Cowboy Basketball Prepared For Postseason Play

Thursday, March 11

Kansas City, MO

10:30 a.m.

Oklahoma State University

West Virginia

March 09, 2021 | Cowboy Basketball

• Game Center
Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship Quarterfinals
[5] 12/14 Oklahoma State (18-7, 11-7) vs. [4] 10/9 West Virginia (18-8, 11-6)
Date: March 11, 2021
Tipoff: 10:30 a.m. CT
Site: T-Mobile Center (18,972)
Series: WVU leads 10-9 (First postseason meeting)
Last: OSU won 85-80 on March 6 in Morgantown
TV: ESPN/2 (Bob Wischusen, Fran Fraschilla, Holly Rowe)
Radio: Cowboy Radio Network (Dave Hunziker, John Holcomb)
Live Stats: big12sports.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary

• The Basics
No. 12/14 Oklahoma State is entering the postseason on a hot streak. The Cowboys won six of their last seven games in Big 12 play, including four against teams ranked inside the top-20 of the Associated Press poll. OSU opens the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship with a rematch against No. 10/9 West Virginia, who the Cowboys topped, 85-80, in Morgantown on Saturday. Thursday's game against WVU can be seen on ESPN/2 with Bob Wischusen, Fran Fraschilla and Holly Rowe on the call. Fans can listen to Dave Hunziker and John Holcomb on the Cowboy Radio Network.

• Awards Rolling In For Cade
Cade Cunningham, the Sporting News National Freshman of the Year, became just the fourth player in Big 12 history to sweep the Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year awards, joining Cowboy legend Marcus Smart (2012-13), Kansas State's Michael Beasley (2007-08) and Texas' Kevin Durant (2006-07). Cunningham finished the regular season as the league's top scorer in both overall (19.7) and conference (20.1) games and is on the national ballot for the John R. Wooden Award, a semifinalist for the Naismith Trophy and is a finalist for the Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year Award.

• Ready To Make Some Noise In March
The Cowboys have built one of the nation's most impressive NCAA Tournament resumes. Oklahoma State is tied for second nationally with eight N.E.T. Quadrant-1 victories, and OSU's 8-5 (.615) Q1 record is the sixth best among teams with at least five games played. The Cowboys also own seven wins over Associated Press top-25 squads - only Iowa has more. ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi and CBS Sports' Jerry Palm both see the Cowboys as a No. 4 seed, while Fox Sports' Michael DeCourcy has OSU on the 3-line.

• School Record Coming Down
Kalib Boone is re-writing the program's field goal percentage record. The sophomore is 101-of-151 from the floor this year, which is good for a clip of 66.9 percent - tops in school history. Boone is on pace to top Chianti Roberts' school record mark of 62.5 percent that has stood since 1996-97. What's more, Boone is getting better as the season progresses. Over the last six games, he's averaging 13.0 points on 71.1 percent shooting. This year, Boone has two double-doubles and posted a 22-point, 15-rebound performance in the win over Texas - both career highs. He also leads the team in dunks with 28, which is 12 more than the next closest Cowboy.

• Big 12 Championship Basics
The Big 12 Preseason Poll predicted Oklahoma State to finish seventh, but the Cowboys defied expectations and finished as the No. 5 seed at 11-7 in Big 12 play - its best record in league play since 2013. OSU open play at the 2021 Big 12 Championship in the quarterfinals against No. 4 seed West Virginia. The winner of that game will move on to face the winner of No. 1 Baylor and No. 8 TCU/No. 9 K-State in the semifinals on Friday.

• 25 Wins And Counting
OSU is 25-21 in its history at the Big 12 Championship, including back-to-back titles in 2004 and 2005. The 25 wins rank third behind only Kansas (46) and Texas (26), while the program's .543 win percentage trails only Kansas (.793) among all Big 12 squads.