Cowboys Set For Trip To Ames

Facing Iowa State- Here's The Scout

Oklahoma State men's basketball is set to travel to Ames to face No. 11 Iowa State on Saturday in a rematch of the teams' first meeting on January 21st. Tip is set for 5 p.m. on ESPN2 with Chuckie Kepmf and Jess Settles on the call while Cowboy fans can listen to Dave Hunziker and John Holcomb on the Cowboy Radio Network or Varsity App.
Oklahoma State leads the series 71-67, including wins in six of the last seven. There are large disparities in the home and away records for the Cowboys in the series, as they boast a 41-19 record in Stillwater, but the Cyclones hold a 41-17 record in Ames, where the two teams will meet this weekend. Iowa State's home court advantage has been as good as ever this season as they are a perfect 12-0 in Hilton Coliseum.
Since 2020, the Cowboys have won six of the seven meetings between the two teams, including a 61-59 win in Stillwater on January 21st. During that stretch of seven games, OSU has held Iowa State to just 61.3 points per game while winning by an average margin of 11.8 points. The Cowboys 53-36 win in their last trip to Ames was a historic one in many ways as they it was the fewest points OSU had allowed in any conference road game since 1955.
This year's Cyclone squad comes into the contest with a 16-7 record, including a 7-4 mark in Big 12 play. They have struggled as of late, having lost three of their last four, including upsets by Missouri, Texas Tech, and most recently, West Virginia in Morgantown on Wednesday night. The lone win in that stretch was a home victory over then No. 8 Kansas.
Iowa State plays a brand of basketball similar to that of Oklahoma State, relying on its relentless defense to keep it in every game. The Cyclones are the only Big 12 team with a better scoring defense than the Cowboys, allowing 61.7 points per game, good for 17th in the nation. Iowa State also wins the turnover battle, ranking tops in the conference and top-10 nationally in turnover margin (4.8) and turnovers forced per game (17.7).

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 seven games, marking the first seven starts of his career, and has averaged 25.9 minutes with 7.3 points, 4.7 rebounds and 47.4 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 three teams, Baylor, Texas and TCU, have scored more than 69 points on the Cowboys in 12 Big 12 games thus far while only two (TCU and Texas Tech) have scored more than 60 in Stillwater.
Only four teams (UT Arlington, Southern Illinois, TCU and Texas Tech) have scored more than 60 points in GIA this season through the first 13 home games of the season.
A big part of those numbers? The Cowboys have held a 72-29 blocked shots advantage at home, with Cisse leading the way at 25. Boone has recorded 17, himself.
For the first time in his career, Kalib Boone was named the Big 12 Player of the Week last week. Boone averaged 21.5 points and 5.0 rebounds as the surging Cowboys won three straight games and five of six.
For his efforts against Iowa State and Oklahoma last 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.
Mike Boynton's late season success has continued this year. Boynton's teams are 16-11 in February in the last four seasons, including a 3-0 mark so far this year against America's toughest conference. His teams are also 16-7 in March in his six seasons at Oklahoma State.

A Historic Win in Ames

On March 2, 2022, Oklahoma State defended at a historic level in a 53-36 win over Iowa State in Ames. The Cowboys would carry the momentum into their next game, upsetting 12th-ranked Texas Tech in their season finale in Stillwater.
The defensive effort by the Cowboys marked many milestones, including the 36 points being the fewest allowed in a conference road game since March 2, 1955, when they beat Oklahoma 38-34.
The 36 points allowed also marked the fewest Oklahoma State has allowed in a Big 12 games since the conference began in 1996. The previous record was 41, which most recently happened in a game against Texas A&M in 2004.
The 36 points scored by Iowa State was its lowest total of the season, and the 16 points scored in the second half was its lowest scoring half of the season.

Getting Hot At The Right Time

Oklahoma State is playing its best ball at an opportune time, having won four straight and six of its last seven. five of those wins have come against Big 12 opponents, pushing the Cowboys over .500 in conference play at 6-5 and keeping them within striking distance of the top half of the league.
During this stretch, OSU has held opponents to just 66.6 points per game while allowing them to shoot only 41.6 percent from the field and 30.5 percent from beyond the arc. The Cowboys, in comparison, are scoring 73.0 points per game while shooting 45.9 percent from the field and 33.8 percent from three.
Much of the Cowboys recent success can be attributed to the stellar play of Kalib Boone. The OSU big man was named Big 12 Player of the Week last week and is averaging 16.6 points, 5.1 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game while shooting 69.7 percent from the field in the last seven games.
Woody Newton has also been a big factor for the Cowboys of late, having made his first seven starts of his career in the last seven games. In 25.9 minutes per game, Newton is scoring 7.3 points and grabbing 4.7 rebounds per game while shooting 50.0 percent from the field and 47.4 percent from behind the arc in his last seven.

