Cowboys set for three games at Charleston Classic

OKLAHOMA STATE (3-0) vs. FLORIDA ATLANTIC (3-2)
2024 Shriners Children's Charleston Classic | Quarterfinal Round
Charleston, S.C. | TD Arena
Nov. 21, 2024 | 1:30 p.m. CT (2:30 p.m. ET)

Tournament Central: charlestonclassic.com
Watch: ESPNU (Rich Hollenberg & Percy Clark)
Listen: Cowboy Radio Network & The Varsity App (Dave Hunziker & John Holcomb)
Live Stats: charlestonclassic.statbroadcast.com
Series: Tied, 1-1
Last: Nov. 10, 2006 in Stillwater (OSU, 95-50)

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Opening Tips:

The Oklahoma State Cowboys will play three games in four days at the Shriners Children's Charleston Classic, beginning with a Thursday quarterfinal matchup against the FAU Owls inside TD Arena on the campus of the College of Charleston (1:30 p.m. CT, ESPNU).
OSU will face either Drake or Miami on Friday.
A win moves them into the semifinals at 10:30 a.m. (ESPN2) while a loss drops them into the consolation bracket (1 p.m., ESPNU).
The tournament wraps on Sunday with a placement round game against one of four teams from the other half of the bracket: Nevada, Seton Hall, Vanderbilt or VCU.
New head coach Steve Lutz has OSU out to its first 3-0 start since the 2020-21 season when a group led by Cade Cunningham opened the year with six straight victories.
The architect behind rapid rebuilds at Western Kentucky (2023-24) and A&M-Corpus Christi (2021-23), Lutz has made the NCAA tournament in each of his first three seasons as a head coach.
Lutz teams are known for their fast pace and heavy defensive pressure. His 2023-24 Hilltoppers led the nation in adjusted tempo, per KenPom.
Lutz's new team is showing similar characteristics, topping 80 points in each of the first three games while entering the week ranked among the national leaders in turnover margin (5th, +9.0), turnovers forced (12th, 19.0), steals (20th, 11.3) and fastbreak points (16th, 21.3).
Eight of the top nine Cowboy scorers are newcomers, led by fifth-year forwards Abou Ousmane (Xavier) and Marchelus "Chi Chi" Avery (UCF) who are averaging 17.0 and 14.7 points respectively.
OSU has 13 total newcomers on the roster, and all but one of them are transfers.
One of just three holdovers from last year's active lineup, Bryce Thompson (14.3 ppg, 7/11 3pt) needs just 18 more points to become the 45th member of OSU's 1,000-point club.
The Cowboys also entered the week ranked seventh nationally in bench scoring (43.3 ppg). Reserves have clocked 43.1% of the minutes (6th) and tallied 51.2% of the total points (13th).
All 11 Cowboys who have seen action have recorded at least one steal and six of them are averaging at least one-per-game, led by junior point guard Arturo Dean (2.0), last year's NCAA steals leader at FIU.
OSU is 3-1 all-time at TD Arena with a third-place finish at the 2015 Charleston Classic and a Nov. 13, 2019 road win over CofC (73-54).

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Last Time on Cowboy Basketball:
Thursday, Nov. 14 in Stillwater | OSU 85, Southern Illinois 78

Brandon Newman and Abou Ousmane scored 18 points apiece to lead OSU past SIU.
The Cowboys dominated the turnover column, forcing 18 while committing just seven. They outscored the visitors 30-7 off those giveaways as well as 23-2 on fast break opportunities.
OSU won despite a 50.8% performance from the visitors, who knocked down 11-of-28 threes.
The Cowboys shot 47.7% from the field and connected on 8-of-20 from deep (.400).
Marchelus "Chi Chi" Avery (11 points) and Bryce Thompson (10) also finished in double-figures for OSU, which snapped a 49-all tie early in the second half with an 18-4 run.
OSU appeared to have the game comfortably in hand, up 80-62 near the 4:00 mark, but a 16-2 Saluki run cut the deficit to four points with 24 seconds left. The Cowboys regrouped with Arturo Dean hitting both ends of a 1-and-1 and Newman adding one more for the final margin.
Elijah Elliott supplied 21 points for SIU which had defeated the Cowboys in each of the two previous seasons by a total of three points.

