Cowboys tip off Big 12 play Monday night with No. 15 Houston

15/12 HOUSTON (8-3, 0-0) at OKLAHOMA STATE (8-3, 0-0)
Monday, Dec. 30, 2024 | 7:01 p.m. CT
Stillwater, Okla. | Gallagher-Iba Arena (13,611)

Tickets: okstate.com/tickets
Watch: ESPN+ (James Westling & King McClure)
Listen: Cowboy Radio Network & The Varsity App (Dave Hunziker & john Holcomb)
Live Stats: okstate.statbroadcast.com
Series: OSU leads 13-10 (8-1 in Stillwater)
Last: Feb. 6, 2024 in Houston (UH, 79-63)

Opening Tips:

Oklahoma State tips off a super-sized, 20-game Big 12 Conference schedule against the defending champions -- 15th-ranked Houston.
OSU closed out an 8-3 non-conference slate last Sunday with an 86-74 win over Oral Roberts, led by Abou Ousmane's season-high 19 points. The Pokes outscored the visitors 31-14 at the foul line and outrebounded them, 44-20. A .586 offensive rebound percentage (17 of 29) was their best in 18 years.
The Cowboys are out to their best home start since the 2017-18 season. (5-0)
OSU is 8-1 all-time against Houston inside GIA, though the Cougars won their most recent visit in 2018. This will be their first of the Big 12 era.
The Cowboys are looking to do something they haven't done since the 2015-16 season -- start off Big 12 play with a victory. They've dropped their last eight openers. Notably, this will be the seventh time in the last nine years that OSU has opened against a nationally-ranked opponent.
OSU has lined up against AP top-25 teams in nearly half of its Big 12 regular season games over the past eight years (65 of 144, 45.1%).
New head coach Steve Lutz gets his first taste of Big 12 action after successful runs through the Southland and Conference USA with A&M-Corpus Christi and Western Kentucky. He's made the NCAA tournament in each of his first three seasons as a head coach.
Lutz brings a fast and physical brand of basketball to Stillwater. A year ago, his Hilltoppers led the nation in adjusted tempo, per KenPom, and his current Cowboys rank 29th.
Playing fast requires a deep roster. Ten regulars average between 11 and 24 minutes. Reserves account for 37.4 points (8th) and 43.1% of the playing time (10th).
Fittingly, OSU's most-impactful offensive and defensive performers have come off the bench. Sixth-man Marchelus "Chi Chi" Avery is the team's leading scorer (13.0) and rebounder (5.6). Junior point guard Arturo Dean is the NCAA's career leader in steals per game (2.81) and one of the key's to an OSU defense that ranks among the national leaders in steals (30th, 9.5), takeaways (30th, 15.8) and fastbreak points (25th, 15.7).
The Cowboys have made a living at the line. They lead the Big 12 and rank among the top-10 nationally in free throw makes (6th, 19.5) and attempts (9th, 26.3).

On this Date: Dec. 30

1946 -- Henry Iba's two-time defending NCAA champion Oklahoma A&M Aggies defeated Adolph Rupp's Kentucky Wildcats, 37-31, at the Sugar Bowl Classic in New Orleans, snapping the defending NIT champions' 26-game winning streak. Bob Harris led a balanced scoring effort with 10 points. Two days later at Tulane Stadium, the A&M football team defeated St. Mary's 33-13 to win the Sugar Bowl.
2014 -- OSU overcame a 12-point second half deficit to defeat host Mizzou, 74-72, in overtime. Phil Forte III and Le'Bryan Nash scored 21 each.

