Cowboys Set For Road Trip To Fort Worth And Morgantown

Facing TCU- Here's The Scout

Oklahoma State men's basketball will attempt to complete its third Big 12 sweep of the season when it travels to Forth Worth to take on No. 22 TCU on Saturday. Tip is set for 1 p.m. on ESPN+ with Ted Emrich and Bryndon Manzer on the call while Cowboy fans can listen to Dave Hunziker and John Holcomb on the Cowboy Radio Network or Varsity App.
TCU enters the contest ranked 22nd nationally with a 17-9 record and a 6-7 mark in Big 12 play. The Horned Frogs have struggled as of late, dropping four straight and five of its last six. A big reason for the losing streak has been the absence of leading scorer Mike Miles Jr. The preseason Big 12 Player of the Year has missed the last five games and is averaging 18.1 points and 3.0 assists per game this season.
Oklahoma State leads the all-time series 29-12. The Cowboys are only 12-10, however, since TCU joined the Big 12 in 2013, and the Horned Frogs have won three of the last five and eight of the last 12. The Cowboys have struggled in Fort Worth in recent years, losing five in a row and seven of eight in Schollmaier Arena.
Round one of this year's Cowboy-Horned Frog series went the way of Oklahoma State, winning 79-73 in Stillwater on February 4th. OSU gave itself a nice cushion in the first half, taking a 43-29 lead to the locker room, to help withstand a second half surge by TCU. Kalib Boone scored what was then a season-high 25 points to go along with a season-high 19 from Caleb Asberry. The Cowboys also shot their best field goal percentage against a conference opponent this season at 52.6 percent.
A big part of the Horned Frogs' success this season has been playing with pace, as they lead all of Division I in fastbreak points at 19.7 per game. TCU is also excellent at taking care of the basketball, while also forcing its opponents into turnovers. An active defense plays a big role in allowing the Horned Frogs to play quick as they rank second in the Big 12 in blocks per game (4.8) and third in steals per game (8.7).

The New Sheriffs In Town

John-Michael Wright, a High Point transfer, brings experience and poise to the Oklahoma State locker room. In the 2021-22 season, his junior year of eligibility, he played and started in all 32 games for High Point while averaging 34.9 minutes per contest. He shot .410 from the field and .363 from behind the arc as he averaged 18.4 points, 4.4 rebounds and 3.4 assists.
He finished the year with the eighth-best assist-turnover ratio in the Big South, the ninth-best field goal percentage, had the second-most free throw attempts (third-most made), led the conference in scoring average and had the eighth-most assists.
Alongside Wright from the transfer ranks is Caleb Asberry from Texas State. He started all 29 games during the 2021-22 season, the only Bobcat to do that, as he led the team in scoring with a career-high 13.6 points and also paced the team in minutes played (847), steals (37), three-pointers made (63).
Asberry was notably a two-time All-Sun Belt (2021: Third Team, 2022: First Team) selection.
The lone freshman of the group, Quion Williams, joins the Cowboys from Jonesboro. During his high school career, Williams helped lead his team to two state championships and a 30-3 record.

Mid-Season Quick Hitters

Woody Newton has started the last nine games, marking the first nine starts of his career, and has averaged 24.7 minutes with 6.6 points, 4.2 rebounds and 45.5 percent from three.
After the Wichita State result earlier this season in Wichita, Oklahoma State has now held at least one opponent to less than 50 points in a game in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 2016.
There have been 17 seasons since the 2000-01 year that OSU had at least one game holding an opponent to less than 50 points while the program has done so in back-to-back seasons 13 times during the stretch.
Just four teams, Baylor, Texas, TCU and Kansas, have scored more than 69 points on the Cowboys in 12 Big 12 games thus far while only three (TCU, Texas Tech and Kansas) have scored more than 60 in Stillwater.
Only five teams (UT Arlington, Southern Illinois, TCU, Texas Tech and Kansas) have scored more than 60 points in GIA this season through the first 14 home games of the season.
A big part of those numbers? The Cowboys have held a 74-30 blocked shots advantage at home, with Cisse leading the way at 26. Boone has recorded 17, himself.
For the first time in his career, Kalib Boone was named the Big 12 Player of the Week last week. Boone averaged 21.5 points and 5.0 rebounds as the surging Cowboys won three straight games and five of six.
For his efforts against Iowa State and Oklahoma last month, Oklahoma State's Avery Anderson III was named the Big 12 Player of the Week. He averaged 16.0 points per game. The honor was the first of his career.

Cowboys in the Rankings... Close

In the latest AP rankings as of Feb. 13, Oklahoma State earned 23 votes. The mark was the sixth-most for teams outside the official top-25.
Oklahoma State was last inside the AP's rankings on March 15 when it checked in at No. 11 in the polls.
All-time, the Cowboys are 353-147 (.706) when ranked in the poll, 169-54 (.758) when ranked inside the top-10 and 82-26 (.759) when ranked inside the top-5.
OSU last made an appearance in the AP's rankings during the 2020-21 season, doing so four times. It was the first time OSU had made an appearance since Feb. 16, 2015.
The Cowboys have plenty of opportunities to earn their spot in the rankings as they will face No. 22 TCU on Saturday, West Virginia on Monday and No. 12 Kansas State next Saturday.