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More SIU Leftovers:

OSU won despite a 50.8% shooting performance from the Salukis. The Cowboys had previously lost 12 straight games in which their opponent made more than half of its shots and 25 of their last 26 going back to 2018. The exception was a 99-93 overtime victory over Cleveland State on Dec. 13, 2021.
OSU is 2-0 this year when being outshot (compared to 3-17 last season).
The Cowboys faced a second-half deficit for the first time this season when Elijah Elliott hit a jumper to push the Salukis in front, 39-38, with 18:45 to play. It lasted just 63 seconds. Bryce Thompson's putback started an 11-0 Cowboy run, and the hosts never again trailed.
30 points off turnovers were the most by a Cowboy team since Nov. 22, 2021 when they scored 34 points off 28 College of Charleston turnovers on the way to a 96-66 victory.
57 bench points were the most in nearly seven years. Reserves accounted for 61 points in a 101-74 win over Houston Christian on Nov. 26, 2017.

OSU Bench Scoring:
Nov. 4 – Green Bay – 24 bench points; 89 total points (27.0%)
Nov. 10 – St. Thomas MN – 49 / 80 (61.3%)
Nov. 14 – Southern Illinois – 57 / 85 (67.1%)
TOTAL – 130 / 254 (51.2%)

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Odds & Ends:

OSU is 3-0 for the first time since the 2020-21 season when Cade Cunningham and company opened with six straight wins.
A win over FAU would tie Steve Lutz for the second best start to a head coaching tenure in Cowboy Basketball history. Notably, Sean Sutton's 11-0 start began with a win over FAU.
OSU has won eight consecutive non-conference games going back to the 2023-24 season.
The Cowboys have posted the nation's fifth-best turnover margin (+9.0) through the first two weeks of the season.
They've pushed the pace without getting sloppy, committing an average of just 10.0 turnovers per game while ranking among the nation's top-50 in possessions per game (74.5).
Defensively, OSU is forcing an average of 19.0 turnovers per game (12^th) on 11.3 steals (20^th).
Simply put: OSU has more steals (34) than turnovers (30), and that's usually a pretty good recipe for success.
The Cowboys have produced double-digit steals in each of their first three games – the longest such streak by an OSU team in nearly a decade [Jan. 31-Feb. 7, 2015 against Oklahoma (10), Texas (10) and Kansas (12)].
A 10+ steal game against FAU would mark OSU's longest double-digit steal streak since 2007-08 [Dec. 22-Jan. 7 vs. UTA (15), Northwestern St. (12), UTSA (10) and Rogers St. (13)].
OSU's pressure defense has led to some impressive offensive totals, as well. More than a quarter of the Cowboys' 84.7 points per game have been in transition (21.3) and nearly a third (25.7) have come immediately after an opponent turnover. Collectively, they've outscored their three foes 64-14 on fast breaks and 77-34 off turnovers.
OSU opponents have done a nation-best 53.1% of their scoring from beyond the arc. The national average is 31.5%.
Hot shooting accounts for some of that percentage. The three foes have combined to knock down 40 of 95 from deep (.421). Only eight teams surrendered a higher three-point percentage in the first two weeks of the season.
Despite all that defensive pressure, the Cowboys have successfully avoided fouls, sending opponents to the line an average of just 12.3 times per game. They've outscored them 56-23 off of free throws.
OSU is shooting 77.8% from the foul line this year, including 79.6% in the second half (39/49).
Four different Cowboys have taken a turn as leading scorer through the first three games.
Ten Cowboys are clocking between 13 and 25 minutes per game. All of them are averaging double-digit points-per-40-minutes, led by Abou Ousmane (30.3), Chi Chi Avery (25.2) and Bryce Thompson (23.6).
Speaking of per-40s, Arturo Dean is averaging nearly a triple-double (10.4 pts, 10 reb, 7.5 apg).

