Cowboys close out non-conference play Sunday against ORU

Sunday, December 22

Stillwater

2:00 PM

Oklahoma State University

Oral Roberts

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December 20, 2024 | Cowboy Basketball

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ORAL ROBERTS (3-8) at OKLAHOMA STATE (7-3)
Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024 | 2:01 p.m. CT
Stillwater, Okla. | Gallagher-Iba Arena (13,611)

Tickets: okstate.com/tickets
Watch: ESPN+ (Adam Hildebrandt & Bryndon Manzer)
Listen: Cowboy Radio Network & The Varsity App (Dave Hunziker & John Holcomb)
Live Stats: okstate.statbroadcast.com
Series: OSU leads 25-10 (13-1 in Stillwater)
Last: Dec. 17, 2023 in Stillwater (OSU, 81-60)

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Opening Tips:

The Oklahoma State Cowboys close out the non-conference slate at home against the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles on Sunday afternoon at Gallagher-Iba Arena (2 p.m. CT, ESPN+).
Wednesday's 66-61 win over Tarleton State marked the team's first home action in 34 days. Marchelus "Chi Chi" Avery scored each of the last nine OSU points to help slam the door and finished with his first double-double of the year (18 pts, 10 reb).
OSU is 4-0 at GIA for the first time in five years. A Sunday victory would match the program's best home start since the 2017-18 season and mark the first time since 2016-17 that a Cowboy team has completed non-conference play with an unblemished home record.
OSU has won a total of eighth straight home non-conference games dating back to last year.
New head coach Steve Lutz has made the NCAA tournament in each of his first three seasons while overseeing rapid rebuilds at Western Kentucky and A&M-Corpus Christi. He brings a fast and physical brand of basketball to Stillwater. A year ago, Lutz's Hilltoppers led the nation in adjusted tempo, per KenPom, and the current Cowboys rank 23rd.
OSU is also among the NCAA leaders in steals (29th, 9.5), takeaways (31st, 15.8), turnover margin (44th, +3.3), fastbreak points (23rd, 15.9), free throws made (26th, 18.4) and free throws attempted (25th, 25.0).
Playing fast requires a deep bench. OSU reserves are contributing 38.7 points (7th) while logging 43.6% of the minutes (9th). A group of 10 rotation players all average between 11 and 24 minutes.
Avery, the team's sixth-man, has been its leading scorer (13.4) and rebounder (5.6).
Abou Ousmane (11.4 ppg, 5.2 rpg) and Bryce Thompson (10.2 ppg) also average in double-figures.
A quartet of Cowboys -- Ousmane, Thompson, Khalil Brantley and Devo Davis -- have all scored 1,000+ collegiate points. Graduate guard Brandon Newman needs just 24 points to make it a quintet.
Thompson finished with 13 points and made four of OSU's 14 triples in last December's 81-60 victory over ORU in GIA. He's one of only three current Cowboys who appeared in that box score.
The teams are meeting for the sixth time in eight years. OSU has won each of the last five and leads the all-time series 20-5 (13-1 in Stillwater).
ORU's last series win came in 2007 and its lone victory in Stillwater happened in 1978.

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Last Time on Cowboy Basketball:
Dec. 18 in Stillwater | OSU 66, Tarleton St. 61

Marchelus "Chi Chi" Avery scored the last nine OSU points to help close out Tarleton State.
Avery finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds for his first double-double as a Cowboy.
Jamyron Keller and Bryce Thompson added 10 points apiece for OSU, which trailed by a dozen with 2:00 to play in the first half before launching a 19-4 run that spanned halftime.
The Texans made 13 of their first 22 shots (.591) while building a 31-19 lead with 2:38 to play in the first half but were 12-of-32 thereafter.
OSU shook off a 24% first-half shooting performance by making 57.7% of its second-half attempts, including 6-of-12 from deep.
Keller knotted the game at 35 on a layup with 14:14 to play. Avery's free throw with 9:12 left snapped a 44-all tie and put the Cowboys in front for good. Over the final 3:32 he added a three-pointer, a tip-in and a layup.
After TSU's Bubu Benjam missed a potential game-tying three-pointer with 20 seconds to go, Avery hit both ends of a 1-and-1 to ice it.
OSU won the rebounding battle 42-26 and held a 14-3 edge in second-chance points.

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More Tarleton State Leftovers:

