Game Notes: Oklahoma

-/rv Oklahoma (18-8, 6-7) at Oklahoma State (12-14, 4-9)
Saturday, Feb. 24 | 3:05 p.m. CT
Stillwater, Okla. | Gallagher-Iba Arena (13,611)

TV: ESPN2 (Mark Neely & Fran Fraschilla)
Radio: Cowboy Radio Network (Dave Hunziker & John Holcomb)
Tickets: okstate.com/tickets
Stats: okstate.statbroadcast.com
Series: OU leads 142-106 (OSU leads 68-46 in Stillwater)
Streak: OU, Won 1
Last: Feb. 10, 2024 in Norman (OU, 66-62)

The Basics:

The Oklahoma State Cowboys (12-14, 4-9) play host to the Oklahoma Sooners (18-8, 6-7) for the last time in the Big 12 era Saturday afternoon at Gallagher-Iba Arena.
The Cowboys have won back-to-back after holding off Cincinnati on Wednesday night, 80-76, for their first true road win. Javon Small led a group of five double-figure scorers with 19 points. OSU shot 56% from the field and made all 13 second-half free throw attempts.
Going back to the first half of the BYU game, the Cowboys have topped 50% from the field in each of their last four halves.
The Sooners are in action for the first time in seven days after losses last week to No. 12 Baylor and No. 6 Kansas.
This is the 97th consecutive year that the rivals have played a home-and-home. With the exception of 1926-27 (when the teams did not meet at all), OSU has otherwise hosted the Sooners in every season since 1915-16. The schools have shared a conference in men's basketball since the 1958-59 season when OSU joined the Big Eight.

Watch:
The game will air on ESPN2 with Mark Neely and Fran Fraschilla on the call. Stream it live or on demand through the ESPN app.

Listen:
Dave Hunziker and John Holcomb describe the action on stations across the Cowboy Radio Network. Visit okstate.com/radio for a full list of affiliates by location. Fans outside the listening area can tune in via the Varsity Sports App or at okstate.com/listen.

The Mike Boynton Show:
Hear the latest insights from head coach Mike Boynton Jr. by tuning in to his weekly radio show on the Cowboy Radio Network. The program airs Thursday nights (6-7 p.m.) from the Rib Crib in Stillwater.

On this Date: Feb. 24
1996 -- 18-year old freshman Adrian Peterson came through in the clutch, hitting a jumper in the lane as time expired to give OSU a 66-64 road win at Colorado. When asked about handling the pressure, Peterson told reporters: "If you practice with Coach Sutton, you're glad when the game comes. In practice, he critiques everything. In the game, you feel relaxed and confident."

Last Time on Cowboy Basketball:
Feb. 21, 2024 (Cincinnati) | OSU 80, Cincinnati 76
Javon Small scored 19 points and OSU converted both ends of three different 1-and-1 opportunities in the final 20 seconds to secure its first road win.
Jamyron Keller (15 points), Brandon Garrison (14), Quion Williams (12) and John-Michael Wright (11) also scored in double-figures for the Cowboys. Williams grabbed eight rebounds and handed out eight of OSU's 20 assists.
The Cowboys shot 55.6% from the field and sank 7-of-17 threes. They were 13-of-14 from the foul line with 11 straight makes in the final 4:00.
Simas Lukosius scored 17 for UC, which hit 50% of its shots but just 5-of-17 from deep.
OSU trailed by five with 5:00 to play before rallying to take the lead on Eric Dailey Jr.'s three-pointer with 3:00 left.
Small drained both ends of a 1-and-1 with 19 seconds left to push the Cowboy lead to three. Following a Bearcat basket, he did it again with 7 seconds remaining to make it 78-75.
OSU fouled to deny a game-tying three. UC made the first free throw and intentionally missed the second, but Keller was there for the rebound and two more game-icing free throws.

