Big 12 Championship: First-Round Preview

[12] OKLAHOMA STATE (15-16, 7-13) vs. [13] CINCINNATI (17-14, 7-13)
Phillips 66 Big 12 Men's Basketball Championship | First Round
Tuesday, Mar. 11, 2025 | 11:30 a.m. CT
Kansas City, Mo. | T-Mobile Center

Tournament Central: Big12Sports.com
Watch: ESPN+ (Mark Neely, Fran Fraschilla, Kris Budden)
Listen: Cowboy Radio Network (Dave Hunziker & John Holcomb)
Live Stats: okstate.statbroadcast.com
Series: OSU leads 5-2 (2-0 Big 12 era)
Last: Mar. 8, 2025 in Stillwater (OSU, 78-67)

The Basics:
No. 12 seed Oklahoma State (15-16, 7-13 Big 12) takes on 13^th-seeded Cincinnati (17-14, 7-13) Tuesday morning in a first-round matchup at the Phillips 66 Big 12 Men's Basketball Championship inside the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Mo.
It's the first game of the first year of the Big 12's expanded, 16-team format, which offers first-round byes to the top-eight seeds and double-byes to the top-four. OSU and the seven other schools on the No. 9-16 lines must win five times in five days in order to claim the league's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
The OSU-Cincinnati winner battles No. 5 seed Iowa State in Wednesday's second round (11:30 a.m. CT) for the right to face No. 4 seed BYU in Thursday's quarterfinals (11:30 a.m. CT).
The Cowboys were a combined 2-1 against those three opponents during the regular season with recent home wins over ISU and Cincinnati and a Jan. 14 loss to BYU in Provo.

Follow the Bouncing Ball:
Fans can watch Tuesday's first round matchup on ESPN+ with Mark Neely, Fran Fraschilla and Kris Budden or tune in to Dave Hunziker and John Holcomb on the Varsity App and across the Cowboy Radio Network. Visit okstate.com/radio for a complete list of affiliates.
Find the bracket, schedules, scores, stats, recaps and other fan information on the championship central page at Big12Sports.com.

Opening Tips:

Oklahoma State opens Big 12 Championship play Tuesday against Cincinnati.
The Cowboys are trying for their second win over the Bearcats in less than 72 hours after defeating them 78-67 in Saturday's regular season finale in Stillwater.
First-year OSU head coach Steve Lutz has never lost a conference tournament game, going 8-0 with two Southland titles (2022, 2023) and one Conference USA (2024) crown during his time at A&M-Corpus Christi and Western Kentucky.
Lutz brings 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.
OSU has made impressive strides in year 1 of the Lutz era, improving 32 spots in the NET (126 to 94), while adding at leas) three more wins to its overall and Big 12 totals.
The group has played some of its best basketball down the stretch, highlighted by a Feb. 25 victory over No. 9 Iowa State.
The Pokes reestablished home court advantage under Lutz, finishing with their highest home winning percentage since the 2013-14 season (12-3) but must now replicate that success away from Stillwater. They're 3-13 at road and neutral sites, last winning Dec. 8 at Seton Hall.
One of 12 newcomers who have logged time, the 6-foot-10 Ousmane is OSU's leading scorer (12.5), rebounder (5.4) and shot-blocker (29).
Junior guard Arturo Dean, the NCAA's active career steals-per-game leader (2.74), is among the keys to an OSU defense that is second in the league in steals (8.9) and takeaways (14.8).
One of just three holdovers from last season, graduate guard Bryce Thompson is averaging a career-best 12.4 points (including a team-high 13.3 points in Big 12 play).
Marchelus "Chi Chi" Avery has been an impactful weapon off the bench, averaging 11.6 points and 4.4 rebounds while knocking down a team-high 55 threes.
Helped by Avery's effort, OSU lead the Big 12 and ranks 10^th nationally in both bench points (31.00) and minutes (42.2%).
That depth has helped sustain a breakneck pace. OSU is 18th in adjusted tempo, per KenPom, with nearly one-in-five points coming in transition.
OSU has also made a living at the line with nearly a quarter of its offense coming on free throws (24.0% is ninth nationally). The Cowboys also lead the Big 12 in free throw rate (15th, 41.9), and rank among the national leaders in makes (14th, 17.5) and attempts (14th, 24.0).

Big 12 Tourney Tidbits:

OSU is in search of its first Big 12 tournament crown since winning back-to-back titles under Eddie Sutton in 2004 and 2005. The latter was this event's final appearance at Kemper Arena.
OSU is 19-8 all-time in Big 12 tournament openers, including 14-4 in first and second round games (pre-quarterfinals).
The Cowboys are 19-19 in Kansas City heading into what will be their 23^rd appearance. That includes an 11-14 mark at the T-Mobile Center.
OSU will help open up the tournament for the second straight year. The Cowboys were the No. 13 seed in 2024, falling 77-62 to No. 12 UCF.
Two years ago, the seventh-seeded Cowboys defeated Oklahoma in the first round but fell to No. 2 seed Texas in the quarterfinals and were the last team out on Selection Sunday.
OSU's 2022 team was ineligible to participate because of an NCAA postseason ban.
The 2021 Cowboys, led by Big 12 player of the year Cade Cunningham, knocked off West Virginia and Baylor to reach the final.
OSU is 19-8 in tournament openers, including 14-4 in "play-in" rounds.
This is the third time that OSU has opened a Big 12 tournament against the team that it faced in the regular season finale. The Cowboys closed the 2021 conference season with a win at No. 6 West Virginia and defeated the Mountaineers again five days later in the Big 12 quarterfinals. In 2007, OSU avenged a road loss to Nebraska with a 54-39 first-round victory in KC.
OSU has never faced Cincinnati nor BYU in a conference tournament setting but is 4-2 all-time against Iowa State. The last came Mar. 11, 2020 when the Cowboys defeated the Cyclones in a first-round matchup, however the remainder of the event was canceled due to COVID-19.

