Game Notes: Houston Christian

Houston Christian (0-3) at Oklahoma State (2-3)
Friday, Nov. 24, 2023 | 7:01 p.m. CT
Stillwater, Okla. | Gallagher-Iba Arena

TV: ESPN+
Radio: Cowboy Radio Network
Internet Radio: okstate.com/listen & The Varsity Sports App
Tickets: okstate.com/tickets
Live Stats: okstate.statbroadcast.com
Series: OSU leads 11-1 (8-0 in Stillwater)
Last: Nov. 26, 2017 in Stillwater (OSU won 101-74)

The Basics:
The Oklahoma State Cowboys (2-3) play host to the Houston Christian Huskies (0-3) 7 p.m. Friday evening inside historic Gallagher-Iba Arena. The Cowboys look to ride momentum from Monday's 96-68 victory over New Orleans. Freshman guard Jamyron Keller led a group of five double-figure scorers with 18 points and OSU pulled away with a stretch of 22-unanswered points in the second half.

Tickets:
To purchase seats, visit okstate.com/tickets or call (877) 255-4678.

Watch:
The game will air on the Big 12 Now on ESPN+ with Mike Wolfe and Bryndon Manzer.
Fans can subscribe to ESPN's over-the-top streaming service for $10.99/month ($110/year) or bundle with Disney+ and Hulu for as little as $14.99/month. Visit plus.espn.com for more information.

Listen:
Dave Hunziker and John Holcomb describe the action across the Cowboy Radio Network.
Visit okstate.com/radio for a full list of network affiliates. Fans outside the listening area can tune in via the Varsity Sports App or at okstate.com/listen.

The Mike Boynton Show:
The Mike Boynton Show returns to the airwaves Monday, Nov. 27 on affiliates across the Cowboy Radio Network. Tune in Monday nights (6-7 p.m. CT) during the non-conference season and Thursday's during conference play to hear the latest insights into OSU men's basketball straight from the source. Or catch the show live from the Rib Crib in Stillwater.

Last Time on Cowboy Basketball:
Nov. 20 (Stillwater) | OSU 96, New Orleans 68

Jamyron Keller missed the first four games of OSU's season with a wrist injury but made up for lost time in his collegiate debut with a game-high 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting.
OSU led 61-58 near the midway point of the second half but came away with points on each its next 12 possessions during a 26-2 run.
Javon Small worked around three first-half fouls to tally 16 points and six assists in 24 turnover-free minutes. Mike Marsh logged his first double-double as a Cowboy with 13 points and 11 rebounds and Eric Dailey Jr. nearly joined him with 14 points an nine boards.
John-Michael Wright added 11 points and three steals. The Pokes outscored UNO by 34 points during his 24 minutes of action.
OSU shot 65.6% from the field in the second half and 58.1% for the game. The Cowboys recorded a season-high 21 assists on 36 baskets, hit 10 threes and won the rebounding battle, 41-25.

Scoring by Committee:

OSU has played the last two-and-half games without its most proven scorer – senior guard Bryce Thompson (14.3 ppg, 6/12 3pt) – but other weapons have emerged in his absence.
Four different Cowboys have taken a turn as leading scorer over the past four games: Thompson (17 vs. Sam Houston), Eric Dailey Jr. (15 vs. St. Bonaventure), Javon Small (29 vs. Notre Dame) and most recently Jamyron Keller.

Frosh Produce:

With Jamyron Keller's debut, OSU now has five true freshmen in its rotation. Monday against New Orleans, the rookies accounted for around 45% of the minutes and 51% of the points (49).
OSU played almost 80% of the game (31:42) with at least two freshmen on the court and used three-or-more for over half of the proceedings.

OSU lineups vs. New Orleans (Nov. 20)
with 4+ Freshmen -- 6:04 -- 12-9 (+3)
with 3+ Freshmen -- 23:48 -- 40-28 (+12)
with 2+ Freshmen -- 31:42 -- 82-50 (+32)

Close for Comfort:

OSU shot 78.8% from inside the arc against UNO. That's the highest 2-point percentage by a Cowboy team in more than 17 years.
OSU made 9-of-11 shots during its 26-2 second-half run (and grabbed offensive rebounds on the two misses). Eight of the nine makes were dunks or layups.
Six different Cowboys had a dunk in Monday's win over New Orleans. John-Michael Wright's team-leading eighth steal of the year resulted in his first career slam in the closing minutes. Jamyron Keller, Eric Dailey Jr., Justin McBride, Brandon Garrison and Mike Marsh accounted for the other five.
45.5% of OSU field goal attempts this season have come from beyond the arc. The Cowboys are shooting .331 from deep (up from .310 last year).
The Cowboys also posted their most efficient offensive performance (1.32 points per possession) since Nov. 16, 2017 when they averaged 1.41 in a 91-48 win over Oral Roberts.
OSU's .581 field goal percentage against UNO was its best in just over two years. The Cowboys fired at a .588-clip in an 80-58 win over UMass-Lowell on Nov. 16, 2021.
A 96-point outburst was OSU's best since a 98-93 overtime win over Cleveland State on Dec. 13, 2021 and the most the Cowboys have scored in regulation since Nov. 22, 2021 when they downed the College of Charleston, 96-66.
OSU improved to 10-0 under Boynton when scoring at least 90 points and 31-4 when making at least half of its shots.

