Cowboy Basketball seeking sweep at K-State

OKLAHOMA STATE (10-9, 2-6) at KANSAS STATE (8-11, 2-6)
Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025 | 7 p.m. CT
Manhattan, Kan. | Bramlage Coliseum (11,000)

Watch: CBSSN (Chris Lewis & Steve Lappas)
Listen: Cowboy Radio Network (Dave Hunziker & John Holcomb)
Live Stats: okstate.statbroadcast.com
Series: KSU leads 87-60 (43-19 in Manhattan)
Last: Jan. 7, 2025 in Stillwater (OSU, 79-66)

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Opening Tips:

Oklahoma State goes in search of its first Big 12 road win and a season sweep of the K- State Wildcats on Wednesday evening in Manhattan.
OSU took home-and-homes from the Cats in in 2020 and 2021 but has since dropped three straight at Bramlage Coliseum.
Three weeks ago in Stillwater, the Cowboys closed the first half on 20-2 run in an eventual 79-66 victory. Abou Ousmane scored a season-high 27 points and Brandon Newman notched the 1,000^th of his collegiate career to give head coach Steve Lutz his first Big 12 victory.
The Cowboys won non-conference trips to Tulsa and Seton Hall but have lost their first four Big 12 road games, all by double-digit margins (WVU, Utah, BYU and Texas Tech).
In Sunday's 64-54 setback in Lubbock, the Cowboys used a 16-1 second-half run to cut an 18 point deficit down to 3 near the 5:00-mark but couldn't finish the job.
Bryce Thompson's 17-point performance against the Red Raiders marked his fifth straight game with 15-or-more.
Abou Ousmane (10 pts, 10 reb) notched his second double-double of the season.
The 2023-24 Pokes were the Big 12's youngest team, but this year's version is loaded with experience. Ten Cowboys average 10+ minutes. Eight of them are DI transfers and seven are listed seniors, fifth-years or grad students.
Lutz has brought a fast and physical brand of basketball to Stillwater with a team that relentlessly attacks the rim and feasts on transition opportunities created by a smothering half court defense.
Ousmane, a fifth-year forward who played previously at North Texas and Xavier, is the Cowboys' top scorer (12.6 ppg), rebounder (6.1 rpg) and shot-blocker (15).
Arturo Dean, the NCAA's active career leader in steals per game (2.72), is among the keys to an OSU defense that averages 8.7 steals and 14.8 takeaways.
OSU leads the Big 12 and ranks among the top-15 nationally in free throw makes (18.1) and attempts (24.9).
The Cowboys also have the NCAA's 15^th-highest free throw rate (43.6), averaging one free throw attempt for every 2.3 field goal attempts.
Robert Jennings (7^th, .836) and Thompson (10^th, .797) are among the Big 12 leader in FT%. In conference play, OSU has a league-best .753 defensive rebounding percentage.
OSU averages a league-best 32.4 bench points (14^th nationally), helped by Chi Chi Avery's 12.0 per game.

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On this Date in Cowboy History: Jan. 29

1949 -- More than 10,000 fans watched eventual national runner-up Oklahoma A&M take down No. 18 DePaul, 37-26, at Chicago Stadium.
1986 -- The Cowboys spoiled OSU alumnus Jack Hartman's final visit to GIA with an 86-70 win over his Kansas State Wildcats. Melvin Gilliam led the way with 16 points and 12 assists.
2003 -- No. 11 OSU ran its winning streak to 15 with a 68-55 victory over visiting Iowa State. The Pokes tallied 15 steals and 23 takeaways while holding the Cyclones to 38% shooting.

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Last Time on Cowboy Basketball:
Jan. 26, 2025 in Lubbock, Texas | rv/24 TTU 64, OSU 54

Turnovers proved costly for OSU in 10-point loss at Texas Tech. The Cowboys committed 20 of their season-high 22 in the first 30 minutes to dig an 18-point hole before rallying.
Bryce Thompson (team-high 17 points) made the first three baskets in a 16-1 run that sliced the Red Raider lead to 52-49 with just over 5:00 remaining.
Arturo Dean scored nine of his 11 points during that spurt but missed a potential game-tying three with 4:33 left.
Abou Ousmane (10 points, 10 rebounds) added a double-double for the Cowboys who were outscored 20-11 off turnovers and 12-1 on second-chance opportunities.
Chance McMillan (14 points) nailed a jumper to stop the OSU run, and Doug Overton made a three-pointer (Tech's only triple in a 1-for-9 second half) to stretch the lead back out to eight with 2:24 on the clock.
The Red Raiders hit seven first half threes to build a 37-27 halftime lead and tallied 12 of their 27 second-half points at the free throw line.