Last Time on Cowboy Basketball:
Dec. 22, 2024 in Stillwater (OSU 86, ORU 74)

Abou Ousmane scored a season-high 19 points and grabbed a team-high seven boards to help OSU posts its sixth consecutive win over ORU.
The Cowboys made just 3-of-14 threes but outmuscled the Golden Eagles around the basket, outscoring them 42-22 in the paint and 31-14 at the foul line.
The Cowboys were +26 on the glass (46-20) and finished with their highest offensive rebounding percentage in 17 years, grabbing 17 of their 29 misses (.586). They outscored ORU 14-6 on second-chance opportunities.
Bryce Thompson scored 14 points and Jamyron Keller and Khalil Brantley added 10 each.
OSU closed the first half on a 9-2 run to go into the locker room up 38-31. The lead grew to as many as 20 points on Ousmane's jumper with 5:36 to go.
Issac McBride paced ORU with 27 points on 5-of-7 three-point shooting. The Golden Eagles hit 12 total threes on 30 attempts.

Milestone Watch:

Brandon Newman needs just 21 more points to reach 1,000 for his collegiate career. That would make OSU one of only five NCAA schools with six 1,000-point scorers on its roster.
OSU's current list includes Khalil Brantley (1,278), Devo Davis (1,155), Bryce Thompson (1,146), Abou Ousmane (1,130) and Tyler Caron (1,097).
Newman has taken part in nearly 100 victories in his NCAA career, which includes three seasons at Purdue and a year each at OSU and Western Kentucky. Teams are a combined 97-36 (.729). when Newman's name appears in the box score.
Thompson has scored 1,055 points in parts of four seasons at OSU, which is good for 40^th on the program's all-time list. Just ahead of him are Avery Anderson (1,061 from 2019-23) and Marcus Smart (1,064 from 2012-14) in 39^th and 38^th respectively.
Thompson is 17^th on OSU's career three-point list (132) and needs just three more to match Victor Williams (135 from 2000-03) for 16^th.

Most Active 1,000-Point Scorers
Minnesota -- 7
Ole Miss -- 7
Alabama -- 6
Kentucky – 6
Oklahoma State – 5
Auburn – 5
Gonzaga – 5
Kansas – 5
UC San Diego – 5
Winthrop – 5
Xavier – 5
As of Dec. 22, 2024; Data Source: stats.ncaa.org

ORU Leftovers:

OSU finished with a winning non-conference record for the 38th consecutive season.
The Cowboys went unbeaten at home during non-conference play (5-0) for the first time since the 2016-17 season (6-0).
OSU outrebounded its last two opponents (Tarleton State and ORU) by a combined count of 86-46 (+40), including 31-12 on the offensive glass.
In the Dec. 22 ORU game, OSU matched a season-low with three triples, but offset it with season-highs for free throw makes (31) and rebounding margin (44-20, +24).
ORU's 20 boards were the fewest by a Cowboy foe since a Jan. 25, 2021 win at Iowa State when they finished with a 49-19 advantage.
The Cowboys grabbed 17 of 29 misses for an eye-popping .586 offensive rebounding percentage -- their highest in 18 years and one of the 10 best marks in program history (they grabbed 64.3% in a Jan. 2, 2007 win over DII Southwestern Oklahoma State).

OSU Single-Game Records // Offensive Rebounding Pct.
.655 – Jackson State (11/20/2005) – 19 of 29
.643 – Southwestern Okla. (1/2/2007) – 18 of 28
.630 – Alaska-Anchorage (11/27/2002) – 17 of 27
.615 – Missouri State (12/30/1992) – 16 of 26
.593 – Iowa State (1/30/1993) – 16 of 27
.588 – Boise State (3/17/1989) – 10 of 17
.588 – at Tulsa (12/31/1991) – 20 of 34
.586 – UMKC (1/11/1992) – 17 of 29
.586 – Oral Roberts (12/22/2024) – 17 of 29

