Cowboy Basketball back home Saturday against Utah

UTAH (12-8, 4-5) at OKLAHOMA STATE (10-10, 2-7)
Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025 | 2:01 p.m. CT
Stillwater, Okla. | Gallagher-Iba Arena (13,611)

Tickets: okstate.com/tickets
Watch: ESPN+ (James Westling & Bryndon Manzer)
Listen: Cowboy Radio Network (Dave Hunziker & John Holcomb)
Live Stats: okstate.statbroadcast.com
Series: OSU leads 4-2 (1-0 in Stillwater)
Last: Jan. 11, 2025 in SLC (Utah, 83-62)

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Opening Tips:

Oklahoma State returns home Saturday afternoon to take on the Utah Utes inside historic Gallagher-Iba Arena.
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.
At halftime, OSU will recognize former players as part of its Alumni Weekend festivities and afterward, fans are invited to stick around for a postgame autograph session with the current Cowboys in the East Lobby.
Utah won the first Big 12 era meeting between the schools (Jan. 11 in Salt Lake City) 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.
The Cowboys have split their four Big 12 home games and are 7-2 overall at GIA.
OSU is averaging 77.0 points on its home floor, compared to 64.7 on the road.
The Cowboys have lost three straight games for the first time this season, following Wednesday's 85-57 setback at Kansas State. The Wildcats hit 12-of-23 threes and scored 28 points off 21 OSU turnovers to avenge their Jan. 7 loss in Stillwater.
Marchelus "Chi Chi" Avery finished with 22 points on 7-of-8 shooting and Bryce Thompson notched his seventh straight double-figure scoring game.
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.
Arturo Dean, the NCAA's active career leader in steals per game (2.71), is among the keys to an OSU defense that ranks second in the Big 12 in both steals (8.7) and takeaways (14.8).
OSU also tops the league leaderboard in bench points (12.4, 12^th nationally), free throw attempts (24.5, 16^th), free throw rate (42.9, 15^th) and defensive rebounding percentage (.746, 15^th).

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On this Date: Feb. 1

1945 – The next morning's Wichita Eagle headline summed it up nicely: "String Bean Player Rolls Up Field Goals Galore as A. and M. Wins." All-American 7-footer Bob Kurland finished with 24 points on 10 baskets to lead eventual national champion Oklahoma A&M to a 53-28 neutral court win over Wyoming at the Wichita Forum.
1995 – Randy Rutherford scored 31 points on eight three-pointers (tying both the OSU and Devaney Center records) in an 85-68 Big Eight romp at Nebraska. Bryant "Big Country" Reeves chipped in 24 points and 10 rebounds for the Cowboys, who went on to reach the Final Four.

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Last time on Cowboy Basketball:
Wednesday, Jan. 29 in Manhattan, Kan. | KSU 85, OSU 57

Three weeks after a lopsided loss in Stillwater, K-State turned the tables in the rematch, forcing 15 steals and hitting 12-of-23 threes.
The Wildcats scored 28 points on 21 takeaways; 22 of them before halftime.
OSU trailed 45-23 at the break after turning the ball over on 16 of its 33 first-half possessions.
K-State tallied the first 10 points in a wire-to-wire win. Up 25-18, the Wildcats outscored OSU 20-5 over the final 9:40 of the first half and mounted another 12-0 run early in the second to stretch their lead to as many as 32 points.
KSU's Brendan Hausen made all five of his three-point attempts on the way to a team-high 18, and Coleman Hawkins had 15 points, nine rebounds, six assists, three blocks and three steals.
Chi Chi Avery scored 15 of his game-high 22 points after halftime for OSU, which made 39.6% of its field goals and a season-low nine free throws on 15 attempts.

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More K-State Leftovers:

Bryce Thompson (11 points) continued his scoring surge, logging a seventh consecutive double-figure game. It's the longest streak of his Cowboy career.
Chi Chi Avery didn't attempt a shot in 13 scoreless minutes at Texas Tech but bounced back nicely Wednesday with 22 points. He was 7-for-8 from the field and 6-of-7 at the foul line.
It was Avery's third 20-point game of the season and the ninth of his collegiate career.
Helped by Avery's efforts, OSU reserves accounted for 39 of the 57 Cowboy points (68.7%). That's the highest percentage of points by an OSU bench unit since Nov. 16, 2021 when reserves Kalib Boone (20), Rondel Walker (16), Tyreek Smith (10), Keylan Boone (7) and Bryce Williams (3) teamed up for 56 in a 74-68 win over NC State. No OSU starter had more than six in that contest.
Abou Ousmane had a season-high 27 points in the Jan. 7 win over K-State but went scoreless in Wednesday's rematch. Prior to it, the big man had reached double-figures in six of his past seven games.
Brandon Newman matched season-highs with three assists and three steals in just under 15:00.
Freshman big man Andrija Vukovic logged his first appearance since Jan. 11 at Utah and scored his first career Big 12 point on a free throw with 4:32 left.
OSU entered its two-game road swing ranked among the nation's top-10 in free throw attempts (25.3) but averaged just 16.5 in the two losses.
The Cowboys committed 21 turnovers against K-State -- three days after totaling a season-high 22 at Texas Tech. It's the first time in nearly five years that an OSU team has had 20+ turnovers in back-to-back contests. The Cowboys defeated West Virginia twice in a five-day span late in the 2020-21 season (the latter in a Big 12 quarterfinal rematch), despite committing 20 turnovers in each.