OSU's Best 2-Point Percentages // 1998-99 to Pres.
1. Florida Atlantic (11/10/2006) -- 22/27, .815
2. New Orleans (11/20/2023) -- 26/33, .788
3. Central Arkansas (11/14/2016) -- 24/32, .750
4. UTSA (1/2/2008) -- 23/31, .742
5. Nicholls (11/21/2010) -- 28/38, .737

Small Looms Large:

Javon Small missed the opener while recovering from injury, but the junior point guard is averaging 16.0 points and team-best 5.8 assists in the four games since his return while shooting 45.5% from three (10-of-22).
In the four games that Small has been active, OSU has posted a 1.40 team assist-to-turnover ratio. Small has recorded at least five assists in three of those contests.
Last Friday against Notre Dame, Small became the first OSU guard since Cade Cunningham to post a 20+ point double-double, finishing with 29 points and 10 rebounds.
Small has taken an immediate liking to Gallagher-Iba Arena. He's tallied a total of 32 points in his first two games on just 18 shots. In 54 combined minutes of home action he's also handed out 11 assists with just one turnover.

Keeping up with the Trends:

Javon Small and John-Michael Wright have so far been immune to the free throw bug that's bitten the majority of the Cowboys. OSU ranks among the bottom-25 nationally in team percentage (.598). Small is 14-of-16 and Wright 13-of-14, but the rest of the roster has combined to make just 33-of-67 (.493).
Wright handled point guard duties in the opener but scored in double-figures in each of the last four games since moving off ball -- the longest such streak of his two-year OSU career. Over that span he's averaging 12.5 points.
Mike Marsh missed the Notre Dame game with an injury but returned to post a double-double against New Orleans (13 pts, 11 reb). OSU scored 10 second-chance points off of his six offensive rebounds.
As of Wednesday, Marsh ranks among the top-50 nationally in defensive rebounding percentage at 27.4%. Only Houston's J'Wan Roberts (28.7%) has posted a higher percentage among Big 12 regulars.
OSU two-headed monster of Marsh and 6-11 freshman Brandon Garrison averages a combined 13.5 points, 11.7 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per 40 minutes on 63% shooting.
The Cowboys aren't dominating on defense but have quietly put together some solid performances. They haven't allowed more than 70 points in any game this season.
OSU opponents have finished with more turnovers than assists in four of the five games and have a 0.80 ratio (52 A, 65 TO) for the year.
The Cowboys are coming off perhaps their best rebounding effort of the year against UNO. They grabbed offensive boards on more than 40% of their own misses and snapped up better than 80% on the defensive glass to finish +16 overall (41-25).
OSU is 21-4 over the last two seasons when out-shooting its opponent (compared to 1-15 when out-shot).
A pair of 66-64 losses in Brooklyn marked the first time in program history that an OSU team has played consecutive games with identical final scores.
Including the overtime tipoff against Notre Dame, freshman Brandon Garrison is 3-0 on jump balls.
Walk-on senior Carson Sager made his first appearance of the season against UNO. The Cowboys are 12-0 all-time when his names is in the final box score.

The Series with Houston Christian:

OSU is 11-1 all-time against Houston Christian (formerly known as Houston Baptist), with seven straight series wins. The lone loss came almost 40 years ago to the day (Nov. 28, 1983).
The Cowboys are 8-0 at Gallagher-Iba Arena.
The OSU-HCU series owes its genesis to a pair of Cowboy coaching legends:
Gene Iba – a former OSU graduate assistant and nephew of the great Henry Iba – was HCU's coach of record for each of the first six meetings in the series. In eight seasons in Houston (1977-85), Gene Iba led the Huskies to a pair of Trans America Athletic Conference titles and to their lone NCAA tournament appearance as a Division I program (1984).
Ron Cottrell -- a 1988 Arkansas graduate who worked in the Razorback athletic department during Eddie Sutton's tenure – helped relaunch the HCU men's basketball program in 1991 after a two-year absence. Sutton's Oklahoma State Cowboys were among the first opponents on his inaugural schedule.
Now in his 33rd year on the job, Cottrell owns more than 500 career wins. He turned the Huskies into an NAIA power with 10 straight national tournament appearances before transitioning them back to the NCAA and Division I in 2007.
Mike Boynton Jr. has some familiarity with HCU and the Southland Conference from his days as an assistant coach at Stephen F. Austin. This will be his second encounter with the Huskies as OSU's head coach, while Cottrell meets the Cowboys for the sixth time in his career.
In the most-recent installment (Nov. 26, 2017), Kendall Smith and Thomas Dziagwa scored 16 points each in a 101-74 OSU win. The Cowboys made 24-of-25 free throws in the first half to build a 52-30 lead at the intermission and finished 31-of-33 overall from the stripe. They recorded assists on 26 of their 30 baskets.