Abou Ousmane made a career-high nine free throws on nine attempts. He's made 12 straight going back to the Dec. 14 game against Oklahoma. That streak has helped raise his season free throw percentage from .536 to .750.
Andrija Vukovic logged a season-high 12:39, more than doubling his playing time from the first 10 games combined. He scored each of his career-high six points at the foul line on 10 attempts.
OSU outscored Tarleton State and ORU 45-18 at the free throw line, continuing a season-long trend. The Cowboys out-produced their 11 non-conference foes by an average of 6.4 points off free throws (19.5-13.1). FAU is the only team that has topped them in any game this year.
OSU leads the Big 12 and ranks among the top-10 nationally in free throw makes (19.5) and attempts (26.3) while shooting a healthy 74.4%.
Eight Cowboy regulars are averaging at least one free throw make-per-game, and all are shooting at a better-than .700-clip.
Just two OSU teams have averaged more free throw points over a full season: The 2013-14 Cowboys, led by sophomore All-American Marcus Smart, averaged a school-record 20.4 makes, and the 1989-90 squad put up 20.0 per game (6.4 from forward Byron Houston).
Andrija Vukovic appeared just once in the first nine games but logged key minutes in each of the two contests before the break. The 6-foot-10 freshman scored his first career field goal on a pick-and-roll in the final seconds before halftime against Tarleton State. He clocked 12:39 against ORU, drew five fouls and converted six of his 10 free throw chances.
Chi Chi Avery has made at least one three-pointer in every game this year. He's 9-for-20 from deep in five December contests.

Teamwork Makes the Dreamwork:

Steve Lutz wants players who are willing to put team goals ahead of their own. You won't see many Cowboys on individual Big 12 leaderboards, but the group is putting up some big numbers collectively.
Nine Cowboys are averaging at least 16.0 minutes per game (tied with Colorado State and South Carolina State for the most nationally).
Per Stathead, only one other Big 12 team has ever had nine players average 16+ minutes over a full season (1999-00 Texas A&M).
Bryce Thompson (team-high 23.9 mpg) is the only Cowboy who has clocked more than 30 minutes in any game this year. He's done it four times, with a season-high 33:19 against Nevada (Nov. 24).
Seven different Cowboys have taken at least one turn atop the scoring chart.
A reserve has led or shared high scoring honors in six of the first 11 contests.
OSU reserves have contributed at least 24 points in every game this season and topped 40 points on five different occasions. The Cowboys scored a season-high 57 bench points in their 85-78 win over Southern Illinois on Nov. 14.
Chi Chi Avery's 13.0 points per game is the nation's sixth-highest scoring average among players who qualify for NCAA leaderboards but have not yet logged a start this year.

NCAA Scoring Leaders (Player with zero starts):
16.2 – Sincere Parker (McNeese, Jr., G)
13.6 – Martin Somerville (UMass Lowell, Fr., G)
13.4 – Bryce Lindsay (JMU, So., G)
13.3 – Kaleb Gunn (FAU, So., F)
13.3 – Isaac Bruns (South Dakota, So., G)
13.0 – Marchelus Avery (OK State, 5^th Yr., F)
As of Dec. 27; Data Source: Stathead.com

Trending:

OSU is 8-0 when holding its opponent under 80 points (0-3 otherwise).
OSU is 7-1 with a halftime lead (1-2 when trailing). The Cowboys overcame a six-point deficit to defeat Tarleton State (Dec. 18) but let a 39-34 advantage slip against FAU (Nov. 21).
OSU is 6-0 when scoring at least 80 points (2-3 otherwise).
OSU is 5-0 when outshooting its opponent from the field (3-3 otherwise).
OSU is 5-0 when scoring at least 20 points off turnovers (3-3 otherwise).
The Cowboys have already doubled their true road victory total from last season (1-9) going 2-0 with victories at Tulsa and Seton Hall.
The Cowboys were 0-3 in overtime games in 2023-24 (vs. Notre Dame, Baylor and Oklahoma) and have dropped seven straight going back to the 2021-22 season. Their last OT victory came Feb. 19, 2022 against K-State.

