Cowboy Basketball meets SIU in Milestone Matchup

Thursday, November 14

Stillwater

7:00 PM

Oklahoma State University

Southern Illinois

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Photo by: Oklahoma State University Athletics

November 12, 2024 | Cowboy Basketball

Cowboy Notes (PDF)SIU Notes (PDF)Watch Listen Live Stats Buy Tickets Series History

SOUTHERN ILLINOIS (1-1) at OKLAHOMA STATE (2-0)
Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024 | 7:01 p.m. CT
Stillwater, Okla. | Gallagher-Iba Arena (13,611)

Buy Tickets: okstate.com/tickets or 877-ALL-4OSU
Watch: ESPN+ (Adam Hildebrandt & Bryndon Manzer)
Listen: Cowboy Radio Network & The Varsity App (Dave Hunziker & John Holcomb)
Live Stats: okstate.statbroadcast.com
Series: SIU leads 6-2, Last: Dec.

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N7 Game:

Opening Tips:

Oklahoma State plays its 3,000th men's basketball game Thursday night against the visiting Southern Illinois Salukis at Gallagher-Iba Arena (7 p.m. CT, ESPN+).
OSU will also celebrate Native American Heritage Month with its annual N7 game, featuring halftime performances from intertribal dancers, singers and drummers.
This will be fans' last opportunity to watch the Cowboys at GIA until Dec. 18 -- a span of 34 days -- as they prepare for a stretch of six straight road or neutral site contests.
The Cowboys are looking to reach 3-0 and dish out a little payback in the process against an SIU team that has defeated them in each of the last two years by a total of three points.
OSU is in its first season under Steve Lutz, the architect behind rapid rebuilds at Western Kentucky (2023-24) and A&M-Corpus Christi (2021-23). He's made the NCAA tournament in each of his first three seasons as a head coach.
Lutz's teams are known for playing hard and fast. His 2023-24 Hilltoppers led the nation in tempo, according to KenPom.
Lutz's new team is showing similar characteristics, topping the 80-point mark in each of their first two regular season games while ranking among the national leaders in steals (30^th, 11.5), turnovers forced (t-19^th, 19.5) and turnover margin (23^rd, +8.0).
OSU is four days removed from an 80-71 win over St. Thomas. Marchelus "Chi Chi" Avery scored 18 of his 23 points after halftime to help the Cowboys overcome 10 second-half threes from the visitors.
One of 13 newcomers, Avery shares the team scoring lead (16.5 ppg) with one of its three holdovers, graduate guard Bryce Thompson.
Thompson needs just 28 more points to become the 45^th member of OSU's 1,000-point club.
5-foot-11 point guard Arturo Dean is on a short list of short guys who are stacking up rebounds. His 8.0 boards-per-game rank second nationally among players listed at less than 6-feet tall, trailing only 5-11 Mississippi Valley State guard Donovan Sanders (9.0 rpg).
Dean also leads the team in assists (4.0) and steals (2.5).
On a per-40-minute basis, Abou Ousmane is averaging a team-best 32.2 points, followed closely by Avery (29.2) and Thompson (26.0).
11 Cowboys have seen action and 10 are averaging double-digit minutes, led by Thompson (25.4).
The OSU bench has accounted for 42.5% of the team's minutes (16^th nationally) and 43.2% of its scoring output (36.5 ppg).
Cowboy reserves have outscored their opposing team counterparts by a combined 73-14.
The Cowboys have not faced a second-half deficit this year. Against Green Bay and St. Thomas they led by as many as 22 and 17 points respectively.
OSU is 2-0 for the first time since the 2020-21 season when Cade Cunningham and company opened with six straight wins.
Each of the last 16 OSU teams to open a season with back-to-back wins went on to reach 3-0.
The 2002-03 Cowboys were the last 2-0 OSU team to fall (losing to the College of Charleston at the Great Alaska Shootout) but redeemed themselves by winning their next 15 games in a 17-1 start.

Last Time on Cowboy Basketball:
Nov. 10, 2024 in Stillwater | OSU 80, St. Thomas 71

Marchelus "Chi Chi" Avery scored 18 of his game-high 23 points in the second half to help OSU outdistance St. Thomas.
The Cowboys thwarted the Tommies' efforts to slow the pace by forcing 20 turnovers (while committing just 10) and outscored the visitors 26-8 on fast breaks opportunities.
Patrick Suemnick and Bryce Thompson scored 11 points each for OSU, and Arturo Dean, kicked in nine rebounds, five assists and four steals.
Kendall Blue finished with 18 points and 11 rebounds for the Tommies, who made 15 of 36 threes but struggled to get the ball inside.
Suemnick's dunk capped a 9-0 run that gave the Cowboys a 28-18 advantage with 3:08 to play in the first half. They led 33-23 at halftime and by as many as 17 midway through the second half.
St. Thomas shot 27% in the first half before storming back with 10 second-half threes, but the lead never dipped below three possessions.
OSU committed just two second half turnovers and made 17-of-22 free throws after halftime.

