Cowboys Set For First Road Trip To Oakland

The Cowboys

The 2022-23 Cowboys will attack the season with a 15-man roster that features the returning Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year, an All-Big 12 selection and a bevy of talent that is poised for a postseason run.
Oklahoma State will introduce a slew of newcomers this season, starting with transfers John-Michael Wright (High Point) and Caleb Asberry (Texas State). Quion Williams, the lone freshman, will also join the trio from Jonesboro, Ark. Rounding out the new faces is Kris Quintana, the team's new video coordinator.
The Cowboys open with a pair of home games against UT Arlington and Southern Illinois before hitting the road for their first trip to Rochester, MI. OSU is no stranger to Oakland, as the two have squared off two-straight years coming into this season's meeting.
Under the direction of head coach Mike Boynton, the Cowboys haven't been a team you wanted to fall behind on. In fact, the Pokes are a commanding 69-19 in his five seasons when leading at halftime.
Oklahoma State brings plenty of experience to the table this season with three consistent starters from last season's team (Avery Anderson III, Bryce Thompson and Moussa Cisse) all returning, as well as key members who have filled the starter's role or made an impact off the bench (Kalib Boone and Tyreek Smith).

Facing Oakland - Here's The Scout

Oklahoma State will hit the road for the first time this season on Sunday when it travels to Rochester Hills, Mich., to face Oakland in search of revenge after last season's loss in Gallagher-Iba Arena. Tip is set for 2 p.m. CT on ESPN+ with Neal Ruhl and Dane Fife on the call. Dave Hunziker and John Holcomb will have the call on radio.
OSU and Oakland have met twice in a series that started in 2020. Both teams have earned a victory, both coming in Stillwater. OSU has averaged 69.5 points per game in the two-game series.
Last season, the Golden Grizzlies were down 55-54 with just 33 seconds remaining following a jumper by Bryce Thompson before Jalen Moore drew a foul on a three-point shot and hit two of three to take the 56-55 lead they wouldn't surrender. OU was behind 15-10 at the 10:17 minute mark of the first half. However, the Golden Grizzlies closed the period on a 20-7 run, highlighted by an 8-0 spurt, to head into the break ahead 30-22.
Oakland, who played at home Friday night, opened the season with a commanding 92-27 victory over Defiance College.
Oklahoma State will be the first Power-5 conference team to play a road game at Oakland on campus since Georgia lost, 86-79, on Dec. 23 in 2016. All-time, Oakland is 4-2 against Power-5 teams in the Athletics Center O'rena.

The New Sheriffs In Town

John-Michael Wright, a High Point transfer, brings experience and poise to the Oklahoma State locker room. In the 2021-22 season, his junior year of eligibility, he played and started in all 32 games for High Point while averaging 34.9 minutes per contest. He shot .410 from the field and .363 from behind the arc as he averaged 18.4 points, 4.4 rebounds 3.4 assists.
He finished the year with the eighth-best assist-turnover ratio in the Big South, the ninth-best field goal percentage, had the second-most free throw attempts (third-most made), led the conference in scoring average and had the eighth-most assists.
Alongside Wright from the transfer ranks is Caleb Asberry from Texas State. He started all 29 games during the 2021-22 season, the only Bobcat to do that, as he led the team in scoring with a career-high 13.6 points and also paced the team in minutes played (847), steals (37), three-pointers made (63).
Asberry was notably a two-time All-Sun Belt (2021: Third Team, 2022: First Team) selection.
The lone freshman of the group, Quion Williams, joins the Cowboys from Jonesboro. During his high school career, Williams helped lead his team to two state championships and a 30-3 record.

Defense First - Because It Wins Games

Oklahoma State allowed just 12 of its 30 foes to score more than 70 points in a game last season and had the 4th-best adjusted defensive efficiency, according to Kenpom.
A big point of that was turnovers as the Pokes posted the 17th best turnover percentage in the country last season while holding teams to 43.7 percent from inside the arc.
Once teams found their way in the paint, things didn't get much easier as the Cowboys had the seventh-best block percentage in the country to go along with the 23rd best steal percentage.
The Cowboys closed the season with a bang on the defensive side. After holding Iowa State to just 36 points on the road, the fewest points the Cowboys had allowed in any conference road game since a 38-34 win over Oklahoma in Norman on March 2, 1995, they turned around just three days later and held Texas Tech to just 51.
Iowa State came into the game in Ames shooting 44.6 percent from the floor and 33.4 percent from three. In the Oklahoma State win, OSU held the Cyclones to 28.3 percent shooting from the floor and 11.8 percent from three. The Cowboys also held the Cyclones to 16 points in the second half, which was the lowest Iowa State point total in any half last year. The 36 total points was also the lowest point total in a game for Iowa State last season.

Moussa Got Better Last Season - And Here's The Numbers To Show It

Based on his first 15 games in Stillwater last season, in comparison to the final 15 of last year, the evidence shows Moussa Cisse got better as the year went along and was playing his best basketball at the end of the season.
Through his first 15 contests as a Cowboys, Cisse was shooting 49.2 percent from the field while averaging 5.4 rebounds, 6.4 points and was playing 17.5 minutes per game.
Flip it to the last 15 games, and Cisse shot 61.5 percent from the field while averaging 7.5 rebounds with 8.1 points and was playing 22.4 minutes per game.
Just looking at the last 10 games of the season, he recorded a double-double in three contests (West Virginia, Baylor and Oklahoma) and had multi-digit rebounds in six of them, including all of the final four.
In that stretch of games down the stretch, the numbers immediately jump out from the West Virginia win on Feb. 12. Cisse posted 18 points with 10 rebounds, six of which came on the offensive side of the ball. It would also be hard to miss his performance against Baylor on Feb. 21 when he recorded five blocks with 10 rebounds and 12 points.

