Cowboys Set To Hit The Road To Face Ranked Houston Squad

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.

Facing No. 14 Houston - Here's The Scout

Oklahoma State is set to hit the road for three-straight games, starting with a trip to Fort Worth and Dickies Arena to face No. 14 Houston as part of the Hoop Hype XL College Basketball Showcase on Saturday night. Tip is set for 6 p.m. on ESPNU.
The two foes last met in back-to-back years during the 2018 and 2019 seasons, with both earning a win on the other's home court. Oklahoma State leads the series, which dates back to an OSU win in 1951, 13-8 all-time. Prior to the two-game series in 2018, the pair hadn't met since 1965.
Houston is under the direction of Kelvin Sampson, a veteran of 16 NCAA Tournaments, the former Houston Rockets coach and longtime college coach. As a 32-year head coaching veteran at Houston, Indiana, Oklahoma, Washington State and Montana Tech, Sampson has compiled a 667-334 record during his career. He has led his teams to 16 NCAA Tournament appearances, including 11 in 12 years with the Sooners from 1994 to 2006.

Through Ten - Where We're At And Where We're Going

Oklahoma State improved to 7-3 after its overtime win over Cleveland State on Monday. OSU battled through a back-and-forth contest to move to 2-0 in overtime games this season.
In those seven wins, OSU has dominated on the defensive side. It has held its foes to 38.1 percent from the field while forcing 20.4 turnovers per game. Along with the turnovers, it has recorded 7.9 blocks per game in the victories, as well as 12.0 steals.
For comparison, in the three losses teams are shooting 41 percent and turning the ball over 16.7 times per game while OSU has recorded 3.7 blocks per contest.
It's been Bryce Williams, Avery Anderson III and Kalib Boone leading the charge in the seven wins as the trio has averaged 13.2, 12.0 and 10.8 points per game, respectively. On the boards it has been Moussa Cisse, as he's averaged 5.9 rebounds in those contests.

Tough Stretch - But We Wouldn't Have It Any Other Way

According to Kenpom's rankings, OSU has faced the No. 55 (Wichita State), No. 30 (Xavier) and No. 157 (Cleveland State) teams in the country in its past three games with No. 5 (Houston) and No. 20 (Southern Cal.) upcoming. When you stretch it out to the next seven games, that adds No. 17 Texas Tech, No. 3 Kansas, No. 15 Texas, No. 44 West Virginia and No. 1 Baylor.

Defense First - Because It Wins Games

Oklahoma State has allowed just three of its 10 foes to score more than 70 points in a game and has delivered the 20th-best adjusted defensive efficiency, according to Kenpom.
A big point of that has been turnovers. OSU has forced a turnover on 25.8 percent of defensive possessions, which comes in at 10th-best in the country. If teams haven't turned the ball over first, they're also getting blocked on 18.1 percent of their possessions, the fifth-most in the country.
But don't expect things to get any easier without a turnover or blocked shot. OSU hasn't given up many easy looks inside the three-point line, leading to teams shooting 43.1 percent from inside the arc, the 22nd-lowest percentage in the country according to Kenpom.

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 7-0 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.

Single Game Records Taken Down And Top Performances So Far

The Cowboys 43-point victory on opening night against UT-Arlington was the largest since the 51-point victory vs. Southeastern Louisiana on 12/29/19.
The Cowboys were able to finish the first half with a 43-14 lead in that game. The 29-point lead matches the 12th largest halftime lead in school history and the largest since 2016.
Oklahoma State logged 11 steals in the first half against Prairie View A&M on 11/14, which tied for the third most in a half in school history and was the most since 11/23/16 vs. Georgetown.
Oklahoma State had six total players score in the double-digits against Charleston on 11/22, which marked the first time this season and the first time since Iowa State in January of 2020.
The Cowboy centers made their impact known in that game on the defensive end as Moussa Cisse recorded a career high in blocks with six and Kalib Boone recorded five of his own. The team as whole totaled 16 blocks, which is the most in all of college basketball this year and tied the school record set in 1989 vs. Oklahoma.
Bryce Williams recorded a career-high in points with his 29 and a career high in three-pointers made with five in the win over Cleveland State on 12/13. Avery Anderson III also posted 29. This marked the first time OSU had two 20-point scorers since Anderson and Cade Cunningham did it against Baylor in the Big 12 tournament last season on March 12, 2021.

Clutch Cowboys

Oklahoma State was a perfect 4-0 in overtime games last year, started 2-0 this year after the win over Cleveland State and has won nine of its last 10 OT games dating back to 2016.
Last year's mark tied for the most overtime games in a season in program history, and the perfect 4-0 record in extra sessions equaled the marks set by the 2006-07, 1982-83 and 1964-65 squads.
Mike Boynton and the Cowboys are 8-1 in OT games during his career.

Oklahoma State University Athletics