OSU won the last of its 13 All-College tournament titles in 1982, helped by a 50-39 semifinal win over HCU in Oklahoma City.
On Dec. 1, 1984, OSU survived a scare in Stillwater. Down a point with 1 second remaining, Joe Atkinson made both ends of a 1-and-1 to give the Cowboys a 44-43 overtime win.
A couple of Cowboy All-Americans set career-highs in the Dec. 15, 1998 meeting. Desmond Mason tied a GIA record with eight steals and Joe Adkins handed out 12 of OSU's 30 assists in a 114-62 win.

Scouting Houston Christian:

HCU is 0-3 with losses at BYU (110-63) and at home against FIU (83-74) and UTSA (89-87).
The Huskies are picked eighth out of 10 teams in the Southland preseason poll after losing five of the top seven scorers from last year's team.
6-10 senior center Bonke Naring is a preseason All-Southland selection. A year ago, he led the league in field goal percentage (.582) and ranked second in blocks (35) on his way to all-defensive team honors.
The other top returner -- 6-3 sophomore combo guard Pierce Bazil – is averaging 10.3 points and a team-best 3.0 assists through the first three contests.
Naring, Brazil and a core of three transfers have done most of the heavy lifting so far, each clocking between 28 and 34 minutes while accounting for over 80 percent of the team's points.
6-2 junior Marcus Greene, a junior college transfer who started his career at Sacremento State, is averaging a team-high 16.7 points on 6-of-13 three-point shooting.
6-5 junior Jay Alvarez -- a 1,000-point scorer NJCAA Division II All-American in two seasons at SUNY-Sullivan – averages 15.0 points and 4.5 rebounds.
Maring and 6-7 sophomore Michael Imariagbe (14.0 ppg) share the front court and high rebounding honors at 6.0 boards-per-game. Imariagbe redshirted last year at a junior college after starting his career at Division III McMurry (Texas).
Cottrell's teams play at a fast pace, finishing among KenPom's top-20 adjusted tempo eight times in the last 15 seasons. This year's group ranks fifth nationally through its first three games at 75.6 possessions. Opponents are averaging 94.0 points per game.
HCU opponents averaged 83.1 points last season – third-most nationally behind Coppin State (83.2) and South Carolina State (83.8), SCSU plays at GIA on Dec. 31.
That same pace helped the Huskies put up 77.6 points last year on offense while leading the Southland in both effective field goal percentage (.528) and free throw attempts per game (22.4). They topped the 80-point mark 14 times over the course of the season.

Matchup Mashup:

OSU is one of the unluckiest teams in America, according to KenPom.com. 361st out of 362 to be exact. The site's "Luck" metric compares teams' expected records, based on efficiency stats, to their actual record.
The Cowboys' three losses have come by a combined nine points. In all three contests, OSU attempted a field goal in the last five seconds that would have either tied or won the game.
Notably, Houston Christian is 354th out of 362 on the same list. The Huskies are coming off an 89-87 home loss to UTSA and have the nation's second-lowest three-point percentage (.174).
OSU is one of four Big 12 opponents that the Huskies will face on the road during non-conference play. They opened with a 110-63 setback at BYU and will meet TCU (Nov. 27) and Texas (Dec. 9) down the line. Likewise, HCU is OSU's second straight Southland Conference foe (New Orleans).

An OSU win would...

Level their record at 3-3.
Give them three consecutive home wins (3-1).
Make them 12-1 all-time vs. Houston Christian with eight straight victories.
Up their November record under Boynton to 33-10.

Up Next: Creighton
Thursday, Nov. 30 | 8 p.m. CT | ESPN+

OSU's homestand continues next Thursday against No. 8/7 Creighton at GIA. Reserves your seats today at okstate.com/tickets.
The Bluejays (4-0) are averaging 92.0 points and a nation-best 12.5 threes-per-game heading into Wednesday's game against Loyola Chicago.
Creighton came within an eyelash of last year's Final Four, instead falling to San Diego State on a last-second free throw in the South Region final.
This matchup – made possible by the BIG EAST-Big 12 Battle series -- is the first between the programs in 25 years. Creighton upset 18th-ranked OSU in Omaha, 66-60, on Dec. 20, 1998.
That was a meaningful game for OSU's Eddie Sutton, whose first head coaching job was at Creighton (1969-74). He inherited a program coming off three straight losing seasons and led it to five straight winning records, capped by a 23-7 mark and an NCAA tournament bid in 1974.
There are Creighton ties among the current OSU staff, as well. OSU associate head coach Terrence Rencher spent two years as a CU assistant under Doug McDermott (2019-21) before making the move to Stillwater.
35 of the 40 games in this series took place from 1928-48 when both schools were members of the Missouri Valley Conference. Creighton holds a slim 21-19 lead.

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Players Mentioned

Eric Dailey Jr.

Brandon Garrison

Jamyron Keller

Mike Marsh

Justin McBride

Carson Sager

Javon Small

Bryce Thompson

John-Michael Wright

Oklahoma State University Athletics