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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 strong numbers on a per-40-minute basis:
Arturo Dean is averaging a league-best 3.4 steals and Robert Jennings ranks among the top-10 in both free throw makes (6^th, 5.8) and free throw attempts (7^th, 6.9). Abou Ousmane is just behind him at 6.4 attempts-per-40 (8^th).
Chi Chi Avery (6^th, 21.7) and Ousmane (13^th, 20.0) are among the 13 Big 12 regulars who are averaging at least 20.0 points-per-40.
Overall, 10 Cowboys are average between 11 and 25 minutes and seven of them have taken a turn as leading scorer.
OSU leads the Big 12 and ranks 12^th nationally in bench scoring (32.5 points). Reserves have clocked 42.1% of the overall minutes (14^th).
The bench has topped 40 points on five different occasions, with a season-high 57 in their 85-78 win over Southern Illinois on Nov. 14.

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Trending:

OSU is 10-3 when holding its opponent to less than 80 points (0-7 otherwise).
OSU is 7-0 when scoring at least 80 (3-9).
OSU is 9-1 with a halftime lead (1-9 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 5-1 when outshooting opponents (5-9). The lone loss came at Texas Tech (Jan. 26).
OSU is 7-0 when forcing 16+ turnovers (3-10).
OSU is 6-0 with 20+ points off turnovers (4-10).
OSU is 8-0 this season when scoring 40+ combined points off of free throws and turnovers (2-10 otherwise).
All nine of OSU's Big 12 games have been decided by 10+ points in either direction.
As of Thursday, OSU is one of only 13 Division I teams that have 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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The Series with Utah:

Utah is one of five two-play opponents on OSU's 2025 Big 12 schedule. The Utes won the first-ever conference meeting between the schools back on Jan. 11 in Salt Lake City.
OSU leads the all-time series, 4-2.
The series dates back to the 1945 NCAA quarterfinals in Kansas City when OSU took down the defending national champion Utes, 62-37, on the way to its first NCAA title. Bob Kurland led the way with 28 points.
When hall of fame coach Jack Gardner moved from Kansas State to Utah in 1953, among the first games he scheduled was against Henry Iba's Aggies in Stillwater. The seventh-ranked Pokes won 71-44 behind 33 points from second team All-American Bob Mattick.
Gardner quickly built the Utes into a power, winning conference titles in 1955 and 1956 with an Elite Eight run in the latter, but Iba's Aggies were up to the challenge, taking a December, 1956 rematch in Salt Lake City (73-59).
OSU is 1-2 against Utah in SLC (0-2 at the Huntsman Center), losing a subsequent visit on Dec. 12, 1980 to a Utah team that would go on to reach the Sweet 16. OSU regrouped one day later for an 87-81 win over Loyola Marymount in the Hilton Classic third-place game.
The teams squared off in the Las Vegas Invitational title game on Nov. 28, 2009. Tournament MVP James Anderson scored 26 points to lead the Cowboys to a 77-55 rout.

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Last Time vs. Utah:
Jan. 11, 2025 in SLC | Utah, 83-62

Utah scored the first 12 points of the game and cruised to its first ever Big 12 conference win.
Playing without defensive sparkplug Arturo Dean (illness), OSU did little to disrupt the Utes' offensive rhythm. The hosts shot 55.6% from the field to OSU's 33.3%, helped by 12 dunks and 10 layups. They had a 46-24 advantage in the paint while piling up 23 assists and 2.08 A:TO Ratio.
Utah made 16-of-24 second half shots (eight of them dunks) to grow an 11-point halftime lead to as many as 26 with 8:02 to play.
Bryce Thompson paced the Cowboys with 16 points and reserves Chi Chi Avery and Brandon Newman added 13 and 10 respectively.
Ezra Ausar (21), Jake Wahlin (16) and Keanu Dawes (16) led the Utah count.
The Cowboys won the rebounding battle, 40-39, helped by 18 offensive boards, but managed just five fastbreak points--roughly a third of their Big 12-best average coming into the day.