Avery Anderson In The Records

Avery Anderson III is set for his fourth season as a Cowboys and has the opportunity to leave his mark all over the Cowboy record book.
Most notably, at 838 career points Anderson is likely to become the 45th Cowboy in program history to record 1,000 or more points in a career. This would mark back-to-back seasons for OSU to have a player achieve this mark after Isaac Likekele did so last season, as well.
A point of pride for Anderson has been his free throw shooting, and he currently stands with the seventh-best percentage in Big 12 play in school history. That to go along with the 24th best overall free throw percentage.
A sneaky good defender, he also has the opportunity to finish inside the top-10 for steals in Big 12 games in a Cowboy career.
With 80 plus under his belt already, it's likely he will reach 100 games played in a career around the start of conference play.

Clutch Cowboys

The Cowboys have always prided themselves in winning the tough games and have especially shined in overtime games during the Mike Boynton era.
After Oklahoma State was a perfect 4-0 in overtime games two years ago, it went 3-3 last year but has won 10 of its last 14 OT games dating back to 2016.
The mark two seasons ago 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 9-4 in OT games during his career.
All together, Oklahoma State is 87-64 (.576) all-time in overtime games dating back to 1907.

Win And Loss Differences Last Season

In losses last season, Oklahoma State allowed an average of 70.9 points while scoring 63.4. It had 7.7 steals in those 15 games with 4.1 blocks and 15.5 turnovers. It shot 41.1 percent from the field, and 27.4 from behind the arc.
In the 15 wins, OSU averaged 73.3 points while allowing just 60.4. It had 6.8 blocks per win, 14.7 turnovers and shot 45.7 from the field. It also notably shot 31.8 percent from behind the arc in those victories.
The Cowboys finished the year with two wins.

Single Game Records Taken Down And Top Performances Last Year

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 last 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 last 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.
Keylan Boone posted a career best in three-point baskets made and points scored in a game in the 64-51 victory over No. 14 Texas on Jan. 8, 2022.
Bryce Thompson recorded, at the time, a career-best 19 points in the win over No. 1 Baylor on 1/15 in Waco. The win was OSU's first over the No. 1 team in the country on the road in program history. The Cowboys were 0-4 on the road against the top-ranked team prior to that win.
OSU recorded eight blocks as a team against TCU on 1/19 and later against OU on 2/5 - the most for the Cowboys in a Big 12 game this season.
Moussa Cisse scored a career-high 18 points on 2/12 in OSU's 81-58 win over West Virginia.
It was a career day for a few cowboys on 2/19 in the win over Kansas State. Bryce Thompson scored a career-high 23 points to break his previous high of 22, which came in Manhattan earlier in the year against the Wildcats.
Woody Newton also shined with a career-best nine points off the bench to help the scoring effort while Bryce Williams posted a career-best eight assists.
Oklahoma State notably shot 52 percent from the field in that win, which marked the highest field goal percentage for the Cowboys in Big 12 play.

An Oklahoma State Win Would...

Improve the Cowboys to 2-1 all-time in the Oakland series.
Be OSU's second-straight road win dating back to last season.
Be the fourth-straight year OSU won its first road game of the year (ORU, UT Arlington and Charleston).
Be OSU's first win in the state of Michigan since a 75-69 win at Detroit Mercy on Feb. 5, 1956. The Cowboys last played in the state of Michigan on Nov. 29, 1995. The Cowboys lost to No. 10 Wake Forest, 69-53.
Be Oklahoma State's 12 win on the road over the past three seasons.

Streaks and Trends

OSU has made at least one three-pointer in 729 consecutive games dating back to Jan. 13, 2001.
Moussa Cisse has recorded at least one block in each of his past 12 games dating back to last year. There have been just three games in his Oklahoma State career in which he did not record at least one block.
The Cowboys have posted ten or more assists in 12 of their past 14 games dating back to last season.
OSU has recorded 10 or more offensive rebounds in eight of its past 10 games dating back to last season.
The Cowboys have outscored their opponents 1,019-958 (+61) in the first half dating back to the opening game of the 2021-22 season.
Oklahoma State hasn't allowed more than 66 points since an 82-79 win over Kansas State last season on Feb. 19, 2022. It hasn't done so in a game that didn't go to overtime since a 76-62 loss to Kansas on the road on Feb. 14, 2022.
Oklahoma State has won the opening tip in both games to start the season.
The Cowboys have made four or more three-point shots in three-straight games and have done so in six of their past seven contests dating back to last season.
Bryce Thompson has scored 10 or more points in three-straight games dating back to last season.
John-Michael Wright has recorded at least one assist in 45-straight games dating back to Jan. 29, 2021, against Gardner-Webb while he was at High Point. In his college career, he has failed to reach that mark just two games.

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