1,000-Point Club

Avery Anderson III joined Oklahoma State's 1,000-career point club against Oklahoma earlier this month 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 (6 away) and 300 assists (8 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 Upcoming Schedule

Oklahoma State is gearing up for the stretch run, with only seven games left before the Big 12 conference tournament. Four of those seven games will come on the road - Iowa State, TCU, West Virginia and Texas Tech - while the Cowboys will host Kansas, Kansas State and Baylor.
OSU is in the midst of a four-game win streak, its longest of the season. The streak began with a dominant win over Ole Miss in the Big 12/SEC Challenge before the Cowboys completed a sweep of Oklahoma in Norman. They then returned home to knock off then No. 15 TCU last Saturday and beat Texas Tech on Wednesday.
Oklahoma State will look to maintain its momentum through one of its toughest stretches of the season, as five of its final seven opponents are currently ranked in the AP Top 25. They'll start with a trip to Ames to take on No. 11 Iowa State on Saturday before returning home to play No. 9 Kansas next Tuesday. They follow that with back-to-back road tests, first in Fort Worth against No. 17 TCU before heading to Morgantown to take on West Virginia.
The Cowboys' schedule will conclude with home games against No. 12 Kansas State and No. 14 Baylor before they travel to Lubbock for their regular-season finale.
Mike Boynton's teams have a history of peaking this time of year, as they are 16-11 in the last four seasons in the month of February, including a 3-0 mark so far this year. Boynton's teams are also 16-7 in March in his six seasons as head coach at Oklahoma State, including a 4-3 record in the Big 12 Tournament.

An Oklahoma State Win Would...

Improve the Cowboys to 72-67 in the Iowa State series dating back to 1927.
Be the third in a row against the Cyclones for OSU.
Be the sixth in the past seven meetings.
Be the ninth in the past 13 meetings.
Be the second series sweep in the past three seasons.
Give the Cowboys three-straight wins in Ames for the first time since 2011-13.
Be OSU's 59th win as conference foes.
Extend the Cowboys' season-long win streak to five, its longest since November 2021.
Be the Cowboys' third win over a ranked opponent this season.
Give OSU back-to-back wins over ranked opponents for the first time since the 2021 Big 12 Tournament.
Give Mike Boynton 23 wins over ranked opponents in his career.
Be Mike Boynton's 103rd career win, putting him four shy of Paul Hansen for fourth-most in school history.

Streaks and Trends

OSU has made at least one three-pointer in 751 consecutive games dating back to Jan. 13, 2001.
The Cowboys have posted 10 or more assists in 31 of their past 36 games dating back to last season.
Dating back to last season, OSU has held 26 of its past 28 opponents under their season scoring average.
Oklahoma State has reached double-digit second chance points in eight of 11 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 23 of 24 games this season. OSU leads the Big 12 with 5.3 blocked shots per game, which ranks 14th in the country.
OSU has held 19 of its 24 opponents to 35 percent shooting or less from the three-point line while 15 of 24 have shot less than 30 percent. The Cowboys rank 19th in the country in three-point defense, holding opponents to 29.5 percent.
The Cowboys have made 10 or more free throws in 17 of 24 games this season after doing so in 18 of their 30 games last season.
OSU has forced 10 or more turnovers in 15-straight Big 12 games.
Oklahoma State has recorded at least five steals in 21 of its 24 games this season.
Woody Newton has played the best basketball of his career since being inserted into the starting lineup, averaging 7.3 points per game in the stretch while making at least one three-pointer in eight-straight games and recording two or more rebounds in 15 consecutive contests.
Kalib Boone has scored 13 or more points in eight of his last 10 games and has scored 18 or more in four of the last five.
Boone has posted 88 points while shooting 35-46 from the field in his last five games.
OSU has recorded five or more blocks in five of its six road games this season.
Bryce Thompson continues to shoot the three at a high clip in conference play, making 44.7 percent of his attempts while averaging 1.9 makes per game.
The Cowboys have shot better than 40 percent from the field in seven-straight games, their longest such streak of the season.
Oklahoma State has out-rebounded its opponent in four straight games, averaging 37.5 per game in that stretch.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Avery Anderson III

Caleb Asberry

Kalib Boone

Moussa Cisse

Isaac Likekele

Woody Newton

Bryce Thompson

Quion Williams

John-Michael Wright

Oklahoma State University Athletics