahoma State University

Texas

Cowboy Basketball Closing Regular Season In Austin Saturday

March 05, 2020 | Cowboy Basketball

• Game Center
Oklahoma State (16-14, 6-11) at Texas (19-11, 9-8)
Date / Tipoff: March 7, 2020 / 3 p.m. CT
Site: Frank Erwin Center (16,734)
Tickets: texassports.com
Series: UT leads 52-44 (UT leads 31-13 in Austin)
Last: UT won 76-64 in Stillwater on Jan. 15
TV: ESPN2 (Rich Hollenberg, Chris Spatola)
Webcast: WatchESPN app or espn.com/watch
Radio: Cowboy Radio Network (Dave Hunziker, John Holcomb)
Satellite Radio: XM 389
Live Stats: okstate.statbroadcast.com
Oklahoma State Game Notes

• The Basics
Two of the Big 12's hottest teams will square off in a Lone Star state showdown with postseason implications. Saturday's season-finale in Austin will feature an Oklahoma State squad that has won six of its last nine games, with the only losses coming on the road against teams ranked 12th or better by KenPom, and a Texas team that has won five straight Big 12 games to earn its way back into the NCAA Tournament picture. The home team had won the previous six meetings in this series before the Longhorns took the Jan. 11 matchup in Stillwater against a short-handed Cowboy squad. OSU's senior captains - Cameron McGriff, Lindy Waters III and Thomas Dziagwa - have won in every Big 12 venue except one - the Frank Erwin Center.

• On the Air
Saturday's game at Texas will air on ESPN2 with Rich Hollenberg and Chris Spatola the call. Tipoff is slated for 3 p.m. CT, and the webcast can be seen on the WatchESPN app or ESPN.com/Watch. As always, Dave Hunziker and John Holcomb will have the Cowboy Radio Network call.

• Postseason Scenarios
Regardless of what happens on Saturday, Oklahoma State will play Iowa State in the No. 8 vs No. 9 game in the opening round of the Big 12 Championship at 6 p.m. CT on Wednesday on ESPNU. Either an OSU win at Texas or an ISU loss at K-State would give the Cowboys the No. 8 seed. The Cowboys, who took down Iowa State 73-61 on Feb. 29 in Stillwater, are 12-2 all-time in the first round of the Big 12 Championship. The winner of the No. 8 vs. No. 9 game will face the No. 1 seed in the quarterfinals, which is currently Kansas. Baylor can take over the No. 1 seed with a win at West Virginia and a KU loss at Texas Tech.

• March Is For Mike
Oklahoma State is playing its best basketball at the right time - March. After going 1-7 in January, the Cowboys have won six of their last nine, with the three losses coming at No. 4 Baylor, at West Virginia and at No. 1 Kansas. In his third season in Stillwater, Mike Boynton is 7-4 in the month of March, and has his squad poised for another postseason run in 2020. In 2018, Boynton and the Cowboys won four games in March on their way to the NIT quarterfinals.

• A Win In Every Venue
With a win in Austin on Saturday, Cowboy senior captains Cameron McGriff, Thomas Dziagwa and Lindy Waters III can join Jeffrey Carroll and Mitchell Solomon as the only OSU players to win in every Big 12 road venue over their careers. Prior to Carroll and Solomon in 2018, the last Oklahoma State players to win in every conference road venue was the senior class of 1954 (Bob Mattick, Tom Fuller and Dale Roark), which won in every Missouri Valley Conference gym. No OSU player accomplished that feat during the Big Eight era (1958-96).

• The Series With Texas
After splitting the season series in each of the past three years, Oklahoma State and Texas are meeting for the 97th time in a hoops rivalry that dates back to 1918. The Longhorns lead the all-time series, 52-44, although the Cowboys lead, 24-15, in Stillwater. Prior to the January meeting the home team had won each of the last six games in the series. The Cowboys have won seven of the last nine games against the Longhorns in Stillwater. In Austin, UT has won the last four matchups against the Cowboys.

• Dialing It Up Against Texas
In his last trip to Austin, Thomas Dziagwa knocked down 7-of-11 shots from 3-point for a game-high 23 points. In fact, the senior is shooting 14-of-31 (.452) from 3-point and averaging 7.9 points per game for his career against the Longhorns. In the two 2018-19 meetings, Dziagwa averaged 16.5 points on 45.0 percent shooting.