Cowboy Basketball Racing Into Big 12 Championship

• 2020 Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship
[8] Oklahoma State (17-14, 7-11) vs [9] Iowa State (12-19, 5-13)
Date / Tipoff: March 11, 2020 / 6 p.m. CT
Site: Sprint Center (18,972)
Tickets: big12sports.com
Series: Tied 66-66 (OSU leads 12-7 on neutral courts)
Last: OSU won 73-61 on Feb. 29 in Stillwater
TV: ESPNU (Rich Hollenberg, Chris Spatola)
Radio: Cowboy Radio Network (Dave Hunziker, John Holcomb)
Satellite Radio: Sirius 135, XM 199
Live Stats: StatBroadcast.com
Oklahoma State Game Notes

• The Basics
Oklahoma State enters the postseason as one of the nation's hottest teams. The Cowboys won seven of their last 10 games and will go into the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship riding a three-game win streak for the first time since 2004. On Saturday, Mike Boynton earned his 50th career win in a 22-point blowout at Texas that was the program's largest margin of victory ever in a Big 12 road game. Now, the Cowboys turn their attention to Kansas City, Missouri, where they will tipoff against No. 9 seed Iowa State on Wednesday night. OSU, which is 12-2 all-time in the opening round of the Big 12 Championship, took down the Cyclones, 73-61, on Feb. 29 in Stillwater. A pair of Cowboys - Cameron McGriff and Isaac Likekele - earned All-Big 12 Conference honorable mention honors.

• On the Air
Wednesday's Big 12 Championship opener against Iowa State will air on ESPNU with Rich Hollenberg and Chris Spatola on the call. Tipoff is slated for 6 p.m. CT. As always, Dave Hunziker and John Holcomb will have the Cowboy Radio Network call.

• All-Big 12 Cowboys
Cowboy standouts Cameron McGriff and Isaac Likekele were named honorable mention selections to the Phillips 66 All-Big 12 Conference team. OSU has had at least two players represented on the All-Big 12 teams (Coaches or AP) every year since the league began in 1996-97, and these represent the fifth and sixth all-conference selections under Mike Boynton. This is the second career All-Big 12 honor for McGriff, who has reached double-figures in scoring in each of the last 12 games. The senior is just six points shy of 1,200 for his career, and needs only 10 rebounds to move into the top 10 in program history. Likekele is celebrating his first career postseason award. The sophomore is coming off his third double-double of the season, and is the league's only player averaging 5.6 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 1.9 steals per game.

• 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 seven of their last 10, with the three losses coming at KenPom top-10 squads (No. 3 Baylor, No. 10 West Virginia, No. 1 Kansas). In his third season in Stillwater, Mike Boynton is 8-4 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.

• The Series With The Cyclones
The series between Oklahoma State and Iowa State dates back to 1918, and after 132 meetings the all-time series is tied at 66 wins apiece. OSU took both regular season meetings with Iowa State in 2018, but the Cyclones returned the favor with a sweep of the Cowboys in 2019. The two squads split the two meetings in 2020. OSU owns a 39-18 lead in the series in Stillwater, but In Ames the Cyclones lead the series 41-15. This will be the 10th meeting in a conference tournament setting. OSU has a 6-3 lead in those matchups, including a 3-2 edge at the Big 12 Championship.

• Home-Town Kid
Cowboy Yor Anei grew up in the shadow of the Sprint Center in Overland Park, Kansas, and is expected to have a full cheering section at the Big 12 Championship. In last year's appearance at the Sprint Center, Anei capped off his freshman season with a phenomenal night. Battling TCU in the opening round, Anei earned his first career double-double by scoring 17 points and collecting 10 rebounds. He added seven blocks, a mark that is the most by a Cowboy in a Big 12 tournament game and tied for the second most ever by a Big 12 player at the Championship. His last block was his 85th on the year, which tied Andre Williams (2002-03) for the program record for single-season blocks.

• 24 Wins And Counting
OSU is 24-21 in its history at the Big 12 Championship, including back-to-back titles in 2004 and 2005. The 24 wins rank third behind only Kansas (46) and Texas (26), while the program's .533 win percentage trails only Kansas (.793) among all Big 12 squads.

• Round-By-Round
The Cowboys are 12-2 (.857) all-time in the first round of the Big 12 Championship, which is four more wins than the next closest Big 12 team, Texas Tech, and easily the best win percentage in the opening round. Oklahoma State is 7-14 in the quarterfinals, 3-4 in the semifinals and 2-1 in the championship game. OSU is the No. 8 seed in this year's championship, and is 3-3 all-time in that slot. The Cowboys are 2-4 against the No. 9 seed since joining the Big 12.

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Players Mentioned

Yor Anei

Isaac Likekele

Cameron McGriff

Oklahoma State University Athletics