Last Time vs. Cincinnati
Mar. 8, 2025 in Stillwater | OSU, 78-67

Seven seniors combined to score 70 of the 78 OSU points.
Abou Ousmane tallied 11 of his game-high 24 points during a 20-4 run that gave OSU a 40-22 lead with 4:00 to play in the opening half. The Cowboys made eight consecutive shots to begin that stretch.
Cincinnati pulled to within 66-65 at the 4:31-mark of the second half, but the Cowboys answered with 12 straight points on 8-on-8 free throw shooting to secure the win. The Bearcats missed seven consecutive shots and turned the ball over twice before finally scoring on a tip-dunk with five seconds left.
Arturo Dean, the only non-senior to score for OSU, finished with eight points and a season-high eight assists along with three steals.
OSU made its first six three-point attempts in a 7-for-9 performance and shot 48.6% overall.
Cincinnati (40.6%) matched OSU's seven threes but needed 28 attempts. The Bearcats were also outscored 13-4 at the foul line.

More Cincinnati Leftovers:

The win moved OSU into a three-way tie for 12^th-place with Cincinnati and UCF (which lost at WVU on Saturday). The Cowboys claimed the 12 seed with the superior round-robin record between the three schools (2-1). Cincy (1-1) prevailed over UCF (1-2) for No. 13.
OSU snapped a seven-game March losing streak with its first win since the 2023 NIT.
OSU's quintet of Dean, Keller, Thompson, Jennings and Ousmane made its 16^th consecutive start together (and 18^th overall).
OSU averaged 8.60 steals in Big 12 play, breaking a 22-year old program record (8.19 in 2002-03).
OSU is averaging 8.90 steals overall this season, which would be the third-highest in school history behind the 1988-89 (9.03) and 2002-03 (8.94) teams.
OSU made 7-of-9 threes (.778), tying for the fourth-highest percentage in school history.

OSU Single-Game Bests // 3-Point Percentage:
Nov. 28, 1987 vs. Truman State – 1/1, 1.000
Mar. 22, 1992 vs. Tulane – 5/6, .833
Jan. 30, 1991 at Colorado – 4/5, .800
Mar. 8, 2025 against Cincinnati – 7/9, .778
Jan. 3, 2004 vs. SMU – 7/9, .778

On This Date: March 11
1958 -- Arlen Clark's 26 points powered Oklahoma State University to a 59-42 victory over Loyola of New Orleans in the first round of the NCAA regional basketball tournament.

On This Date: March 12
1936 -- Cowboy legend Eddie Sutton was born in Bucklin, Kansas.

The Series with Cincinnati:

OSU leads the all-time series, 5-2.
The Cowboys are now 2-0 in the Big 12 era after winning the lone regular season matchup between the schools over the weekend.
Last February's 80-76 victory at Cincinnati was the first meeting between the programs in 21 years and the first time that either side had won on the other's home floor.
The Cowboys are 3-0 in Stillwater, 1-0 on neutral courts and 1-2 at Cincinnati.

Scouting the Bearcats:

Wes Miller has steadily rebuilt a Cincinnati program that reached the NCAA tournament in nine straight years from 2011-19.
The Bearcats returned 70% of the scoring from last year's team, which won 22 games in its Big 12 debut and reached the NIT quarterfinals.
CIncinnati climbed as high as No. 14 in the AP Poll during a 10-1 non-conference slate but has been up and down since.
The Bearcats are 25^th in defensive efficiency, per KenPom, limiting opponents to 65.3 points (25^th nationally) on 42.6% shooting. And they've done it without fouling, committing an average of just 13.7 per game (15^th nationally). Foes attempt a league-low 13.8 free throw (11^th nationally).
Sophomore guard Jizzle James (son of former three-time All-Pro running back Edgerrin James) is averaging team-highs 12.9 points and 3.7 assists while sporting a 2.09 A:TO ratio.
Four others average between 9 and 11 points: 6-8 guard Simas Lukosius (10.6 ppg) has hit a team-best 60 threes. Dillion Mitchell (9.5 ppg) is the team's top rebounder at 6.5 per game, and guards Day Day Thomas and Dan Skillings Jr. have put up 9.4 and 9.2 points respectively.
Cincinnati also has one of the league's best rim protectors in 7-footer Aziz Bandaogo (46 blocks).

A Cowboy win would...

Move them into Wednesday's second round against No. 5 seed Iowa State (11:30 a.m. CT on either ESPN or ESPN2).
Make them 20-8 all-time in Big 12 tournament openers and 15-4 in first/second round (pre-quarterfinal) matchups.
Increase their all-time series lead over Cincinnati to 6-2 (3-0 Big 12 era).
Make Steve Lutz 9-0 all-time in conference tournament games.
Be their first outside of Stillwater since Dec. 8 at Seton Hall, snapping an 11-game skid.

A Cowboy loss would...

Eliminate them from the Big 12 tournament.
Be their second consecutive first-round exit.
Be just the ninth time in 28 Big 12 tournament appearances that they've lost an opener.
Drop their record to 15-17.
Be their first to Cincinnati in Big 12 era (2-1) and narrow their all-time series lead to 5-3.
Be less good than a win.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Arturo Dean

Abou Ousmane

Bryce Thompson

Oklahoma State University Athletics