Cowboys Set For Round Two Of Bedlam In Norman

Facing Oklahoma- Here's The Scout

Oklahoma State men's basketball is set to travel to Norman to face Oklahoma on Wednesday night for round two of this season's Bedlam series. Tip is set for 8 p.m. on ESPN2 with Mark Neely and Fran Fraschilla on the call while Cowboy fans can listen to Dave Hunziker and John Holcomb on the Cowboy Radio Network or Varsity App.
Oklahoma enters the contest with a 12-9 record, including a 2-6 mark in Big 12 play. The Sooners are coming off their biggest win of the season on Saturday, routing No. 2 Alabama 93-69 in Norman to help the Big 12 win the Big 12/SEC Challenge. The win marked Oklahoma's first win over a team ranked in the AP's top two since 2002 and was its largest margin of victory ever against an AP top-five team.
The Sooners lead the all-time series, 141-104. The Cowboys, however, have won seven of the past 11 meetings and five of the past six in a series that dates all the way back to 1908. That same October, the Chicago Cubs won the World Series and would not win another for 108 years. Oklahoma has been tough to beat in Norman, holding an 88-36 advantage in home games in the series.
Oklahoma State got the better of the Sooners in the teams' first meeting of the season in Stillwater, winning 72-56 on January 18th. The win marked the Cowboys fourth straight in Stillwater in the Bedlam series and was their only conference win by double figures this season. Oklahoma State outscored Oklahoma 48-26 in the second half of the win while holding Grant Sherfield, the Sooners' leading scorer, scoreless after halftime.
Oklahoma has been efficient offensively this season, leading the Big 12 in both field goal percentage (48.2) and three point percentage (36.7). Sherfield leads a Sooner attack that averages 68.5 points per game, scoring 17.0 points per game while shooting 43.3 percent from the field and 43.6 percent from three. The Nevada transfer put up a season-high 30 points in the win over Alabama last Saturday to go along with six assists and three rebounds. Tanner Groves also had a nice performance against the Crimson Tide, posting his fourth double-double of the season with 14 points and 12 rebounds.

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 and 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.

Mid-Season Quick Hitters

Woody Newton has started the last four games, marking the first four starts of his career, and has averaged 26.2 minutes with 9.0 points, 4.5 rebounds and 54.5 percent from three.
After the Wichita State result earlier this season in Wichita, Oklahoma State has now held at least one opponent to less than 50 points in a game in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 2016.
There have been 17 seasons since the 2000-01 year that OSU had at least one game holding an opponent to less than 50 points while the program has done so in back-to-back seasons 13 times during the stretch.
Just two teams, Baylor and Texas, have scored more than 69 points on the Cowboys in eight Big 12 games thus far while no Big 12 team has scored more than 60 in Stillwater.
Only two teams (UT Arlington and Southern Illinois) have scored more than 60 points in GIA this season through the first 11 home games of the season.
A big part of those numbers? The Cowboys have held a 66-24 blocked shots advantage at home, with Cisse leading the way at 22. Boone has recorded 17, himself.
For his efforts against Iowa State and Oklahoma earlier this month, Oklahoma State's Avery Anderson III was named the Big 12 Player of the Week. He averaged 16.0 points per game. The honor was the first of his career.
Kalib Boone has shined over the past five Big 12 games, as he's averaged an OSU-best 15.4 points per game with 3.8 rebounds and 2.0 blocks in 23.2 minutes.
Over the course of the past five Big 12 games, Newton has averaged 24.4 minutes per game and shot 40.0 from behind the arc while posting 7.0 points per contest with an OSU-best 5.4 rebounds in the key conference games.

Bedlam Round One Recap

Bryce Thompson recorded a career-high nine rebounds. His previous high was seven, a mark he had reached twice before in his career.
Oklahoma natives, Kalib Boone and Thompson, combined for 34 points, 16 rebounds, four assists and five blocked shots in the win.
Woody Newton recorded his first career start and took advantage. In 27 minutes of work, he posted a career-high 12 points with two three-pointers to go along with five rebounds, a block and a steal.
Moussa Cisse made his return to the court. He played just 2 minutes but recorded a rebound and forced an Oklahoma turnover under the basket. It was his first action on the court for the Cowboys since the West Virginia game on Jan. 2.
Gallagher-Iba Arena returned to true form. With an official attendance of 10,789, it was the largest crowd of the season and the biggest home crowd since the 11,215 who attended last year's Bedlam game on Feb. 5.

1,000-Point Club

Avery Anderson III joined Oklahoma State's 1,000-career point club against Oklahoma last week in Gallagher-Iba Arena. While teammates Caleb Asberry and John-Michael Wright won't count toward the OSU records, as they transferred in at the start of the season, they are both part of the larger club that spans the nation.
Around the league, Kansas State, Iowa State and Texas all have four on their current roster while Oklahoma State and Texas Tech have three. Oklahoma, Baylor, Kansas, West Virginia and TCU have two.
For Wright, he currently has the 46th-most career points in Division I basketball and is fifth among current Big 12 players.
Wright is within striking distance of finishing with 1,000 points, 500 rebounds (19 away) and 300 assists (10 away).

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.