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More Texas Tech Leftovers and Trends:

Bryce Thompson (17 points) continued his scoring surge, logging a sixth consecutive double-figure game.
Thompson is the first Cowboy since Cade Cunningham to top 15 points in five straight games. Cunningham did it in a school-record 16 straight games during the 2020-21 season.
In this five-game stretch, Thompson has shot 50% from the field, including 5-of-14 from three (.357), but a new-found ability to get the foul line has been the difference maker. He's hit 25-of-30 free throws (compared to 30-of-39 over the first 14 games). The 25 makes represent more than 14% of his OSU career total (102 GP).
Abou Ousmane logged his second double-double as a Cowboy with 10 points and 10 rebounds. The other came Jan. 4 at West Virginia. Ousmane has scored in double-figures in six of the seven January games (14.3 ppg).
Arturo Dean (11 points) scored in double-figures for the first time in Big 12 play. Nine of his points came during OSU's 10-0 second-half run that cut the Texas Tech lead down to one possession.
Dean has 10 steals and a 17-to-5 A:TO ratio in five games since moving into the starting lineup.
OSU fell for the first time when outshooting its opponent (5-1) and for just the third time when surrendering fewer than 80 points (10-3). The Cowboys shot a respectable 45.2% (to Tech's 44.0%) but managed eight fewer attempts.
OSU's 42 field goal attempts were eight fewer than its previous season-low, set in the Jan. 18 win over Colorado. Likewise, the Cowboys hit 72.2% of their free throws but matched another low with just 18 attempts.
Notably, 105 DI teams are averaging fewer than 18.0 free throw attempts per game this season.
The Cowboys squandered a third of their opportunities, finishing with a season-high 22 turnovers on a season-low 66 possessions. A 33.3% turnover percentage tied for OSU's fifth highest ever in Big 12 play.
OSU went turnover-free on 15 of its last 17 possessions over the final 10:00. During that span, the Cowboys shaved an 18-point deficit to as little as three.
The Cowboys' opportunities were further limited by a season-low 23.1% offensive rebounding percentage (6 on 26 chances).
Texas Tech built its 10-point halftime lead on three-point shooting (7-of-17) and second-chance scoring (10 on six offensive rebounds).
OSU held the Red Raiders to just one more offensive rebound and 1-of-9 three-point shooting after halftime, but the hosts – after going the first 21 minutes without a free throw attempt – got to the foul line 21 times the rest of the way. They were in the bonus for the final 11:16.
Coming off 15 and 21-point efforts against Colorado and Arizona in the two previous games, reserve forward Chi Chi Avery did not attempt a shot in nearly 13 minutes of action at Texas Tech. The Cowboys scored a season-low seven bench points after putting up at least 19 in every other contest this year.
OSU failed to block a shot for the first time since Jan. 16, 2024 vs. KU, snapping a 33-game streak.

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Also Trending:

The Cowboys have lost their last seven overtime games going back to the 2021-22 season. Their last OT victory came Feb. 19, 2022 against K-State, which notably went on to win its next 12 overtime affairs over Jerome Tang's first first two seasons. The Cats' streak ended on Dec. 17, 2024 against Drake.
All eight of OSU's Big 12 games have been decided by 10+ points in either direction.
As of Tuesday, OSU is one of only 13 Division I teams that have been not been involved in a one-possession game this season. The Cowboys' closest call was a five-point win over Tarleton.

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Milestone Watch:

Graduate guard Brandon Newman is one victory shy of 100 for his collegiate career. Teams (Purdue, Western Kentucky and now OSU) are a combined 99-42 when his name appears in the box scores.
Junior guard Arturo Dean is 87 points away from 1,000 for his collegiate career.
Bryce Thompson needs just 33 more points to crack the top-30 on OSU's career scoring list. He's currently 31^st with 1,156 points, chasing Joe Adkins (1,189 from 1996-00).

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The Series with Kansas State:

This is game No. 148 in a series that began more than 103 years ago. The Wildcats lead 87-60.
OSU has a 38-28 advantage on its home floor (35-26 inside GIA) with victories in five of the last six seasons.
OSU is 19-43 all-time in Manhattan (12-16 at Bramlage Coliseum).
OSU is 2-3 against KSU's Jerome Tang (2-1 GIA, 0-2 in Manhattan).
Steve Lutz is 1-0 against Tang.

Last Time vs. K-State:
Jan. 7, 2025 in Stillwater | OSU 79, KSU 66

Abou Ousmane supplied 27 points and Brandon Newman notched the 1,000^th of his collegiate career to help head coach Steve Lutz secure his first Big 12 victory.
OSU finished the first half on a 20-2 run to take a 43-24 lead into the locker room and kept it in double-figures the rest of the way.
During their big run, the Cowboys forced stops on 11 of 12 KSU possessions. They scored the last 15 points of the half, including four in the final second when Newman made two free throws and Khalil Brantley swooped in to steal the inbound pass (one of 11 for OSU on the night) and beat the buzzer with a 15-foot jumper.
The Cowboys shook loose from a two-game shooting slump by knocking down 9-of-21 threes and 47.5% overall. They scored 31 points off of 19 turnovers while committing only 12.
Coleman Hawkins had 18 points and David N'Guessan added 12 points and 12 boards for KSU, which shot 51.1% but just 3-of-14 on threes.
Newman tallied the last of his nine points on a free throw with 6:42 remaining in the second half to finish the evening at 1,000 on the nose.

