Cowboy Basketball back home Tuesday night against K-State

KANSAS STATE (7-6, 1-1) at OKLAHOMA STATE (8-5, 0-2)
Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025 | 7:01 p.m. CT
Stillwater, Okla. | Gallagher-Iba Arena (13,611)

Tickets: okstate.com/tickets
Watch: ESPN+ (Lowell Galindo & Bryndon Manzer)
Listen: Cowboy Radio Network (Dave Hunziker & John Holcomb)
Stats: okstate.statbroadcast.com
Series: KSU leads 87-59 (OSU leads 37-28 in Stillwater)
Last: Feb. 3, 2024 in Stillwater (OSU, 75-72)

Opening Tips:

Big 12 play continues Tuesday when the Oklahoma State Cowboys welcome the Kansas State Wildcats to Gallagher-Iba Arena.
The teams split last year's series with each holding serve at home. The Cowboys let a 10-point second half lead slip away in their 70-66 loss in Manhattan (Jan. 20, 2024) but bounced back two weeks later for a 75-72 win (Feb. 3, 2024). OSU used a 12-0 run to move in front late in the first half and shot 59% over the final 20 minutes.
The Cowboys have won four of the last five series meetings in Stillwater and are 37-28 all-time on their home floor.
OSU is in search of its first Big 12 win after opening against two teams currently ranked in the AP top-25.
The Cowboys fell 69-50 on Saturday at current No. 21 West Virginia despite 15 points from Marchelus "Chi Chi" Avery and Abou Ousmane's 14 points, 11 rebounds and four steals.
Last Monday's Big 12 opener against now-No. 12 Houston was OSU's first home loss following a 5-0 start.
New head coach Steve Lutz brings a fast and physical brand of basketball to OSU after successful rebuilds at A&M-Corpus Christi (2021-23) and Western Kentucky (2023-24). He's made the NCAA tournament in each of his first three seasons as head coach.
One of 12 newcomers who have logged time this season, former Purdue and Western Kentucky guard Brandon Newman needs just nine more points to reach 1,000 for his collegiate career. That would make OSU one of only five Division I schools with at least six active 1,000-point scorers, joining Minnesota (7), Ole Miss (7), Alabama (6) and Kentucky (6).
A year ago, Lutz's Hilltoppers led the nation in adjusted tempo, per KenPom. His current Cowboys rank 34^th.
Playing fast requires a deep roster. Ten regulars average between 10 and 24 minutes. Reserves account for a Big 12 best 35.6 points (10^th) and 42.1% of the playing time (15^th).
Fittingly, OSU's most-impactful offensive and defensive performers have come off the bench. Avery is the team's leading scorer (12.5) while junior point guard Arturo Dean -- the NCAA's career leader in steals per game -- is one of the key's to an OSU defense that ranks among the national leaders in steals (38^th, 9.2), takeaways (38^th, 15.5) and fastbreak points (39^th, 14.6).
OSU attempts a Big 12 best 25.2 free throws per game and is No. 18 nationally in makes (18.5).

On this Date: Jan. 7, 1935
First-year head coach Henry Iba won his first Missouri Valley Conference game, 25-17, over visiting Creighton. The Aggies finished in fifth-place that year while setting the foundation for 14 conference titles over the next 19 seasons.

Last Time on Cowboy Basketball:
Saturday in Morgantown, W.Va. | WVU 69, OSU 50

OSU's second-half surge couldn't undo the damage from a prolonged first-half slump.
The Cowboys held West Virginia scoreless for more than six minutes during a 17-2 run that sliced a 28-point deficit to as little 13 with 5:37 remaining, but could get no closer.
Marchelus "Chi Chi" Avery paced OSU with 15 points off the bench.
Abou Ousmane scored 12 of his 14 points after halftime and tacked on 11 rebounds for his first double-double in a Cowboy uniform.
Former Cowboy Javon Small scored 18 of his game-high 24 points in the first half, as the Mountaineers used runs of 22-1 and 16-2 to build a commanding 46-19 lead at the break.
The Cowboys opened 2-of-18 from the field in a 25% first half shooting performance, and the 27-point halftime deficit matched their largest ever in a Big 12 contest,
For the game. OSU made just 3-of-21 threes and 11-of-20 free throws -- both season lows.
WVU sank 11 threes, collected 20 points off 17 OSU turnovers, and tallied 19 second-chance points on 12 offensive rebounds.

More WVU Leftovers:

OSU opened Big 12 play last week against two of the nation's top defenses. Per KenPom, Houston and West Virginia rank second and 15^threspectively in efficiency. Houston is the NCAA leader in scoring defense (54.6) and field goal percentage defense (.337) while West Virginia ranks 18^th (62.5) and seventh (.371) respectively.
The Cowboys averaged 48.5 points on 28.6% shooting in those two contests. They shot a combined 23.6% in the first half (3-of-20 from deep) and faced halftime deficits of 28-18 and 46-19.
The good news: seven of OSU's next eight opponents rank outside the top-50 in defensive efficiency (No. 27 Arizona is the exception).
Chi Chi Avery finished as OSU's leading scorer for the fifth time this season. He's posted a team-best nine double-figure scoring games.
Avery went 1-for-5 from deep. He's made at least one three-pointer in all 13 contests.
Abou Ousmane's first double-double of the season was the 11^thof his NCAA career. He's the third different Cowboy with a double-double this year, joining Avery and Robert Jennings.
Ousmane's 11 rebounds matched Jennings (Nov. 21 vs. FAU) for most by a Cowboy this season.
Reserve guard Arturo Dean played a season-high 31:40. Over the last eight games, six different Cowboys have led the team in minutes.