The 100 Games Played Club Gained Two More

Oklahoma State's Avery Anderson III and Kalib Boone both played in their 100th game in a Cowboy uniform against Kansas in the Big 12 opener for the Cowboys. In doing so, they became the first two players on the current roster to play 100 college basketball games. John-Michael Wright, who transferred in, played his 100th basketball game against West Virginia.
Other notable members of the club include Darwyn Alexander, Joe Adkins, James Anderson, Markel Brown, Terry Collins, JamesOn Curry, Byron Eaton, Marcus Dove, Phil Forte, Isaac Likekele, Desmond Mason, Ivan McFarlin, Marshall Moses, Keiton Page and more.
Anderson III's first game came on Nov. 6, 2019, in an 80-75 win against Oral Roberts in Gallagher-Iba Arena. He played 13 minutes with five points, two steals and an assist.
Kalib Boone's first game was the same night. He played 10 minutes, bringing in four rebounds and recorded two blocks.

The Winning Formula This Year

In its 12 wins this season, Oklahoma State has four players (Avery Anderson III, Bryce Thompson, Kalib Boone and John-Michael Wright) averaging at least 10 points per game.
The Cowboys have shot 36.5 percent from behind the arc in their victories while allowing their opponents an average of just 58.0 points per game.
For comparison, in the nine losses just one player, Kalib Boone, has averaged at least 10 points or more while OSU has shot 27.7 percent from three. Opponents have still averaged just 68.7 points per game in the Cowboy losses.
Sharing the ball, alongside sharing the scoring, has been key as well. OSU has averaged 14.3 assists per game in wins while averaging 11.6 in losses.
Turnovers have been another winning indicator as the Cowboys have averaged 13.8 in wins while forcing an average of 13.5 in contrast to an average of 15.4 in losses while opponents are averaging 13.2.

The Upcoming Schedule

Oklahoma State is in the midst of a key portion of its schedule that features six of its nine games at home. The stretch began with a win over in-state rival Oklahoma on January 18th and has included wins over Iowa State and Ole Miss at home.
The Cowboys hit the road last Tuesday for one game at Texas in a loss before they returned home to defeat Ole Miss on Saturday. Twenty-two years after the tragic 2001 plane crash, Oklahoma State continued its promise to Remember The 10 when the Cowboys faced Ole Miss in Gallagher-Iba Arena on Saturday.
Ten members of the OSU basketball program were lost when its plane crashed following a road game at Colorado on Jan. 27, 2001. From that moment, the University vowed to always Remember The Ten. The men who perished in the crash were: Kendall Durfey, Bjorn Fahlstrom, Nate Fleming, Will Hancock, Daniel Lawson, Brian Luinstra, Denver Mills, Pat Noyes, Bill Teegins, Jared Weiberg. At 6:37 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 27, the OSU Library Carillon tolled 10 times in honor of each of those that were lost.
Following its emotional win against Ole Miss, OSU will hit the road this week to face Oklahoma on Wednesday before returning home to face TCU and Texas Tech. The Cowboys will look for the season sweep over the Sooners for the second time in the past three years and the third time since 2017.
A quick trip to Ames on Feb. 11 to face Iowa State will be followed with playing host to Kansas on Feb. 14 to round out the six home games in the upcoming nine contests.

An Oklahoma State Win Would...

Improve the Cowboys to 105-141 in the Oklahoma series, which dates back to 1908.
Improve the Cowboys to 56-79 in the series when the two in-state schools are facing each other as conference foes.
Improve the Cowboys to 96-98 in the series since the beginning of the Mr. Iba era (1935)
Earn the Cowboys a sweep for the second time in the past three years the the third time since 2017.
Be OSU's sixth win in the past seven meetings between the two schools.
Be Oklahoma State's second win in the last three meetings in Norman
Improve OSU to 13-9 on the year.
Push Oklahoma State to 3-5 in road games this year.
Give the Cowboys back-to-back wins for the fifth time this season
Give the Cowboys four wins in their last five games.
Make OSU 9-2 against in-state foes since the start of the 2019-20 season.

Streaks and Trends

OSU has made at least one three-pointer in 748 consecutive games dating back to Jan. 13, 2001.
The Cowboys have posted 10 or more assists in 28 of their past 33 games dating back to last season.
Dating back to last season, OSU has held 23 of its past 25 opponents under their season scoring average.
Oklahoma State has reached double-digit second chance points in six of eight conference games this season, with a high of 16 against Kansas State and Baylor.
As a team, the Cowboys have reached at least three blocks in all 21 games this season. OSU leads the Big 12 with 5.6 blocked shots per game, which ranks 9th in the country.
The Cowboys have made 10 or more free throws in 15 of the first 21 games this season after doing so in 18 of their 30 games last season.
OSU has forced 10 or more turnovers in 12-straight Big 12 games.
Oklahoma State has recorded at least five steals in 18 of its 21 games this season.
Caleb Asberry has shown a strong ability to rebound as of late as he's brought in five or more rebounds in five of his last seven games.
Woody Newton has played the best basketball of his career since being inserted into the starting lineup, averaging 9.0 points per game in the stretch while making at least one three-pointer in five-straight games and recording two or more rebounds in 12 consecutive contests.
Kalib Boone has scored 10 or more points in seven of his past eight games and has scored 13 or more in six of his last seven.
Tyreek Smith has recorded at least one block in nine-straight games and collected at least two in four of those nine.
Boone has posted 49 points and ten rebounds in his past three road games.
OSU has recorded five or more blocks in five of its six road games this season.
John-Michael Wright has made eight threes in his last three games, shooting 44 percent in the stretch.
Bryce Thompson continues to shoot the three at a high clip in conference play, making 45.7 percent of his attempts while averaging two makes per game.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Avery Anderson III

Caleb Asberry

Kalib Boone

Moussa Cisse

Isaac Likekele

Woody Newton

Tyreek Smith

Bryce Thompson

Quion Williams

John-Michael Wright

Oklahoma State University Athletics