The way to 3K:

This is the 3,000th men's basktball game in OSU history.
It took almost 117 years to get here. Game No. 1 was a 17-5 win at Epworth College (now Oklahoma City University) on Dec. 6, 1907.
In between, OSU has won two national championships, been to six Final Fours, made 11 NCAA regional finals, led the nation in scoring defense 16 times, captured 23 conference titles, been to 29 NCAA tournaments and posted 39 wins.

Milestone Games in OSU History
No. 1 – Dec. 6, 1907 at Epworth College (Okla. City University) – W, 17-5
No. 500 – Feb. 7, 1940 at Tulsa – W, 36-22
No. 1,000 – Dec. 2, 1957 vs. Kansas – L, 56-63
No. 1,500 – Jan. 5, 1977 vs. Missouri Southern St. – W, 88-72
No. 2,000 – Feb. 2, 1994 vs. Kansas State – W, 80-59
No. 2,500 – Mar. 7, 2009 at Oklahoma – L, 78-82
No. 3,000 – Nov. 14, 2024 vs. Southern Illinois

St. Thomas Leftovers:

Marchelus "Chi Chi" Avery's 23 points were three off his NCAA career high, set on Dec. 18, 2022 against Northern New Mexico, while playing for New Mexico State.
Avery made all six of his field goal attempts in an 18 point second half and finished 8-for-12 on the day.
Junior point guard Arturo Dean finished led the team in rebounds (9), assists (5) and steals (4).
Dean's first assist of the night came at the 15:34-mark of the first half when he found Brandon Newman for a three-pointer. It was the 250^th assist of his NCAA career and set off a 17-2 Cowboy run.
St. Thomas used a 10-0 run to slice OSU's lead back to 19-18 with 6:55 to play in the first half, but the Cowboys scored the next nine points and entered halftime with a 33-23 cushion..
The Tommies had more turnovers (11) than field goals (8) during a 27.6% first half shooting performance but regrouped with 10 three-pointers during a 48-point second half.
Despite all that, the OSU lead never feel below three possessions. The Cowboys did what good teams do when playing from in front, committing just two second-half turnovers while knocking down 17-of-22 free throws (including 9-of-12 over the final 2:37).
St. Thomas' 20 turnovers were more than twice its 2023-24 season average (9.2). Due to their provisional status, the Tommies don't qualify for NCAA leaderboards but would have otherwise ranked among the top-10 nationally last year in turnover prevention.
St. Thomas' 15 three-point field goals were the most by an OSU opponent since Jan. 15, 2020 when Texas made 15-of-32.
20 of St. Thomas' 75 possessions ended in turnovers. The Tommies' .267 turnover percentage was the highest by an OSU opponent since Jan. 24, 2023 against Texas (21 on 76, .276).
Six Cowboys combined for 12 steals.
Led by Avery (23 points) and Patrick Suemnick (11), reserves accounted for 61.3% of OSU points (49 of 80).
49 bench points and 26 fast break points were both the most by a Cowboy team in nearly three seasons. OSU had 56 and 32 respectively in a 74-68 win over NC State on Nov. 17, 2021.

Odds and Ends:

OSU opponents have taken 59.3% of their shots and scored 59.2% of their total points from behind the three-point line. Both marks rank among the top-10 nationally.
Green Bay took 60.8% of its shots from behind the line and St. Thomas followed suit at 58.1%. Those were the fifth and tenth-highest rates ever by an OSU opponent (Villanova set the bar at 72.7% early in the 2018-19 season).
The two Cowboys foes made an average of 14.5 threes per game on an incredible 43.3% accuracy. Only Central Arkansas (17.0) and Portland (15.0) have surrendered more.
Six Cowboys are averaging at least a steal-per-game, led by Arturo Dean (2.5) and Chi Chi Avery (2.0).
OSU has tallied double-digit steals in consecutive games (11 vs. GB, 12 vs. St. Thomas) for the first time in nearly three years. They last did it Dec. 13-18, 2021 against Cleveland State (10) and Houston (12).
OSU's last three-game stretch with double-digit steals came nearly a decade ago (Jan. 31-Feb. 7, 2015) against Oklahoma (10), Texas (10) and Kansas (12).
OSU is averaging 23.5 points per game off turnovers and 20.5 points on fast break opportunities.
OSU has won seven consecutive non-conference games going back to the 2023-24 season.

Cowboys on the NCAA Leaderboard:

OSU junior guard Aturo Dean is the NCAA's active career leader in steals per game (2.91).
Dean's 190 total steals rank 12th on the active list and are tops most among players who have been around for less than four seasons.
Arkansas transfer Davonte "Devo" Davis, likewise, ranks among the NCAA's active career leaders in games played. Sunday's game against St. Thomas was his 134th (tied for 12th).

