Game Notes: Oklahoma Baptist at OSU

Oklahoma Baptist (0-0) at Oklahoma State (0-0)
Exhibition Game
Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2023 | 7:01 p.m. CT
Stillwater, Okla. | Gallagher-Iba Arena (13,611)

TV: Big 12 Now on ESPN+ w/ Mike Wolfe & Bryndon Manzer
Radio: Cowboy Radio Network w/ Dave Hunziker & John Holcomb
Live Stats: okstate.statbroadcast.com
Series: OSU leads 7-1 in regular season games; 2-0 in exhibitions
Last: Nov. 6, 2011 in Stillwater (OSU, 66-53)

The Basics:
The new-look Oklahoma State Cowboys make their public debut Wednesday night at Gallagher-Iba Arena with an exhibition game against NCAA Division II Oklahoma Baptist. Nine of the 12 Cowboy scholarship players are newcomers and six are listed as freshmen. Tipoff is scheduled for just after 7 p.m. CT. and admission is free.

On the Air:
The game will air on the Big 12 Now on ESPN+ with Mike Wolfe and Bryndon Manzer on the call. Dave Hunziker and John Holcomb describe the action across the Cowboy Radio Network, while fans from outside the area can tune-in online at okstate.com/listen.

Live it Live:
Season ticket holders have first rights to their seats. All others are available on a first-come, first-served basis.

OSU Outlook:

Oklahoma State isn't abandoning its principles, but seventh-year head coach Mike Boynton Jr. hopes an off-season roster overhaul will create a little more balance to a program that's been ranked among KenPom's top-20 defenses in each of the last three seasons but has, at times, struggled to score.
Boynton put a premium on finding better shooters and ball-handlers and largely succeeded with a freshman class that has been ranked as high as eighth nationally and a crop of experienced transfers.
OSU will lean on back court veterans Bryce Thompson and John-Michael Wright while working to get a group of nine newcomers (six of them freshmen) up to speed.
Thompson – a 6-6 senior wing – was OSU's leading scorer last year (11.2 ppg) while starting all 36 games.
Wright – a 6-1 graduate who can play on or off the ball – hit a team-high 69 three-pointers last year for the Cowboys after transferring in from High Point. He's closing in on 2,000 career points (1,852) and 4,000 minutes (3,982).
Sophomore guard Quion Williams – the only other returning letterman – was a valuable bench piece and energy guy who played some of his best basketball during the team's March NIT run.
OSU added a potential difference-maker in junior Javon Small, a dynamic point guard who averaged 15.8 points and 5.6 assists last year at East Carolina.
Graduate guard Jarius Hicklen has been one of college basketball's deadliest sharp-shooters, connecting 169 times over the last two seasons at North Florida.
Jacksonville grad transfer Mike Marsh is the only player in OSU's front court with Division I basketball experience and has served as a valuable mentor for freshmen center Brandon Garrison (a 2023 McDonald's All-American out of Dell City HS) and 7-footer Isaiah Miranda (a redshirt freshman transfer from NC State).
The Cowboys have a pair of talented freshman forwards in Eric Dailey Jr. – a standout on this summer's Team USA FIBA U19 World Cup squad – and Justin McBride – a four-star recruit out of Plano, Texas.
Freshman guards Connor Dow and Jamyron Keller provide further depth, albeit in different ways. Dow is a three-point sharp-shooter while Keller is a physical guard who can get down hill in a hurry.
The Cowboys are picked 10th in the super-sized Big 12 (which welcomes BYU, Cincinnati, Houston and UCF to the fold this year). The league has been KenPom's highest-rated in eight of the last 10 seasons and is on track to do it again in 2023-24 with all 14 teams ranked among the site's preseason top-75.