Life in the Fast Lane:

OSU has outscored foes by an average of 15.8-6.7 on fastbreaks, per Genius NCAA Livestats.
Nearly a quarter of the Cowboys' 75.6 points per game have followed an opposing team turnover (18.0 ppg on 15.8 forced TO).
Using different methodology, Synergy Sports estimates 23.5% of the Cowboys' offensive possessions have come in transition (tops in the Big 12 and 10th nationally) resulting in 22.8 points per game (sixth most).
Houston runs just 10.8% of the time (16th lowest) but is averaging a nation-best 1.37 points on those possessions. Defensively, the Cougars have surrendered fewer transition points (56) and opportunties (69) than any team in college basketball.
Arturo Dean has the nation's 11th highest steal percentage, according to KenPom (5.3%).
16 of Dean's team-high 23 steals have led to OSU points on the opposite end (29 pts).
Last Sunday against ORU marked the third time this season that Dean has collected four-or-more steals. He's done it 24 times in 74 career games.
Khalil Brantley has recorded a steal in each of the last nine games. He has nearly as many total steals (18) as turnovers (19) this season.

The Series with Houston:

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.
OSU leads the all-time series 13-10 (8-1 in Stillwater).
The teams met 17 times in the 1950s when both were members of the Missouri Valley. The Cowboys faced Houston twice annually before joining the Big Eight Conference in 1958.
OSU fell to host Houston in the finals of the 1960 Bluebonnet Classic but avenged itself with a 75-60 win in the 1965 NCAA Midwest Regional semifinals at Kansas State's Ahearn Field House.
The schools revived the series 53 years later with a three-game non-conference series. Houston's Dec. 8, 2018 win was its first ever at GIA (1-8). OSU returned the favor on Dec. 15, 2019 with a 61-55 road win at the newly renovated Fertitta Center. Houston took the rubber match -- played Dec. 18, 2021 at the Dickies Arena in Fort Worth.

Scouting the Cougars:

Kelvin Sampson has nearly 800 wins on his future hall of fame resume, but some of his most impressive work has come over the past decade.
In 11 seasons at Houston (2014-Pr.), he's turned a once-struggling program into a national power.
The Cougars have reached the second weekend in each of the last six NCAA Tournaments, highlighted by a Final Four (2021), two Elite Eights (2019, 2022) and a pair of Sweet 16s (2023, 2024).
After winning four AAC regular season titles in a five-year span, Houston added a Big 12 trophy to its case last spring, putting together a 15-3 mark in its first go-around.
The Cougars lost point guard Jamal Shead, the 2024 Big 12 player of the year, to graduation but returned four other starters from last year's 32-5 finisher, including preseason first team All-Big 12 selections L.J. Cryer and J'Wan Roberts.
Houston is No. 15 in the latest AP poll with even stronger computer metrics: NET (6), KenPom (4), BPI (2) and Torvik (2).
The Cougars finished non-conference play at 8-3 but all three losses came to teams currently ranked in AP top-25 -- a five-point setback against No. 2 Auburn and a pair overtime defeats at the hands of No. 5 Alabama and No. 20 San Diego State.
UH leads the nation in both scoring defense (55.3) and field goal percentage defense (.341).
UH has held five of its opponents to less than 50 points and three others below 60.
Nine of the 11 Cougar foes have shot less than 40% from the field (SDSU's .404 and Auburn's .529 being the exceptions), and four opponents have failed to break the 30% barrier.
Defense is Houston's calling card, however the Cougars are no slouch offensively. KenPom rates them 12th nationally in adjusted efficiency.
Houston games are typically low possession affairs (UH is 361st out of 364 in adjusted tempo), but the Cougars maximize those opportunities by crashing the boards (38.4% offensive rebound percentage ranks 17th, per KenPom) and minimizing turnovers (9.4 TO/game is 10th fewest). They're shooting 41.5% as a team from deep (6th).
The duo of Cryer (31/75, .413) and Emanuel Sharp (30/61, .492) have accounted for nearly two-thirds of the Cougars' long distance makes.
Cyrer, a 6-1 graduate, is averaging a team-best 14.8 points per game and Sharp, a 6-3 redshirt junior, is just behind him at 14.7 points.
Roberts – a 6-8 sixth-year forward – has been the team's top rebounder at 6.7 per game.
6-6 sophomore Terrance Arceneaux has added scoring punch from off the bench (10.1 ppg) and has a team-high 15 steals.
6-8 sophomore Joseph Tugler (6.4 pts, 6.1 reb) ranks 13th nationally in blocks-per-game (2.45) and is No. 2 on KenPom's block percentage, swatting 16.5% of opponent 2-point attempts while on the floor.
Oklahoma transfer Milos Uzan (8.8 ppg) has filled in admirably for Shead, averaging 5.1 assists with a 3.50 assist-to-turnover ratio (17th).
Houston has won all four of its December games by 20-or-more points.
This will be the Cougars' first true road test. They were 7-3 last season and 11-0 the year before.