The Series with SIU:

OSU is just 2-6 all-time against Southern Illinois (1-2 in Stillwater).
Thursday's game is the last in a three-year series between the schools. SIU has won each of the last two meetings by a combined total of three points.
In 2022, SIU's Marcus Domask sank a go-ahead three-pointer with 22 seconds remaining to give the visiting Salukis a 61-60 win at GIA.
In 2023, OSU missed two potential game-winning shots in the last six seconds of a 70-68 loss in Carbondale. Xavier Johnson led SIU with 32 points. Clarence Rupert's three-point play gave SIU a 69-66 lead with 28 seconds left, but a technical foul for taunting gave OSU two free throws and the ball with 17 seconds remaining. Javon Small (25 points) made both freebies, but his driving layup missed the mark in the closing seconds, as did Quion Williams' follow.
Even prior to that, the Salukis have had the Cowboys' number, winning six of the eight series meetings all-time, including a first round matchup in the 2008 NIT.
Like so many others in OSU history, this series began through a Henry Iba connection.
Jack Hartman – a member of OSU's national championship teams in 1945 and 1946 and later an Iba assistant – was head coach at Southern Illinois from 1962-70. He led the Salukis to four NCAA Division II tournaments, including a pair of runner-up finishes, and guided them to the 1967 NIT title while transitioning the program to Division I status.
Hartman faced his former mentor, Iba, three times from 1963-66 and came away with two victories. The first of those wins came in the 1964-65 season opener in Carbondale against an OSU team that would go on to win the Big 8 title and advance to the Midwest Regional Final.
The biggest of the seven series meetings came in the second round of the 2005 NCAA tournament in Oklahoma City. Ivan McFarlin scored 31 points to send the Cowboys into the Sweet 16 with an 85-77 victory in what was the last of 22 NCAA tournament wins in 16 seasons under hall-of-famer Eddie Sutton.

Scouting the Salukis:

Southern Illinois is under new leadership with Scott Nagy replacing Bryan Mullins during the off-season.
Nagy owns 578 wins in parts of 30 seasons at South Dakota State (1995-16), Wright State (2016-24) and now SIU.
The Salukis lost the entire starting-five from a team that finished 19-13 (11-9 MVC) but have added 11 newcomers. They're picked seventh out of 12 teams in the 2024-25 MVC preseason poll.
SIU is led by a pair of preseason third team All-MVC selections: 6-foot-6 sophomore Kennard Davis Jr. (one of just two returning rotation players) and 6-foot-4 Abilene Christian transfer Ali Dibba.
Davis is averaging 17.0 points, 5.0 steals and 4.0 assists through the first two games, and Dibba has chipped in 13.0 points and 3.0 assists.
6-foot-1 UTRGV transfer Elijah Elliott is the team's top scorer at 18.5 points on 58.3% shooting. He's made 10 of his 12 attempts from inside the arc.
SIU evened its record at 1-1 on Friday night with an 86-64 win over Division I Missouri S&T after falling 90-80 to the College of Charleston in their season opener, played at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D.

Matchup Mashup:

OSU's Steve Lutz is well-acquainted with Salukis from his time working under former SIU head coach Matt Painter at Purdue (2017-21) and from his first three years as an assistant at Creighton (2010-13) when the Bluejays were members of the Missouri Valley Conference.
Another former SIU head coach, Barry Hinson, is in his third year as the OSU athletic department's chief NIL administrator after a three-year run as an analyst on the Cowboy Basketball staff.
OSU strength and conditioning coach Marcus Foster held a similar role at SIU from 2018-20.
The current national steals leader -- SIU's Kennard Davis (5.0 spg) meets the reigning champ. OSU junior Arturo Dean averaged a nation-best 3.38 steals last season at FIU.
Helped by Davis, SIU is averaging 12.5 steals and forcing 18.0 turnovers per game. OSU averages 11.5 steals and 19.5 forced turnovers. Both sides have excellent turnover margins, with OSU (+8.0) just ahead of SIU (+7.5).
Like Lutz, Scott Nagy prefers to play fast. His Wright State teams ranked among KenPom's top-25 in tempo in each of the last two seasons: 23^rd in 2023 and 22^nd in 2024.
SIU's Ali Dibba was leading scorer last year at Abilene Christian. He had a team-high 15 points in the team's season-opening win at Gallagher-Iba Arena.

A Cowboy win would...

Make them 3-0 for the eighth time in 12 seasons.
Be the 54^th 3-0 start in OSU history (116 seasons).
Make Lutz 72-35 (.673) in parts of four seasons.
Push their all-time GIA record to 863-264, including 454-60 in regular season non-conference games.
Be their eighth consecutive non-conference victory.
Narrow SIU's series lead to 6-3 (2-2 in Stillwater).

Up Next: Charleston Classic
Nov. 21, 22, 24 in Charleston, S.C.

The Cowboys will play three games in four days at the Shriners Children's Charleston Classic, beginning next Thursday afternoon against Florida Atlantic (1:30 p.m. CT, ESPN2 or ESPNU).
OSU will face either Drake or Miami on the second day and will meet up against one of four teams from the other half of the draw in Sunday's placement round (Nevada, Seton Hall, Vanderbilt and VCU).