Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowboys Open 2012-13 Season with UC Davis
November 08, 2012 | Cowboy Basketball
Nov. 8, 2012
Season Opener vs UC Davis Aggies
8 pm | Friday, November 9, 2012
Stillwater, Okla. | Gallagher-Iba Arena (13,611)
Television — Fox College Sports Central
John Holcomb | play-by-play • Bryndon Manzer | analyst
Cox (OKC) - 271
Cox (Tulsa) - 271
Suddenlink - 67
DirecTV - 623
Dish – TBD
Radio — Cowboy Sports Network
Dave Hunziker | play-by-play • Matt Howell | analyst
Notes vs UC Davis in PDF format
Game Information
Oklahoma State officially opens the 2012-13 season this Friday as the Cowboys host the UC Davis Aggies in an 8 pm tipoff inside Gallagher-Iba Arena. The contest will be the second game of a doubleheader as the Cowgirls host Cal Poly at 5:30 pm Friday evening. The men's game will be televised on Fox College Sports Central, part of the Cowboy Sports Network package. John Holcomb will handle the play-by-play duties while Bryndon Manzer provides expert analysis.
This will be the 104th season of basketball at Oklahoma State, a program which has compiled a 1,517-1,055 record, good for a .590 winning percentage. The Cowboys have made 24 NCAA Tournament appearances, the last being in 2010. OSU is in the fifth season under the direction of head coach Travis Ford, who is 80-55 at Oklahoma State.
About Oklahoma State
OSU returns three starters from last year's team and has added six newcomers to the roster that features eight returners. Brian Williams, who would have served as the fourth returning starter, suffered a wrist injury during preseason drills and is out indefinitely. Michael Cobbins injured his foot in the first two minutes of OSU's exhibition and is out for a while as well.
Probable starters for the Cowboys' season opener include a senior, a junior, a sophomore and two freshmen. Le'Bryan Nash, the team's leading returning scorer, averaged 13.3 points per game last season as a rookie and was named to the preseason All-Big 12 team. Markel Brown averaged 10.5 ppg as a sophomore last year and has started 36 games in his two-year career. Jean-Paul Olukemi suffered a season-ending knee injury last Dec. 31 and missed the entire conference portion of the schedule. He is likely to start Friday night against UC Davis.
Two newcomers will start for the Pokes. Marcus Smart, a freshman guard from Dallas, is the Big 12 Conference's Preseason Newcomer of the Year as well as a Freshman All-American according to Sporting News. Kamari Murphy, a freshman originally from Brooklyn via IMG Academy in Florida, started at forward in the exhibition.
Season Openers
Oklahoma State is 79-24 all-time in season openers, good for a .767 winning percentage. The Cowboys have won 17 straight season openers, dating back to the 1995-96 season. OSU has won 22 of its last 23 season openers.
Home Openers
Oklahoma State is 91-12 all-time in home openers, good for a .883 winning percentage. The Cowboys have won 37 straight home openers, dating back to the 1975-76 season. In fact, OSU is 53-1 in home openers since the 1958-59 season. Inside Gallagher-Iba Arena, Oklahoma State is 71-3 in home openers.
About UC Davis
UC Davis won both its exhibition games, defeating UC Santa Cruz 82-50 last Friday and Menlo College 97-76 on Tuesday. Sophomore forward J.T. Adenrele leads four Aggies who averaged double figures in the exhibition contests, scoring 30 points in the two games. Junior guard Ryan Sypkens averaged 14 points, while junior forward Josh Ritchart scored 14 points against Menlo College after sitting out the game against the Banana Slugs. Sophomore guard Corey Hawkins averaged 13 points in the two games.
As a team, UC Davis shot 51 percent from the floor, including 41 percent (23 of 56) from beyond the three-point arc. The Aggies also forced 34 turnovers in the two games, while outrebounding their opponents by an average of six boards per contest.
The Aggies, who finished 5-26 a year ago, are coached by Jim Les, in his second season as head coach at UC Davis. Prior to that, he was the head coach at Bradley for nine season.
Series History With UC Davis
Oklahoma State and UC Davis have met only one previous time on the hardwood. That was on Dec. 18, 1993, when OSU defeated the Aggies 85-41 inside Gallagher-Iba Arena. Bryant Reeves scored 18 points in the game while Fred Burley added 12. The Cowboys shot nearly 57 percent from the floor while UC Davis shot just 32 percent and committed 25 turnovers.
OSU vs the Big West
Oklahoma State is 11-3 all-time against current members of the Big West Conference. That includes a 2-2 mark against Long Beach State, a 1-1 record vs both UC Santa Barbara and Hawaii, a 1-1 mark against Cal State-Fullerton, and a 1-0 record vs Cal Poly, Cal State-Northridge, UC Davis and Pacific. The Cowboys' most recent game against a Big West opponent came on Dec. 29, 2009, when OSU defeated the Pacific Tigers 66-50 in Stillwater.
Up Next
Oklahoma State will travel to San Juan, Puerto Rico, to compete in the 2012 Puerto Rico Tip-Off next week. The Cowboys will face the Akron Zips on Thursday, Nov. 15, at 9:30 am CT (11:30 am local time) in the first round of the tournament in a game televised on ESPNU. OSU will play either Tennessee or UNC-Asheville on Friday, Nov. 16, at either 9:30 am or 12 pm CT (11:30 am or 2 pm locally).