Scouting the Bison:

OBU is picked to finish seventh in the 14-team Great American Athletic Conference.
Sixth-year head coach Jason Eaker returns five players from last year's team, which battled injuries on its way to a 13-16 record (10-12 GAC).
Senior guard Ricky Brown posted an efficient 10.1 points on a 51.2-39.4-92.3 (FG-3PT-FT) shooting clip, and sophomore guard Ethan Scott drilled a team-high 55 threes on 42% accuracy.
The list of newcomers includes Trevin Wade, a 5-foot-10 guard and former JUCO All-American who previously played at Wichita State and Alcorn State.
A perennial NAIA power and two-time national champion (1965, 2010), OBU made the jump to NCAA Divi-sion II less than a decade ago. The Bison began competing full-time in the Great American Conference in 2015-16 and earned full DII membership in the summer of 2017.
Eaker led OBU to its first NCAA DII tournament bid in 2020 (canceled by COVID-19) and its first postseason win the following year.
The Bison open their season with seven straight home games, beginning Nov. 10-11 against Minnesota-Duluth and Minnesota-Crookston as part of the GAC/NSIC Challenge series.

Full circle:

Forgive Jarius Hicklen if he finds himself accidentally walking into the wrong huddle on Wednesday night. The graduate guard started his career at Oklahoma Baptist, playing for head coach Jason Eaker, before mak-ing the jump to Division I and North Florida.
In two seasons at OBU (2019-21), Hicklen helped the Bison to consecutive NCAA DII tournament bids. As a sophomore he averaged 16.2 points on 42% three-point shooting to land first team all-conference honors.
Hicklen loaded up on college credits as a high school student and needed just two years to complete his bachelor's degree in sports management from OBU. He added a master's at North Florida last spring and is now pursuing a second master's from OSU in interdisciplinary studies.

From the Hardwood to the Headset:

OSU radio analyst John Holcomb is a 1988 OBU graduate. He played two years of basketball for the Bison (1986-88) before launching his broadcasting career as the program's radio play-by-play voice during the 1988-89 season. The four-time Oklahoma Sportscaster of the Year is currently the sports director at Tulsa's KOTV and has served as OSU's full-time men's basketball analyst on radio since the 2007-08 season.

Series History with OBU:

This is the 11th meeting between the two programs. All of them have come in Stillwater.
OSU is 2-0 against OBU in exhibition games (2006 & 2011) and 7-1 in regular season matchups (all between 1910 and 1926). The Bison won the final matchup on Jan. 29, 1926 by a score of 32-31.
Nov. 6, 2011 – Keiton Page led all scorers with 18 points in a 66-53 OSU victory. The Cowboys fell behind 16-7 after nine minutes but responded with a 12-0 run.
Nov. 7, 2006 – OSU opened the game on an 18-0 run and the second half with another 16-2 spurt on its way to a 99-55 exhibition win over OBU. JamesOn Curry had the hot hand, draining 8-of-9 shots, including 5-of-6 from deep.

OSU in Exhibitions:

OSU has won 34 straight preseason exhibition games, last losing Nov. 9, 2000 to Athletes First. That game was played in Tulsa due to GIA's renovation.
OSU's exhibition winning streak includes a 26-0 record against Division II and NAIA schools.
The Cowboys have won 55 straight exhibitions at GIA, last losing in 1988 to a Soviet national team led by Arvidas Sabonis, sharpshooter Sharunas Marchulienis and big man Alexandr Volkov.
Mike Boynton teams are 5-0 in exhibitions with an average victory margin of 19.0 points. The closest call was an eight-point win over Central Oklahoma (76-68) in 2021, while last year's 34-point margin against Ouachita Baptist (85-51) was the most lopsided.

2022-23 in Review:

OSU was the last team out on Selection Sunday 2023 but regrouped to reach the NIT quarterfinals and se-cure the program's third 20-win season under Mike Boynton.
The Cowboys (20-16, 8-10 Big 12) played the nation's 10th toughest schedule, per NCAA NET, and defeated three nationally ranked opponents. They also swept three games from rival Oklahoma for the first time since 1965.
Statistically, the Cowboys ranked among the national leaders in field goal percentage defense (11th, .395) and posted the Big 12's top rebounding margin (+3.7).

