The 2021-22 Cowboy Basketball Season

Isaac Likekele celebrates with teammates

Photo by: OSU Athletics

March 08, 2022 | Cowboy Basketball

2021-22 MBB Final Stats 2021-22 MBB Final Big 12 Stats 2021-22 MBB Final Career Stats

Oklahoma State men's basketball closed the 2021-22 season with a 15-15 record (8-10 Big 12) on its way to a fifth-place finish in the nation's toughest basketball conference.

The Year

OSU finished fifth in the conference for the second-straight season. It marked the first time the Cowboys finished the season in the top-5 of the Big 12 standings back-to-back years since 2005.
Oklahoma State posted wins over three ranked teams (No. 14 Texas, No. 1 Baylor and No. 12 Texas Tech) to give head coach Mike Boynton 20 in his first five seasons as a head coach.
OSU won seven or more conference games for the third-straight year, its longest stretch since 2015. It won eight or more for the third time under Boynton.
The win against Baylor on Jan. 15 marked the fourth win in school history against the No. 1 overall team and the first since Feb. 27, 2010, against Kansas. It was also the first time that Oklahoma State beat the No. 1 overall team on the road.
The Orange and Black earned its fourth-straight win over Oklahoma in the season's first meeting between the two schools. It was OSU's longest winning streak over the Sooners since it won five-consecutive games between 1964-1965.

Mike Boynton

Has now earned 20 wins over ranked opponents in his first five seasons.
Helped lead OSU to .500 or better seasons three-straight years (and four out of five years), its longest stretch since 2015.
Has helped guide at least one player to All-Big 12 honors each of his five seasons (10 total) and the program's first Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year since Marcus Dove in 2008.
Racked up 87 wins through five seasons.
Placing an emphasis on academics, he has mentored 15 Academic All-Big 12 honorees.

The Offense (As A Team)

The Cowboys 43-point victory on opening night against UT-Arlington was the largest since the 51-point victory vs. Southeastern Louisiana on Dec. 29, 2019.
OSU was able to finish the first half with a 43-14 lead in that game. The 29-point lead matched the 12th largest halftime lead in school history and the largest since 2016.
Oklahoma State finished with 347 offensive rebounds, the most since 2018. OSU has grabbed 300 or more offensive rebounds three times under Boynton.
The Pokes outscored their opponents by 51 in the first half this year on their way to outscoring their foes by 81 overall.
OSU has made at least one three-pointer in 727 consecutive games dating back to Jan. 13, 2001, which is the 24th longest current streak in college basketball.

The Defense (As A Team)

The 87 points allowed in the final two games was a Big 12 record for fewest points given up in back-to-back games.
In the win over Iowa State in Ames, the Cowboys also held the Cyclones to 16 points in the second half, which was the lowest Iowa State point total in any half this year. The 36 total points was also the lowest point total in a game for Iowa State this season. It marked the fewest points allowed by OSU in any conference road game since a 38-34 win over Oklahoma in Norman on March 2, 1955.
As of March 6, OSU posted the seventh-best adjusted efficiency defense in the country, according the Kenpom. At 88.9, its OSU's best mark since OSU's 22-10 season in 2003 under hall of fame head coach Eddie Sutton.
Along those same lines, OSU posted a 15.7 block percentage (sixth-best in the country), which is its best of the Kenpom era.
Oklahoma State allowed just 12 of its 30 foes to score more than 70 points in a game and held seven of the eight Big 12 teams it defeated to 60 or less.

More Of The Defense (As A Team)

OSU finished with 163 blocks as a team. It's the third-most in OSU history, behind only the 1988-89 and 2002-03 teams.
The Cowboys also had 163 steals, the most since 2014.
Oklahoma State posted 16 blocks against College of Charleston on Nov. 22, which tied the school record for blocks in a game. OSU last recorded 16 blocks on Feb. 4, 1989, in a win over in-state foe, Oklahoma.
The Orange and Black recorded 17 steals against Prairie View A&M on Nov. 14. It was the fifth-most steals in program history and the most in a game since the Cowboys recorded 18 against UConn in 2016.
OSU's 93 blocked shots in conference play was a school record during the Big 12 era.

Cowboy Award Winners

Moussa Cisse was named Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year for his efforts during the conference portion of the season. He is just the second Cowboy during the Big 12 era to earn the honor.
Avery Anderson III was selected to the All-Big 12 Third Team, his first honor.
Carson Sager earned the 2022 Dr. Gerald Lage Academic Achievement Award – the Big 12 Conference's highest academic honor.
Anderson III, Kalib Boone, Bernard Kouma and Rondel Walker earned spots on the 2022 Academic All-Big 12 Men's Basketball First Team.
Cisse was selected to the Preseason 2022 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year Award watch list.

The One Who Stayed

Isaac Likekele finished his fourth year as the 44^th Cowboy in program history to score 1,000 points in a career. He is just four points away from tying Joe Graham (2003-06) for the 43^rd-most points.
His 632 career rebounds are the 15^th-most in school history while his 492 defensive boards are the fifth most. He has recorded a rebound in 123-straight games dating back to his freshman year.
His 541 assists are the third most in program history, behind only Doug Gottlieb (1997-00) and Byron Eaton (2005-09).
Likekele has recorded 160 steals, which stands as the eighth-most in OSU history.
His 84 in Big 12 games over the course of his career gives him the fourth-most in Oklahoma State history for Big 12 games.

The Offense (Individually)

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 Dec. 13.
Moussa Cisse scored a career-high 18 points on Feb. 12 in OSU's 81-58 win over West Virginia.
It was a career day for a few Cowboys on Feb. 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.
Avery Anderson III recorded a career-best 34 points against Iowa State on Jan. 26.

The Defense (Individually)

Moussa Cisse's 54 blocks on the year put him at tied for 12^th alongside Ivan McFarlin (2004) on the Cowboy list for most blocks in a season. His 34 blocks in Big 12 play gave him the fourth most in program history for a Big 12 season. He is already tied for the 22^nd-most career blocks in OSU history.
Avery Anderson III recorded 30 steals in Big 12 games this season, which is tied for the sixth most in school history alongside Byron Eaton (2008) and Joe Adkins (1998).
He recorded five steals at Iowa State on March 2, which is a career best.
With 33 more blocks, Kalib Boone is now just the 12^th Cowboy in program history with at least 100 blocks in a career. His finished the season with 105, the 11^th most since the stat was tracked in 1974.
Rondel Walker posted a career-best six steals at Texas on Jan. 22. It was the most in a single game for any Cowboy this season.

The Schedule

According to Kenpom, seven of OSU's last nine opponents were in Kenpom's top-50.
In total, Oklahoma State faced the sixth-toughest schedule.
At one point in the year, OSU traveled 3,269 miles between Monday and Saturday night following the trip home from Waco. The Cowboys left Monday afternoon for Morgantown and did not return to campus until Saturday night around 9 p.m.
As of March 8, ESPN's Joe Lunardi predicts Oklahoma State would have faced eight tournament teams this year for a total of 14 games.
Out of the 15 OSU losses, eight were one or two possession games at the end of play.