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About the Charleston Classic:

The Charleston Classic is in its 16th year. Past champions include Houston (2023), College of Charleston (2022), St. Bonaventure (2021) and Florida (2020).
The 2024 field includes three teams that competed in last season's NCAA tournament: FAU, Nevada and Drake. In addition, Seton Hall won the National Invitation Tournament title and VCU reached the quarterfinals.
OSU (Steve Lutz) is one of four programs in the field with new head coaches along with Drake (Ben McCollum), FAU (John Jakus) and Vanderbilt (Mark Byington).
OSU has faced each of its seven potential tournament foes at least once but none recently.
The Cowboys met Miami in the 2006 NIT and opened the 2006-07 season against FAU. Possible collisions with Drake (1962), Vanderbilt (1964), VCU (1988) and Nevada (1996) would all be the first this century.
OSU won its only previous meeting with Seton Hall in the 2000 NCAA Sweet 16 but could face the Pirates twice in a two-week span this season. Seton Hall is already scheduled to host the Cowboys on Dec. 8 as part of the Big 12-Big East Battle.

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The Cowboys in Charleston:

This is OSU's second Charleston Classic appearance and third separate visit to TD Arena.
The Cowboys placed third in the 2015 Classic and won a oad game against the College of Charleston five years ago.
In their Nov. 13, 2019 win at CofC, OSU used a 15-0 run to take control early in the second half. Thomas Dziagwa scored a game-high 21 points on 7-of-10 three-point shooting to go with 16 points from Lindy Waters III (now in his fourth NBA season and first with the Golden State Warriors).
Chris Olivier represented the Cowboys on the 2015 Charleston Classic All-Tournament team after scoring 18, 19 and 11 in three games and blocking 11 shots.
Head coach Steve Lutz has some Charleston Classic history of his own. He was an assistant coach on the Purdue team that finished runner-up to Virginia Tech in 2018.

The Cowboys at TD Arena (3-1):
Nov. 19, 2015 – vs. Towson – W, 69-52
Nov. 20, 2015 – vs. George Mason – L, 68-71 ot
Nov. 22, 2015 – vs. Long Beach St. – W, 82-77
Nov. 13, 2019 – at College of Charleston – W, 73-54

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Tourney Time:

OSU teams have won 27 regular season tournament titles going back to 1936, most recently the 2021 Basketball Hall of Fame Showcase (Uncasville, Conn.) and 2019 NIT Season Tipoff (Brooklyn, N.Y.).
This will be OSU's 104^th event in that span.
Excluding preliminary round matchups played at campus sites, Cowboy teams are a combined 162-105 in bracketed play.
Head coach Steve Lutz won his first MTE title in 2021 when A&M-Corpus Christi swept three games in a four-team round robin at UTSA's San Antonio Shootout.

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The Series with FAU:

The teams have split two meetings all-time, both of them in Stillwater.
OSU was 107-2 in non-conference home games under Eddie Sutton (1990-2006). FAU was one of two exceptions, escaping Gallagher-Iba Arena with an 83-81 victory on Dec. 1, 1998. Doug Gottlieb's 18 assists in that game are still the school record.
OSU avenged the loss eight years later with a 95-50 victory to open up the 2006-07 season. The Cowboys shot 68 percent from the field and made 14 threes in that game. They led by 20 after a 70 percent first-half performance and added another 17-0 run early in the second half. It was OSU's first official contest under Sean Sutton and FAU's first under Rex Walters, who -- two years later -- took over a San Francisco program that Eddie Sutton had been shepherding on an interim basis.

