Cowboys Set For Regular Season Opener

STILLWATER ---- Oklahoma State men's basketball is set to open the 2021-22 regular season on Tuesday night against UT-Arlington in Gallagher-Iba Arena. Tip is set for 7 p.m. on ESPN+ with Mike Wolfe and John Holcomb on the call. The contest will also be aired across the waves on the Cowboy Radio Network with Dave Hunziker and Alex Webber on the call.

It's The Season Opener

The 2021-22 season opener features the UT-Arlington Mavericks. It will mark the 14th time the two programs have squared off. OSU is a commanding 12-1 in the series, having won each of the past six meetings.
Oklahoma State is 7-0 at home in the series. In fact, the Orange and Black has outscored the Mavericks by a combined 109 points in those seven games in GIA.
The Cowboys have dominated season openers in their history. Dating back to the 1989-90 season, they're 30-2 in the opening game of the season. The two lone losses came during the 1994-95 season and during the 2018-19 campaign.
OSU won last year's meeting against UT-Arlington, 75-68, in Arlington for last year's season opener.

The Cowboys

The 2021-22 Cowboys will attack the season with a 17-man roster, including five newcomers and four returning starters from last year's squad.

Speaking of new - Oklahoma State welcomes three new assistant coaches (Terrence Rencher, Larry Blunt and David Cason) and a new strength coach (Mark Mitchell).

The Cowboys return four starters from last season's squad that returned OSU to the postseason and have added four key transfers with ambitions of pushing past the NCAA Round of 32. Setting its sights on a deep run in March, Oklahoma State returns 73 percent of its points from a year ago, 94 percent of its offensive rebounds and 74 percent of its assists.

Oklahoma State is set to compete in 17 games against 2021 NCAA Tournament foes.

The New Sheriffs In Town

2021 American Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year and former five-star big man Moussa Cisse certainly stands out in this year's group of newcomers. Listed at 6-10 and a springy 225 pounds, Cisse started every game for Memphis as a freshman in 2020-21 and helped lead the Tigers to the NIT Title.

Joining Cisse is 2020 McDonald's All-American and former Kansas standout Bryce Thompson. A unanimous five-star talent, he finished his time at Tulsa's Booker T. Washington High School as the nation's No. 19 recruit according to Rivals. He comes to Stillwater as the seventh-highest rated Cowboy signee in the recruiting rankings era (since 2003).

Former Texas Tech Red Raider and four-star recruit Tyreek Smith will be complementing the duo. The 2021 Academic All-Big 12 Conference selection was the 2018 TAAPS 5A Player of the Year for Trinity Christian High School in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex, where he averaged 17.9 points, 12.3 rebounds and 3.0 blocks per game as a senior.

Rounding out the highly-anticipated class is Woody Newton. A former Rivals four-star recruit out of District Heights, Maryland, Newton is coming off a freshman campaign at Syracuse in which he posted a 46.4 shooting percentage, 38.9 percent clip from 3-point and averages of 3.5 points and 1.8 rebounds per game.

A Season For The Books

Armed with hoops sensation and Consensus First Team All-American Cade Cunningham, the new era of Oklahoma State basketball announced its presence on the national stage.

The Cowboys took down a school record nine ranked squads, advanced to the Big 12 Championship title game for the first time since 2005 and earned a No. 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

OSU logged its first victory in the Big Dance since 2009 and saw a slew of postseason awards arrive in Stillwater.

The Cowboys also showed that they're set up for the future with the emergence of Avery Anderson III and the explosive play of two-time All-Big 12 selection Isaac Likekele, as well as Kalib Boone, Rondel Walker and Matthew-Alexander Moncrieffe.

OSU ended the year ranked No. 11 in the Associated Press top-25, which is the team's highest spot in the final rankings since 2005.

Serious Resume

Oklahoma State ranked fourth nationally with 10 N.E.T. Quadrant-1 victories in 2020-21, and the team finished the year with a 10-7 Q1 record. The Cowboys racked up nine wins over Associated Press top-25 squads, which led the nation. Oklahoma State owned a 13-6 record against the NCAA Tournament field, including a win against all four No. 3 seeds (5 total). ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi, CBS Sports' Jerry Palm both and Fox Sports' Michael DeCourcy all saw the Cowboys as a No. 2 or a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

For more information on the Cowboys, continue to check back with okstate.com.

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Players Mentioned

Avery Anderson III

Kalib Boone

Moussa Cisse

Cade Cunningham

Isaac Likekele

Matthew-Alexander Moncrieffe

Woody Newton

Tyreek Smith

Bryce Thompson

Rondel Walker

Oklahoma State University Athletics