OSU outscored Tarleton 14-4 at the foul line. This season the Cowboys have out-paced their opponents by average of 5.4 free throw points per game (18.4 to 13.0). It's the nation's 23rd largest margin. They've been bested just once all season (vs. FAU).
OSU overcame a 31-25 halftime deficit to defeat Tarleton. It marked the first time since Jan. 27, 2024 (33-32 to West Virginia) that the Cowboys had rallied to win a game when tied or trailing at the midway point. OSU is now 2-18 without the benefit of a halftime lead since the start of last season.
The win was OSU's first when scoring less than 70 points since a first-round NIT victory at Youngstown State in 2023 (69-64). The Cowboys had lost 17-in-a-row in between (0-15 last season).
The five-point final margin was OSU's closest in either direction this season. With the exception of the 80-74 win over Miami, each of the other eight games have been decided by at least three possessions.
A matchup with the national leader in turnovers (20.7 per game) seemed like prime opportunity for an OSU defense that has thrived on pressure, steals and transition baskets. Instead the Cowboys went more than 18 minutes before recording their first points off turnovers. They finished with a season-low eight (well below their 19.3 average).
OSU enjoyed a +16 rebounding margin (22-10 in the second half). The Cowboys held the visitors to just four offensive rebounds and outscored them 14-3 on second-chances.
Chi Chi Avery's 10 rebounds matched a career high set twice previously at New Mexico State.
Avery has made at least one three-pointer in every game this year. He's 8-for-16 from deep in four December contests.
Khalil Brantley busted out of a mini-slump by nailing 2-of-3 from deep (both in the second half). The senior had entered the day just 2-for-11 on the season.
Arturo Dean failed to record a steal for the first time this season and for only the second time in his last 50 games.
Andrija Vukovic made his seconed appearance of the season and first with the game in the balance, and converted his first career field goal on a pick-and-roll layup late in the first half.
Just 10 games in, OSU has already played a basketball game on all seven days of the week. The Cowboys have won at least one game on every day but Saturday.

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Trending:

OSU is 7-0 when holding its opponent under 80 points (0-3 otherwise).
OSU is 4-0 when outshooting its opponent from the field (3-3 otherwise).
The Cowboys have outscored foes by an average of 18.2 to 11.7 off takeaways and 15.9 to 6.9 on fastbreaks.
OSU has come away with points in 32 of its 36 fastbreak opportunities over the last four games.
OSU is 5-0 when scoring at least 20 points off turnovers (2-3 otherwise).
OSU is 2-1 when allowing its opponent to shoot 50% or better from the field. Last year's team was 1-9 in those instances.
Seven different Cowboys have taken a turn as leading scorer (or co-leader) through the first 10 games of the season.

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The Series with ORU:

This will be the sixth meeting in eight seasons between these programs. OSU has won each of the last five, including last year's 81-60 victory in Stillwater.
OSU leads the all-time series 20-5.
The Cowboys have won 12 straight and 13 of 14 overall inside GIA (last losing Dec. 13, 1977).
ORU's last series win came Dec. 20, 2007 in OKC under current Cowboy staffer Scott Sutton.

Memorable Series Moments:

Jan. 11, 1983 – Matt Clark recorded 11 of OSU's school record 30 assists (a mark that has since been broken) in 108-82 win. The Cowboys made 43 field goals on 66.2% shooting.
Jan. 18, 1989 – OSU set a school record for most points against Division I opponent in a 124-98 win. Richard Dumas scored 33 of them on 14-of-24 shooting and grabbed 11 rebounds.
Jan. 25, 1992 – Byron Houston's 30 points and 12 rebounds led the Cowboys to a 84-61 win at ORU's Mabee Center. It was victory No. 18 in a school-record 20-0 start to the season.
Mar. 4, 1993 -- Fred Burley (35), Brooks Thompson (33) and Bryant Reeves (31) combined for 99 points in 19th-ranked OSU's 114-85 win.
Nov. 6, 2019 – Yor Anei blocked eight shots to help the Cowboys fend off ORU, 80-75.
Dec. 8, 2020 – Cade Cunningham scored 29 points to help OSU survive another ORU upset bid, 83-78. Max Abmas, the nation's leading scorer, finished with 33 points on 6-of-12 three-point shooting for the Golden Eagles, who would go on to reach the Sweet 16 as a No. 15 seed.
Nov. 26, 2021 -- Abmas scored another 29 points on seven threes, but Bryce Williams hit back-to-back turn around jumpers late in overtime to help OSU emerge, 78-77.
Dec. 17, 2023 -- OSU closed the first half on a 17-2 run and led by as many as 30 points late in an 81-60 win. Bryce Thompson shared high-scoring honors with 13 points on 4-of-9 three-point shooting for the Cowboys, who knocked down 14-of-30 as a team. Issac McBride paced ORU with 14 points.

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Scouting the Golden Eagles:

