Cowboys meet Nevada Sunday on ESPN

Sunday, November 24

Charleston S.C. / TD Arena

2:00 PM

Oklahoma State University

Nevada

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November 23, 2024 | Cowboy Basketball

Cowboy Notes (PDF)Watch Listen Tournament Central

OKLAHOMA STATE (4-1) vs. NEVADA ( 5-1)
Shriners Children's Charleston Classic | 5^th Place Game
Nov. 24, 2024 | 2 p.m. CT (3 p.m. ET)
Charleston, S.C. | TD Arena

Tournament Central: charlestonclassic.com
Watch: ESPN
Listen: Cowboy Radio Network & The Varsity App (Dave Hunziker & John Holcomb)
Stats: charlestonclassic.statbroadcast.com
Series: OSU leads 1-0
Last: Dec. 30, 1996 in Tulsa (OSU, 70-50)

Opening Tips:

The Oklahoma State Cowboys look to close out the Charleston Classic on a winning note when they take on the Nevada Wolf Pack in the tournament's fifth-place game.
OSU dropped its quarterfinal opener to FAU (78-86) on Thursday but bounced back Friday to defeat Miami (80-74). The Cowboys led by as many as 20 points near the 15:00-mark of the second half and finished a sizzling 10-for-22 from beyond the arc.
Bryce Thompson scored a team-high 17 and became the 45^th member of OSU's 1,000-Point Club. It was his 88^th career game in a Cowboy uniform and his 50^thin double-figures.
Marchelus "Chi Chi" Avery added 15 points off the bench and collected eight rebounds.
Steve Lutz has never missed the NCAA tournament as a head coach, despite taking on major rebuilds at A&M-Corpus Christi (2021-23) and Western Kentucky (2023-24).
Lutz took on another last spring at OSU, adding 13 newcomers (12 of them transfers) to a group of just three returning lettermen.
Lutz's WKU team led the nation in adjusted tempo, and he has OSU playing a similarly aggressive style, fueled by a deep bench.
10 Cowboys are clocking between 12 and 24 minutes. Seven of them are listed as seniors, fifth-years or grad students. The collectively average just under 3.0 years of previous Division I experience, which -- according to KenPom -- ranks ninth in the country.
OSU also leads the Big 12 and ranks 16^th nationally in bench scoring (36.8 ppg). Reserves have accounted for 42.5% of the minutes (8^th most nationally) and 46.8% of the offense.
Six Cowboys have taken a turn as leading scorer through the first five games, including Khalil Brantley and Robert Jennings II who had 16 each against FAU.
Depth has been an even bigger factor on the defensive end where OSU has, at times, overwhelmed opponents with its pressure. The Cowboys have forced an average of 10.2 steals (28^th) and 17.0 turnovers (29^th) while posting a top-20 turnover margin (17^th, +6.4).
OSU has outscored its five opponents 83-35 on fastbreak opportunities and 99-49 off turnovers.
OSU and Nevada have met just one other time (Dec. 30, 1996 in Tulsa). Eddie Sutton's Cowboys won 70-50 over a Wolf Pack team that went on to win the Big West regular season crown.
Sunday's game is the Cowboys' third in four days. After that, they're off for another 10 before traveling to Tulsa (Wednesday, Dec. 4) and Seton Hall (Sunday, Dec. 8).

Last Time on Cowboy Basketball:
Nov. 22 in Charleston, S.C. | OSU 80, Miami 74

Bryce Thompson scored a team-high 17 points to lead OSU past Miami and become the 45th member of the school's 1,000-point club
Marchelus "Chi Chi" Avery joined him in double-figures with 15 points and eight rebounds.
Miami took away OSU's bread and butter, slowing the pace and avoiding turnovers, but the Cowboys feasted instead from the three-point line, knocking down 10-of-22. They hit eight of those in the first half, including five during a 5:00 stretch that turned a 20-14 lead into a 38-20 cushion with 3:27 remaining in the period.
Thompson's layup with 15:29 left gave OSU its largest lead of the day at 51-31.
Miami had struggled up to that point, missing 26 of its first 35 shots, before closing the game on a 17-for-23 tear (.739).
During that 15-minute stretch, the Cowboys maintained control by knocking down 10-of-20 shots, helped by Thompson's milestone bucket – a short jumper in the lane with 13:01 to play.