Cincinnati Leftovers:

The Cowboys improved to 11-2 when scoring at least 70 points (11-1 when hitting that mark before the end of regulation). They're 9-0 when putting at least 75 on the board.
OSU is 10-2 with a halftime lead compared to 1-12 when tied or trailing.
OSU tallied 20 assists in a Big 12 game for the first time in more than three years (Feb. 16, 2021 against Iowa State) and for the first time in a Big 12 road contest since Jan. 5, 2016 at Baylor.
OSU has six games of 20+ assists this season – most since the 2004-05 season (6). The 2003-04 Final Four squad did it nine different times.
OSU improved to 35-4 under Boynton when shooting better than 50% from the field (5-0 this season). His teams are also 101-27 when out-shooting their opponent (9-2 in 2023-24).
It was just the fourth time under Boynton that the Cowboys have won a game against a foe that made at least half of its shots (4-31 Boynton Era, 1-6 in 2023-24). They last did it Dec. 13, 2021 in a 98-93 against Cleveland State but had since lost 11 straight. Their last in Big 12 play came six years ago at West Virginia (Feb. 10, 2018).
The Cowboys' seven three-pointers against Cincinnati were the fewest that they've made in a win this season. They've averaged 11.0 triples on 41.0% accuracy in their 12 victories to compared to 6.6 on 28.6% in the 14 losses.
For the second straight game (and for the third time this season) all five starters scored in double-figures.

How it Started; How It's Going:

OSU opened Big 12 play with six straight losses but is 4-3 since then.
Freshmen Brandon Garrison and Jamyron Keller have been two of the catalysts.
Garrison has nearly doubled his scoring average (13.0 ppg in the last seven, up from 7.0 ppg in the first six).
Keller played a total of 10:44 in those first six games but was thrust into a larger role after senior Bryce Thompson's season-ending shoulder injury on Jan. 30. In the five games since, Keller is averaging 12.4 points in 28.6 minutes.
Keller was particularly good in his first two starts against BYU (Feb. 17) and Cincinnati (Feb. 21), averaging 18.5 points on 12-of-16 shooting (6/7 3-point, 7/7 FT).
Over a quarter of Keller's minutes have come within the past week. He clocked a career-high 37:49 against BYU and 36:10 at Cincinnati.

Also Trending:

Javon Small ranks among the Big 12 leaders in scoring (12th, 14.4), assists (7th, 4.6), free throw percentage (5th, .864), three-point percentage (3rd, .379), three-pointers per game (8th, 2.00), defensive rebounding (7th, 4.7) and minutes (9th, 32.9).
Small has scored at least 14 points in all five February games. He's averaging a team-best 17.2 points in that span along with 7.0 free throw attempts (31/35, .886).

Brandon Garrison's 1.4 blocks-per-game ranks sixth on the Big 12 Conference leaderboard.
Garrison's 35 total blocks are tied for sixth on OSU's freshman single-season list with Andre Williams (35 in 1999-00). His next block will move him into a tie for fifth with Ivan McFarlin (2001-02).
Garrison (.592) is on pace to post the third-highest freshman field goal percentage in program history (minimum 75 makes).

Only five Cowboys have shot better than 60% from the field over a full Big 12 season. Garrison (46/73, .630) is also on track to join that club.
John-Michael Wright has tallied 2,066 career points. College Basketball Reference maintains an all-time list of top scorers at the major conference level. Wright's 11-point effort at Cincinnati jumped him from 530th into a tie for 509th with former Kansas forward Raef LaFrentz and Arkansas All-American Sid "The Squid" Moncrief. Wright needs only seven more points to crack the top-500 all-time.
Wright has scored in double-figures in all nine games since rejoining the starting lineup on Jan. 20 and in 13 of his 14 starts this year. He's averaging 11.5 points as a starter compared to 4.4 points in 12 games off the bench.
Wright had made multiple three-pointers in each of his last nine games. If he does it again Sunday, he'd have just the ninth double-digit streak in OSU history. Teammate Javon Small added his name to that list earlier this season with a 10-game run that stretched from Nov. 30 to Feb. 3.