Trip of a Lifetime:

An August foreign tour gave head coach Mike Boynton and staff a head start in their race to get nine new-comers up to speed.
The Cowboys played three exhibition games against seasoned professionals during a 10-day jaunt through the Spanish cities of Madrid, Valencia and Barcelona and took advantage of 10 extra practice sessions in the days leading up to their departure.
OSU opened the tour with an 86-79 win over the Cape Verde national team, which was tuning up for its first appearance in the FIBA World Cup, and a young Cowboy front court got a strong test against one of Europe-an basketball's preeminent big men, 7-foot-3 Walter Tavares of Real Madrid.
The trio of Eric Dailey Jr. (11.8 ppg, 5.3 rpg), Quion Williams (11.3 ppg, team-high 7.3 rpg) and Justin McBride (11.3 ppg, 6/12 3pt) all averaged in double-figures over three games. Six other Cowboys averaged at least six points. Other stat leaders included Javon Small (15 assists, 4 turnovers), Isaiah Miranda (5 blocks) and Jamyron Keller (4 steals).
In between games, players enjoyed a wide range of cultural experiences, including a visit to a bull ring, a bull-fighting skills demonstration, a tour of Spanish premier league soccer club Atletico's home field, a catamaran cruise, beach time, a visit to Barcelona's famed Sagrada de Familia, and more.

An Oklahoma State Win Would...

Make them 10-1 all-time against OBU (3-0 exhibitions, 7-1 regular season)
Give them 35-straight preseason exhibition wins.
Make them 27-0 in exhibitions against small college foes (Division II/NAIA)
Give them 56-straight exhibition wins at GIA
Make them 6-0 in exhibitions under Mike Boynton.
In no way impact their season record.

Up Next: Abilene Christian
Monday, Nov. 6 – 8:01 p.m. CT, ESPN+

Oklahoma State opens its 115th men's basketball season next Monday, Nov. 6 against Abilene Christian as part of a men's and women's doubleheader. The Cowgirls face SIUE at 5 p.m. and the Cowboys tip off at 8 p.m.
Fans can use one ticket for both games. Visit okstate.com/tickets to purchase.
The Cowboys face Abilene Christian for the first time since Henry Iba's final season. On Dec. 2, 1969, John Robinson and Rick Cooper scored 10 points each to lead OSU to a 61-51 win at was then known as Gallagher Hall.
OSU leads the all-time series 3-1. All four previous meetings came in Stillwater during the 1960s.
ACU opponents can look forward to 40 minutes of intense ball pressure. Last year the Wildcats ranked fifth nationally in turnovers forced (17.7) and turnover margin (+5.0). Two years ago they led the nation in both categories.
The Wildcats (13-17, 5-11 WAC) return five players who averaged at least 5.0 points-per-game in 2022-23, including leading scorer Immanuel Allen (10.8 ppg) and seniors Airion Simmons (9.6 ppg) and Ali Abdou Dibba (9.6 ppg).
Brette Tanner is in his 11th season with the ACU program and his third as head coach. He replaced Joe Golding after the latter departed for UTEP in the spring of 2021.
Tanner was the Associate Head Coach in 2021 when 14th-seeded ACU knocked off No. 3 Texas in the first round of the NCAA tournament. In his first year as head coach (2021-22) he led the Wildcats to 25 wins, a runner-up finish in the WAC tournament and a semifinal run in the CBI.
ACU made the jump to NCAA Division I prior to the 2013-14 season and moved from the Southland Conference to the Western Athletic Conference in the summer of 2021.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Eric Dailey Jr.

Connor Dow

Brandon Garrison

Jarius Hicklen

Jamyron Keller

Mike Marsh

Justin McBride

Isaiah Miranda

Javon Small

Bryce Thompson

Quion Williams

John-Michael Wright

Oklahoma State University Athletics