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Scouting the Utes:

Big 12 newcomer Utah has made steady progress under fourth-year head coach Craig Smith, posting records of 11-20, 17-15 and 22-15 over his first three seasons. He returns two starters from the latter team, which reached the NIT semifinals and finished 48^th in the final KenPom rankings.
Utah owns the nation's highest assist rate with 376 on 544 baskets (69.1%) and is sixth in assists per game (18.8).
During non-conference play, the Utes averaged as many three-point field goals (10.9) as turnovers (10.9). Their 8-3 record included six victories by 30-or-more points and an 86.7 scoring average. They shot the ball at a .379-clip from beyond arc and led the nation in assists (21.3).
The Utes, however, have struggled to replicate those numbers in league play, averaging just 63.9 points on 42.3% shooting (5.9 threes on 27.3% accuracy) with 15.0 turnovers.
The Utes started 0-3 in conference but have since taken four of their last six. That stretch began with their Jan. 11 win over OSU, and another on Saturday would move them back to the .500 mark at 5-5.
Though they last played together as true freshmen at Cincinnati during the 2020-21 season, Utah's Madsen twins have quickly fallen back into step, combining for 93 triples in 20 games.
Gabe Madsen, a 6-foot-6 graduate guard who is in his fourth season with the Utes, is averaging a team-best 15.0 points and his 2.65 threes ranks fourth on the league leaderboard.
Mason Madsen, listed at 6-foot-4, has played the last two seasons at Boston College. He's averaging 9.0 points and 2.2 threes on 42.1% accuracy.
7-1 senior Lawson Lovering, has put up 9.3 points on 64% shooting along with 4.9 rebounds and a team-high 17 blocks.
6-foot-8 East Carolina transfer Ezra Asaur (11.1 ppg, 4.6 rpg) ranks fourth nationally in fouls drawn (7.9 per 40 minutes). He's been the team's top scorer in Big 12 action (11.6 ppg).
Rice transfer Keanu Dawes, a 6-9 sophomore, has played some of his best basketball over the past month. He's averaging 7.8 points and team-best 5.4 rebounds and is shooting an impressive 77.2% on two-point attempts.
Junior point guard Mike Sharavjamts -- listed at 6-foot-9 – is among the other regular starters on a Utah team that ranks fifth nationally in average roster height (6-6), per KenPom, and 10^th in effective height (weighted by minutes played).
The Utes have a deep bench with 11 players averaging at least 10 minutes per game. Reserves account for 27.9 points per game (41^st nationally) and 42.6% of the minutes (8^th).

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Matchup Mashup:

A home game with Utah (NET No. 76) qualifies for Quadrant 3 status (one spot shy of the cutline for a Q2 matchup). OSU is a combined 10-1 in Quadrant 3 and 4 games. After Saturday, each of OSU's last 10 regular season games will be of the Q1 or Q2 variety.
As previously mentioned, Utah (1944) and OSU (1945, 1946) were two of the earliest champions of the NCAA tournament, which launched in 1938. Though OSU denied Utah a Final Four appearance in '44, the Utes have been back three other times since, including in 1966 when they fell to a Texas Western team led by OSU graduate Don Haskins.
This is the third in a stretch of four straight home games against the four Big 12 newcomers. The Cowboys split January games with Colorado and Arizona and will welcome Arizona State next Sunday.

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A Cowboy win would...

Be their 300^th in GIA since its 2000 renovation and expansion (300-92).
Send them into the halfway point of the conference season with a 3-7 record.
Make them 8-2 at home this season (3-2 Big 12).
Give them a season split with Utah.
Increase their all-time series lead to 5-2 (2-0 in Stillwater).

A Cowboy loss would...

Be their fourth straight.
Drop them to 7-3 at home (2-3 Big 12).
Give Utah a season sweep.
Narrow their all-time series lead to 4-3.
Be less good than a win.

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Up Next: at 6/5 Houston
Tuesday, 7 p.m. CT (ESPN+)

OSU is back on the road Tuesday night at league leader Houston.
It's the last of four games in 10 days (three of them on the road) for the Cowboys.
The Cougars (9-0 Big 12) are ranked sixth in this week's AP Poll and ride a 13-game winning streak into Saturday's home showdown with No. 22 Texas Tech.
UH is 11-0 this season at the Fertitta Center. The closest win came by 16 points against WVU.
The Cougars boast the nation's longest active home winning streak (33), last losing Jan. 22, 2023 to Temple (56-55).
UH defeated the Cowboys, 60-47, in the Dec. 30 conference opener. OSU led that game 17-11 near the 11:00-mark of the first half but the Cougars closed the period on a 17-1 run. OSU's 25.9% shooting percentage was its lowest in GIA since the birth of the shot clock (1986-pr.).

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Players Mentioned

Arturo Dean

Brandon Newman

Abou Ousmane

Bryce Thompson

Andrija Vukovic

Oklahoma State University Athletics