The Series with Nevada:

The only other series meeting came just shy of 28 years ago in Tulsa as part of a doubleheader -- the Boatmen's Classic -- hosted by Oral Roberts. The Golden Eagles, coached by Bill Self, defeated Southern Miss in the opener.
In the nightcap, Eddie Sutton's Cowboys dispatched a Nevada team led by his former Arkansas assistant, Pat Foster, by a score of 70-50. The Wolf Pack would go on to win the Big West regular season title. Adrian Peterson (21 points) and Chianti Roberts (17) led the Cowboy scoring and Joe Adkins dished out six assists.
Only one of sixth-year Nevada head coach Steve Alford's 1,046 career games have come against Oklahoma State. His New Mexico Lobos defeated the Cowboys at the All-College Classic in downtown Oklahoma City on Dec. 17, 2011. That UNM team went on to sweep the Mountain West regular season and tournament titles and reached the second round of the NCAA tournament as a No. 5 seed.
That game also marked the last time that OSU has faced a member of the Mountain West Conference. The Cowboys are 9-3 all-time against MWC teams (schools who were affiliated with the MWC at the time of the matchup).

Scouting the Wolf Pack:

Nevada lost a pair of second team all-conference performers from a team that finished 26-8 (13-5 MWC) and advanced to its second consecutive NCAA tournament, but sixth year head coach Steve Alford returns three other starters, including third team all-conference selection Nick Davison.
Picked third in the 11-team Mountain West, the Wolf Pack are out to a 5-1 start and are No. 39 in KenPom's efficiency rankings (No. 41 on offense and No. 43 defensively).
Nevada's lone loss came to Vanderbilt (73-71) in the Charleston Classic quarterfinals. The Wolf Pack own wins over Sam Houston (KenPom No. 109), Washington (86) and Santa Clara (102). In Friday's night's consolation semifinal, they rallied from 15 points down in the second half to stun the Rams, 64-61.
Davison - a 6-foot-10 center who leads the team's scoring (16.0) and rebounding (7.7) -- also has a nice shooting touch, knocking down 10-of-14 threes (.714).
He's joined by 6-7 fifth-year Tre Coleman (10.5 ppg, 4.2 apg), a two-time MWC all-defensive team pick.
Nevada added another impact scorer over the summer in 6-9 fifth-year Kobe Sanders, who averaged nearly 20 points last year at Cal Poly. The 2024-25 MWC preseason newcomer of the year is averaging 15.0 points and 4.2 assists (8/13 3pt) for the Pack.
Led by super-sub Xavier Dusell (team-high 14 threes on 46.7% accuracy), Nevada ranks second in the nation in three-point percentage, knocking down 8.0 per game on 48.0% efficiency.
The Wolf Pack are getting to the foul line at an elite clip, averaging roughly one foul shot for every two field goal tries (25.1 FTA, 50.8 FGA per game). Their 49.5 FT rate ranks 15^th nationally),

Matchup Mashup:

Nevada likes to play it slow. The Wolf Pack's 65.4 possessions per game are 29th fewest nationally. By contrast, OSU has the 29th highest raw average at 74.7 possessions.
Nevada sophomore Justin McBride played for OSU last season. He appeared in 24 games off the bench and averaged 2.5 points and 1.5 rebounds in 6.4 minutes.

A Cowboy win would...

Close out a 5-1 November.
Secure a fifth-place Charleston Classic finish.
Give them a 4-2 record in two Charleston Classic appearances (2-1, 3rd place in 2015).
Make them 5-2 all-time at TD Arena.
Boost Lutz's career record to 74-36 (.673).
Make them 2-0 vs. Nevada (1-1 vs. Alford).