ORU was picked fifth in the Summit League preseason poll.
The Golden Eagles returned two starters from last year's 12-19 finisher, including 6-foot graduate guard Issac McBride, a two-time All-Summit League pick and the 2024-25 preseason player of the year. He's tallied more than 1,500 career points in parts of four seasons at ORU and ranks 11th on the school's career scoring list.
McBride is averaging a team-best 15.4 points and has knocked down 92.6% of his free throw attempts (50/54).
Second-year head coach Russell Springmann was an assistant on ORU's 2021 Sweet 16 team as well as the 2023 squad that went unbeaten in Summit League regular season and tournament play. He was promoted to head coach following Paul Mills' departure for Wichita State.
ORU (3-9 this season) is still in search of its first victory away from the Mabee Center following setbacks at Minnesota, Tulsa, Belmont, Ole Miss, Idaho State and Texas Tech.
The Golden Eagles enter the weekend 338th out of 364 teams in the NCAA NET, and KenPom ranks them 235th and 340th respectively in offensive and defensive efficiency.
ORU has scored less than 42% of its total points off two-point field goals (16th lowest nationally, per KenPom), but have been dangerous at the free throw line (76.1%) and from beyond the arc (9.2 triples per game on 35.6% accuracy).
ORU's eight Division I foes have combined to shoot 50.2% from the field (59.9% from inside the arc) while posting a 9.4 rebounding margin.
In Monday's 86-50 loss at Texas Tech, the Red Raiders held a 46-10 advantage in points in the paint, shot 68.6% from inside the arc and won the rebounding battle, 41-28.
ORU played Monday without its leading rebounder and second-leading scorer Sam Alajinki (13.7 ppg, 6.7 rpg), a Rice transfer who played his first two seasons at California.
McBride was limited to a season-low six points on 2-of-14 shooting. Prior to it, he'd scored in double figures in nine of the first 10 games with 20-point efforts against Northern Arizona (28), Missouri State (20) and Tulsa (24).
6-4 freshman JoJo Moore was a bright spot in Lubbock, finishing with a career-high 19 points off the bench on 8-of-10 shooting. He's averaging 7.7 points.
Other key contributors on the ORU roster include Jalen Miller (7.9 ppg, 10/20 3pt) a senior wing who started his career at Rutgers.
JUCO transfer Darius Robinson Jr. (9.9 ppg) has hit a team-best 24 threes on 35.8% accuracy.
6-8 sophomore Josh Jones (6.0 ppg, 4.2 rpg, .551 FG%) has made all 11 starts at center.
6-7 junior Carlos Rosario (5.9 ppg) played on Drake's 2024 NCAA tournament team following two seasons at Washington State.

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Matchup Mashup:

OSU fifth-year Devo Davis put an end to 15-seed ORU's 2021 Cinderella run. Davis -- then a true freshman at Arkansas -- knocked down a contested jumper with 2.9 seconds remaining to snap a 70-all tie and send the Razorbacks on to the Elite Eight.
ORU graduate assistant Weston Church played four seasons for the Cowboys (2020-24) and was a two-time Academic All-Big 12 selection.
OSU special assistant Scott Sutton is the winningest coach in ORU history. The three-time Summit League Coach of the Year guided the Golden Eagles to 328 victories and eight postseason appearances from 1999-2017.
Notably, Sutton is one of four OSU grads who have led the ORU program, along with Jerry Hale (1975-78), Bill Self (1993-97) and Barry Hinson (1997-99).
Hinson now serves is OSU Director of NIL.
OSU has a pair of Tulsa area natives in Bryce Thompson (Booker T. Washington) and Connor Dow (Broken Arrow).
OSU is facing its second Summit League foe. The Cowboys took down St. Thomas (picked fourth in the league's preseason poll) back on Nov. 10.
OSU and ORU share a common road opponent in Tulsa. The Golden Eagles fell 85-76 to the Golden Hurricane on Nov. 13, while the Cowboys left the Reynolds Center with a 76-55 win on Dec. 4.

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On this Date: Dec. 22

2017 -- OSU's last Dec. 22 game was also its most-recent 100-point performance. Jeffrey Carroll (22 points) and Kendall Smith (18) led the scoring in a 102-83 win over UTRGV.
2016 -- OSU finished up an unbeaten non-conference slate (6-0) with a 92-70 victory of A&M-Corpus Christi.
2005 -- Freshman Byron Eaton scored 16 points and the Cowboys handed No. 23 Tennessee its first loss, 89-73, at the Ford Center.

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A Cowboy win would...

Send them into Big 12 play with an 8-3 record.
Give them a winning non-conference record for the 38th consecutive season.
Make them 5-0 at home (their best home start since 2017-18).
Be their ninth consecutive non-conference win at GIA (last loss: Nov. 30, 2023 to Creighton).
Make them 21-5 all-time vs. ORU with six consecutive wins.
Be their 13th consecutive victory over ORU inside GIA dating back to 1980 (14-1 all-time).
Lift their all-time GIA record to 865-264 (297-90 post-renovation) including 456-60 against non-conference regular season opponents.
Improve Steve Lutz's career mark to 77-38.

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Up Next: Houston
Monday, Dec. 30 | 7 p.m. CT | ESPN+

The Cowboys open Big 12 play a week from Monday against defending regular season champion Houston.
Fans can reserve seats at okstate.com/tickets.
Houston (7-3 heading into Saturday's non-conference finale against A&M-Corpus Christi) ranks 15th and 12th respectively in the latest Associated Press and USA Today Coaches polls.
The Cougars entered the weekend with the nation's top scoring defense (55.7) and second-best field goal percentage defense (.343).
Two of the three Houston losses have been in overtime (Alabama and San Diego State) and the other came by five points to an Auburn team that currently ranks second in both major polls.
Houston is one of five home-and-home opponents on OSU's 2025 Big 12 slate. The Cowboys will make a return trip on Feb. 4.
The teams met just once last year -- a 79-63 Cougar win inside the Fertitta Center on Feb. 6, 2024 -- which makes this Houston's first Big 12-era visit to GIA (and first of any kind since 2018).
OSU leads the all-time series 13-10 (8-1 in Stillwater).