Matchup Mashup:

OSU last defeated a top-25 opponent on Feb. 17, 2024. Playing on his birthday while making his first career start, Jamyron Keller scored 22 points without missing a shot (8/8 FG, 4/4 3pt, 2/2 FT) to key a 93-83 upset of 19^th-ranked BYU.
Inside GIA, OSU is 77-84 all-time against AP ranked opponents.
In contrast to Houston (361st out of 364 teams in adjusted tempo), OSU plays at a top-30 pace. The Cowboys are averaging 72.3 raw possessions per game (UH averages 63.4).
OSU is 15-15 all-time against Sampson (14-12 at Oklahoma and 1-3 at Houston). Those 15 wins are tied for the most by any one program (Arizona is 15-3).
The Cougars own the nation's longest active home winning streak (29). They're 100-6 at the Fertitta Center since its 2018 renovation. OSU owns one of the six wins (Dec. 15, 2019).

A Cowboy win would...

Be their third straight, matching a season-best.
Make them 1-0 in BIg 12 play for the first time since 2016.
Be their first top-25 win since Feb. 17, 2024 (No. 19 BYU).
Make them 78-84 all-time in GIA against nationally-ranked teams.
Match their best home start since the 2017-18 season (6-0).
Close out a 5-1 month of December.
Extend their series lead over UH to 14-10 (9-1 in Stillwater), including 1-1 in the Big 12 era.
Make them 16-15 against Kelvin Sampson.
Lift their all-time GIA record to 866-264 (298-90 post-renovation).
Improve Steve Lutz's career mark to 78-38.

Up Next: at West Virginia
Saturday, Jan. 4 | 11 a.m. CT | CBSSN

The Cowboys will play three of their next four on the Big 12 road beginning Saturday at WVU.
OSU has already doubled its 2023-24 road win total after posting non-conference victories at Tulsa and Seton Hall earlier this month.
OSU's Patrick Suemnick played the last two seasons for the Mountaineers. Likewise, WVU point guard Javon Small is a former Cowboy.
This will be OSU's first visit to Morgantown since Feb. 20, 2023. The Cowboys won last year's lone matchup, 70-66. Small finished the game with 15 points, 12 rebounds and 7 assists for OSU and hit a go-ahead three in the final minute. Suemnick started for WVU.
OSU has taken five of the last seven meetings and now leads the all-time series 13-12 (6-5 in Morgantown).

Cowboys tip off Big 12 play Monday night with No. 15 Houston

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Marchelus Avery

Khalil Brantley

Tyler Caron

Arturo Dean

Jamyron Keller

Brandon Newman

Abou Ousmane

Javon Small

Patrick Suemnick

Bryce Thompson

Andrija Vukovic

Oklahoma State University Athletics

Cowboys tip off Big 12 play Monday night with No. 15 Houston

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Marchelus Avery

Khalil Brantley

Tyler Caron

Arturo Dean

Jamyron Keller

Brandon Newman

Abou Ousmane

Javon Small

Patrick Suemnick

Bryce Thompson

Andrija Vukovic

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