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Scouting the Wildcats:

K-State is 2-6 in Big 12 play, but both wins have been over teams that were nationally ranked. The Wildcats downed then-No. 16 Cincinnati in their conference opener and snapped a six-game skid with Saturday's 73-60 victory over No. 24 West Virginia. K-State led 19-2 out of the gate and by 24 at halftime.
Fifth-year forward David N'Guessan is one of three returning lettermen from last year's team, which finished 19-15 (8-10 Big 12) with an NIT appearance.
Third-year head coach Jerome Tang added 10 newcomers, including seven Division I transfers, to the mix, headlined by 6-foot-10 Illinois graduate transfer Coleman Hawkins – the Big 12's co-newcomer of the year.
N'Guessan – a 6-9 forward who is in his third season with the Wildcats – is the team's leading scorer (12.7 ppg) and rebounder (7.2 rpg). He ranks seventh nationally in field goal percentage (64.2%) and has converted over 69% of his 2-point looks.
Hawkins – a second team All-Big Ten pick last year at Illinois -- is a versatile 6-10 forward who can score (10.7 ppg), rebound (7.0 rpg), facilitate (4.4 apg) and defend (1.95 spg, 1.3 bpg).
6-foot-4 Villanova transfer Brendan Hausen (11.6 ppg) has been one of the nation's most productive three-point shooters, knocking down 3.00 per game on 39% accuracy.
Point guard Dug McDaniel (9.8 ppg) – a 5-foot-11 Michigan transfer -- is averaging 1.6 steals and 4.1 assists.

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Matchup Mashup:

K-State forward David N'Guessan is the younger brother of former OSU center Lucas N'Guessan. The 7-footer appeared in 53 games with 17 starts for the Cowboys from 2016-18.
Last Friday, K-State announced the addition of former Cowboy Tyreek Smith as a mid-season transfer. Smith played his sophomore and junior years in Stillwater (2021-23) and averaged 4.4 points and 3.4 rebounds over 66 games.
OSU guard Devo Davis and K-State sophomore Baye Fall were teammates last season at Arkansas.
Bryce Thompson will face K-State for the eighth time in his collegiate career, including one appearance as a freshman at Kansas. He's averaging 12.0 points in those contests.
1950 Oklahoma A&M graduate Jack Hartman launched his coaching career as an assistant under Henry Iba during the 1954-55 season and eventually went on to be the head coach at Southern Illinois (1962-70) and Kansas State (1970-86). Hartman will be inducted into the Collegiate Hall of Fame later this year.

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A Cowboy win would...

Snap a two-game slide.
Be their first Big 12 road win (1-4) since Feb. 21, 2024 at Cincinnati.
Make them 3-4 overall in road games, tripling last seasons win total (1-9).
Give them a two-game sweep of the Wildcats for the first time since back-to-back sweeps in 2020 and 2021.
Snap a three-game losing streak at Bramlage Coliseum and boost their all-time record against the Cats in Manhattan to 20-43 (13-16 at BC).
Narrow K-State's all-time series lead to 87-61.

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Up Next: Utah
Saturday, 2 p.m. CT (ESPN+)

The Cowboys return home Saturday to take on the Utah Utes.
Fans are encouraged to wear their brightest pink and join the Cowboys in raising awareness and funds for the battle against Breast Cancer.
The Eddie Sutton Foundation will be on-site collecting donations for breast cancer research and prevention; Those unable to attend can still donate via Venmo (@EddieSuttonFdn) or through the organization's website: TheEddieSuttonFoundation.com.
OSU will honor and celebrate breast cancer survivors throughout the game. To honor loved ones, attendees can fill out custom "I scowl at cancer in memory of…" signs—an homage to Coach Eddie Sutton's legendary scowl—while fans who contribute a small donation can also take home a custom Eddie Sutton bobblehead.
At halftime, OSU will recognize former players as part of its Alumni Weekend festivities and afterward, fans are invited to stick around afterward for a postgame autograph session with the current Cowboys in the East Lobby.
Utah won the first meeting between the schools back on Jan. 11 by a score of 83-62.
This will be the Utes' first visit to Stillwater since Dec. 18, 1953.
The Cowboys lead 4-2 in a series that began with a 1945 NCAA quarterfinal matchup in Kansas City. OSU won 62-37 on the way to its first national title.

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Players Mentioned

Khalil Brantley

Arturo Dean

Brandon Newman

Abou Ousmane

Bryce Thompson

Oklahoma State University Athletics