OSU Game-by-Game Minutes Leaders (Since Dec. 1):
Dec. 4 at Tulsa – Davis (23:53)
Dec. 8 at Seton Hall – Jennings (29:17)
Dec. 14 vs. Oklahoma – Avery (25:49)
Dec. 18 vs. Tarleton St. – Thompson (31:10)
Dec. 22 vs. ORU – Thompson (31:22)
Dec. 30 vs. Houston – Ousmane (30:13)
Jan. 4 at West Virginia – Dean (31:40)

OSU is…

8-2 when holding its opponent to less than 80 points.
6-0 when scoring at least 80.
7-1 with a halftime lead.
5-0 when outshooting its opponent.
5-0 when forcing 16+ turnovers.
5-0 with 20+ points off turnovers.

Milestone Watch:

Brandon Newman (991 points) is closing in 1,000 for his collegiate career, which began at Purdue (2020-23) and Western Kentucky (2023-24).
Bryce Thompson (1,062 points) needs just two more to match Marcus Smart (1,064 from 2012-14) for 38^th on OSU's all-time scoring chart.
Thompson (132 three-point field goals) needs three more to catch Victor Williams (135 from 2000-03) for 16^th on the school's career triples list.

The Series with Kansas State:

This is the first of two meetings between the schools with OSU returning to Manhattan in a little over three weeks (Jan. 29).
The teams split last year's series with each holding serve at home.
This is game No. 147 in a series that began more than 103 years ago. The Wildcats lead 87-59.
OSU has a 37-28 advantage on its home floor (34-26 inside GIA) with victories in four of the last five seasons.
OSU is 19-43 all-time in Manhattan (12-16 at Bramlage Coliseum).
OSU is 1-3 against KSU's Jerome Tang (1-1 GIA).
This will be the first matchup between Tang and new OSU coach Steve Lutz.

Scouting the Wildcats:

K-State was picked eighth out of 16 teams in the Big 12 preseason poll.
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.
Hawkins finished with a double-double (16 points, 10 rebounds) and four steals to lead the Wildcats (7-6, 1-1) to a 70-67 upset of 16^th-ranked Cincinnati in last Monday's Big 12 opener.
K-State was well on its way to a 2-0 conference start, leading 62-56 at TCU with 3:00 remaining in the second half, but Horned Frogs finished the game on a 7-0 run to win 63-62.
The Wildcats have dropped their last 12 true road games, last winning Jan. 9, 2024 at West Virginia.
Starters play nearly three-quarters of the K-State minutes (74.6%), which is the league's highest percentage according to KenPom, ahead of Arizona State (73.9%), UCF (72.1%) and Kansas (72.0%). By contrast, OSU starters clock 57.9% of the minutes (second fewest behind BYU's 56.4%).
N'Guessan – a 6-9 forward who is in his third season with the Wildcats – is the team's leading scorer (13.3 ppg) and rebounder (7.5 rpg), helped by a 17-rebound effort at TCU. He ranks among the top-10 nationally in field goal percentage (66.4%) and has converted 71.3% of his 2-point looks. He's also among the top-20 in offensive rebounding (3.54 per game).
Hawkins – a second team All-Big Ten pick last year at Illinois -- is a versatile 6-10 forward who can score (10.2 ppg), rebound (7.3 rpg), facilitate (4.1 apg) and defend (2.3 spg, 1.4 bpg).
6-foot-4 Villanova transfer Brendan Hausen (12.8 ppg) has been one of the nation's most productive three-point shooters, knocking down 3.23 per game on 40.8% accuracy.
Point guard Dug McDaniel (10.4 ppg) – a 5-foot-11 Michigan transfer -- is averaging 2.0 steals and a team-best 4.3 assists.

Matchup Mashup:

OSU guard Devo Davis and K-State sophomore Baye Fall were teammates last season at Arkansas.
Bryce Thompson will face K-State for the seventh time in his collegiate career, including one appearance as a freshman at Kansas. He's averaging 12.4 points in those games.

A Cowboy win would...

Be their first in Big 12 play (1-2) and snap a seven-game conference skid that began last February.
Make them 6-1 at home this season.
Be their fifth home win over K-State in the last six seasons and make them 38-28 all-time against the Wildcats in Stillwater.
Narrow K-State's series lead to 87-60.

Up Next: at Utah
Saturday, 6 p.m. CT (ESPN+)

OSU is set for a two-game Big 12 road swing with visits to Utah (Saturday) and BYU (8 p.m. CT, Tuesday, Jan. 14). Both games will air on ESPN+.
The Cowboys lead 4-1 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.
This will be the first meeting between the schools since Nov. 28, 2009 when OSU clinched the Las Vegas Invitational title with a 77-55 victory, led by 26 points from tournament MVP James Anderson.
OSU is 1-1 against Utah in Salt Lake City. Those visits came in 1957 and 1980.
Utah is 8-5 (0-2 Big 12) heading into Tuesday night's trip to Iowa State.
BYU (10-3, 1-1) will host Texas Tech and travel TCU this week before welcoming the Cowboys to the Marriott Center next Tuesday.

Oklahoma State University Athletics

Cowboy Basketball back home Tuesday night against K-State

Players Mentioned

Arturo Dean

Brandon Newman

Abou Ousmane

Javon Small

Bryce Thompson

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