Scouting the Owls:

Former Baylor associate head coach John Jakus replaced Dusty May (now at Michigan) over the summer and will look to continue the program's momentum after a surprise 2023 Final Four run and last year's 25-win campaign that resulted in a No. 8 seed in the Big Dance.
The Owls were one of six former Conference USA schools that joined the American Athletic Conference prior to the 2023-24 season and finished runner-up in their first tour through the league.
FAU is picked fifth out of 13 teams in this year's preseason poll, despite returning just one player who saw minutes last year (junior forward Tre Carroll) and a pair of red shirts.
Jakus loaded his inaugural roster with shooters and has them playing at a brisk pace.
The Owls are averaging 96.6 points per game (12^th nationally) and have been one of the nation's most deadly three-point shooting teams, hitting 13.0 per game (2^nd) on 43.6% accuracy (11^th).
Five Owls are scoring double-figures with three more averaging between 9 and 10 points.
TD Arena is quickly becoming a home away from home for FAU. The Owls played twice there last weekend as part of the Field of 68 Tip-Off, losing to host College of Charleston in double-overtime on Friday and defeating Liberty in another overtime affair on Saturday.
The Owls' top two scorers are reserves and a big reason why the Owls rank ninth nationally in bench points (43.0 ppg).
6-foot-6 Louisville transfer Kaleb Glenn (16.6 ppg) has made 10-of-21 three-point attempts this year.
Niccolo Moretti, a 6-1 sophomore transfer from Illinois, averages 12.8 points and a team-best 5.0 assists with a 6.25 A:TO ratio.
6-1 junior point guard Leland Walker (11.8 ppg, 4.6 apg) was a first team All-ASUN selection last year for Eastern Kentucky.
Redshirt senior guard Ken Evans Jr. (last year's SWAC Player of the Year at Jackson State) averages 11.8 points and leads the team in steals (2.4) and three-pointers (16/34, .471).
6-2 Jacksonville State transfer KyKy Tandy was a second team preseason All-AAC selection.
The Owls' leading rebounder is 6-11 Florida State transfer Baba Miller (9.8 ppg, 7.8 rpg).
7-foot Lithuanian Matas Volietaitis (10.6 ppg, 1.0 bpg) is shooting 74.1% from the field (20-of-27).

Matchup Mashup:

FAU head coach John Jakus is well acquainted with the Cowboys afterspending nine seasons on staff at Big 12 rival Baylor, including seven as assistant/associate head coach (2017-24).
OSU junior Arturo Dean has 10 steals in three career games against FAU (all during his time at Florida International).

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A Cowboy win would...

Move them into Friday's semifinal round (10:30 a.m. CT, ESPN2) against Drake/Miami winner.
Tie Steve Lutz for the second-best start by a head coach in OSU history (4-0).
Boost Lutz's career record to 73-35 (.676).
Continue the best OSU start since Cade Cunningham and the 2020-21 Cowboys opened with six straight wins.
Be the 41st 4-0 start in 116 seasons of OSU hoops.
Snap a two-game skid in MTE openers but would otherwise be the ninth time in their last 12 events (2012-pr.) that they've opened MTE bracket play with a victory.
Make them 4-1 all-time at TD Arena.
Give them a 2-1 edge in the all-time series with FAU.
Be OSU's ninth consecutive non-conference victory going back to last December.

A Cowboy loss would...

Drop them into Friday's consolation semifinals (1 p.m. CT, ESPNU) against the Drake/Miami loser.
Be their first of the season (3-1) and first under head coach Steve Lutz.
Even their all-time Charleston Classic record at 2-2.
Give FAU a 2-1 leg up in the all-time series.
Be their first non-conference setback since Dec. 5, 2023 (at SIU), snapping what had been an eight-game winning streak.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Arturo Dean

Brandon Newman

Abou Ousmane

Bryce Thompson

Oklahoma State University Athletics