OSU Bests // Consecutive Games w/ Multiple 3pt FG:
17 – Obi Muonelo (2008-09)
12 – Keiton Page (2011-12)
11 – John Lucas (2004-05)
11 – JamesOn Curry (2006-07)
11 – Obi Muonelo (2009-10)
10 – Adrian Peterson (1998-99)
10 – Phil Forte (2013-14 to 2014-15)
10 – Javon Small (2023-24)
9 – John-Michael Wright (active)
9 – Brooks Thompson (1993-94 to 1994-95)
9 – Thomas Dziagwa (2018-19)

The Series with Oklahoma:

This is men's basketball meeting No. 249 between Oklahoma and Oklahoma State. The Sooners have a 141-106 series lead.
Cowboys are 68-46 all-time in Stillwater, including 57-28 inside Gallagher-Iba Arena). They've won four straight and six of the last seven on their home floor.
This is the 97th consecutive year that the rivals have played a home-and-home. With the exception of 1926-27 (when the teams did not play at all), OSU has otherwise hosted the Sooners in every season since 1915-16.
Mike Boynton Jr. (9-6) has the third-most wins among the 20 Cowboy head coaches who have taken part in Bedlam, trailing only hall of famers Henry Iba (50-27) and Eddie Sutton (19-15).
The series has taken a sharp turn since Boynton's arrival. He was an assistant on the 2016-17 team that posted OSU's first sweep in 13 seasons. The Jan. 30, 2017 win snapped what had been a 12-game Cowboy losing streak in Norman.
Since taking over as head coach, Boynton has added two more sweeps of his own in 2021 and 2023. The latter marked the first time since 1964-65 that the Cowboys have taken three games from the Sooners.
An Oklahoma native has led the scoring in each of OSU's last three Stillwater wins: Tulsa's Kalib Boone (17) in 2021, Midwest City's Rondel Walker (14) in 2022 and Tulsa's Bryce Thompson (19) in 2023.

Scouting the Sooners:

OU (6-7 Big 12) has already exceeded its conference win total from a year ago (5-13).The Sooners (No. 36 KenPom; 20th defensively) are deeper and more athletic now. Eight players average at least 6.0 points and 17.0 minutes. Five of them are experienced Division I transfers.
The Sooners are in action for the first time in seven days after losses last week to No. 12 Baylor and No. 6 Kansas.
OU ranks 10th nationally in three-point field goal percentage defense, limiting opponents to 29.0% for the year. OSU shot a season-low 3-of-17 (.176) from deep in the first meeting.
Offensively, OU has had success getting to the rim with a .545 two-point percentage (36th.
6-2 junior Javian McCollum, a Siena transfer who comes in averaging 14.0 points, has knocked down 49 triples along with 76-of-81 free throws (for a Big 12-best 93.8%).
6-foot-5 sophomore Otega Oweh averages 12.0 points with a team-high 42 steals and fellow holdover Milos Uzan – a 2023 Big 12 All-Freshman pick – averages 8.8 points and 4.5 assists with a 2.40 assist-to-turnover ratio.
6-7 junior forward Jalon Moore (10.7 ppg) – a Georgia Tech transfer – is the team's leading rebounder (6.1) and shot-blocker (24).
6-10 senior Sam Godwin (6.6 ppg, 5.2 rpg) leads the nation in offensive rebounding percentage, grabbing 20.6% of the Sooner misses.

A Cowboy win would...

Be their third straight and fourth in the last six games on the heels of an 0-6 Big 12 start.
Be their fourth straight home victory and up their GIA record to 11-5 (4-3 Big 12).
Be their eighth in the last 10 meetings with OU and extend their home streak to five.
Make them 6-2 vs. Moser (5-2 with OU).
Up Boynton's Bedlam record to 10-6.

Up Next: UCF -- Wednesday, 7 p.m. CT (ESPN+)

The Cowboys are home again Wednesday against UCF (13-12, 4-9 heading into its weekend date with No. 23 Texas Tech).
The schools met for the first time in last year's Baha Mar Bahamas Championship (UCF won 60-56 in overtime).
KenPom ranks the Knights 18th in defensive efficiency and fourth in block percentage.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Kalib Boone

Eric Dailey Jr.

Brandon Garrison

Jamyron Keller

Javon Small

Bryce Thompson

Quion Williams

John-Michael Wright

Oklahoma State University Athletics