Getting Hot At The Right Time

Oklahoma State is playing its best ball at an opportune time, having won five of its last six games and seven of nine. Six of those wins have come against Big 12 opponents, pushing the Cowboys over .500 in conference play at 7-6 and keeping them within striking distance of the top half of the league.
During this stretch, OSU has held opponents to just 67.7 points per game while allowing them to shoot only 42.4 percent from the field and 31.5 percent from beyond the arc. The Cowboys, in comparison, are scoring 72.3 points per game while shooting 46.5 percent from the field and 35.4 percent from three.
Much of the Cowboys recent success can be attributed to the stellar play of Kalib Boone. The OSU big man is averaging 16.8 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game while shooting 68.6 percent from the field in his last nine games.
John-Michael Wright has also been a key component for the Cowboys as of late, taking on more ball-handling and scoring duties in the absence of Avery Anderson III. Wright is averaging 11.7 points per game while shooting 46.3 percent from the field and 45.8 percent from three in the last nine games.

1,000-Point Club

Avery Anderson III joined Oklahoma State's 1,000-career point club against Oklahoma earlier this month in Gallagher-Iba Arena. While teammates Caleb Asberry and John-Michael Wright won't count toward the OSU records, as they transferred in at the start of the season, they are both part of the larger club that spans the nation.
Around the league, Kansas State, Iowa State and Texas all have four on their current roster while Oklahoma State and Texas Tech have three. Oklahoma, Baylor, Kansas, West Virginia and TCU have two.
For Wright, he currently has the 43rd-most career points in Division I basketball and is fourth among current Big 12 players.
Wright is within striking distance of finishing with 1,000 points, 500 rebounds (2 away) and 300 assists (4 away).

Moussa Got Better Last Season - And Here's The Numbers To Show It

Based on his first 15 games in Stillwater last season, in comparison to the final 15 of last year, the evidence shows Moussa Cisse got better as the year went along and was playing his best basketball at the end of the season.
Through his first 15 contests as a Cowboys, Cisse was shooting 49.2 percent from the field while averaging 5.4 rebounds, 6.4 points and was playing 17.5 minutes per game.
Flip it to the last 15 games, and Cisse shot 61.5 percent from the field while averaging 7.5 rebounds with 8.1 points and was playing 22.4 minutes per game.
Just looking at the last 10 games of the season, he recorded a double-double in three contests (West Virginia, Baylor and Oklahoma) and had multi-digit rebounds in six of them, including all of the final four.
In that stretch of games down the stretch, the numbers immediately jump out from the West Virginia win on Feb. 12. Cisse posted 18 points with 10 rebounds, six of which came on the offensive side of the ball.

The 100 Games Played Club Gained Two More

Oklahoma State's Avery Anderson III and Kalib Boone both played in their 100th game in a Cowboy uniform against Kansas in the Big 12 opener for the Cowboys. In doing so, they became the first two players on the current roster to play 100 college basketball games. John-Michael Wright, who transferred in, played his 100th basketball game against West Virginia.
Other notable members of the club include Darwyn Alexander, Joe Adkins, James Anderson, Markel Brown, Terry Collins, JamesOn Curry, Byron Eaton, Marcus Dove, Phil Forte, Isaac Likekele, Desmond Mason, Ivan McFarlin, Marshall Moses, Keiton Page and more.
Anderson III's first game came on Nov. 6, 2019, in an 80-75 win against Oral Roberts in Gallagher-Iba Arena. He played 13 minutes with five points, two steals and an assist.
Kalib Boone's first game was the same night. He played 10 minutes, bringing in four rebounds and recorded two blocks.

The Upcoming Schedule

Oklahoma State is gearing up for the stretch run, with only five games left before the Big 12 conference tournament. Three of those five games will come on the road - TCU, West Virginia and Texas Tech - while the Cowboys will host Kansas State and Baylor.
Before its loss to Kansas on Tuesday, Oklahoma State had won five-straight games, its longest streak of the season. The streak began with a dominant win over Ole Miss in the Big 12/SEC Challenge before the Cowboys completed a sweep of Oklahoma in Norman. They then returned home to knock off then No. 15 TCU and beat Texas Tech last Wednesday. The fifth win in a row took place in Ames on Saturday, where the Cowboys completed a season sweep of the Cyclones for the second time in the last three seasons.
The Cowboys will look to maintain its momentum through one of its toughest stretches of the season, as three of its final five opponents are currently ranked in the AP Top 25. They'll start with a road test against No. 22 TCU looking to complete a season sweep before heading to Morgantown to take on West Virginia. They'll then return home for back-to-back games against ranked opponents, first taking on No. 12 Kansas State before hosting No. 9 Baylor. OSU's regular season schedule will conclude with a trip to Lubbock to take on Texas Tech, who boasts an 11-4 record at home this season.
Mike Boynton's teams have a history of peaking this time of year, as they are 17-12 in the last four seasons in the month of February, including a 4-1 mark so far this year. Boynton's teams are also 16-7 in March in his six seasons as head coach at Oklahoma State, including a 4-3 record in the Big 12 Tournament.

An Oklahoma State Win Would...

Improve the Cowboys to 30-12 in the TCU dating back to 1918.
Improve the Cowboys to 13-10 in the series since TCU joined the Big 12 in the 2012-13 season.
Improve the Cowboys to 10-7 against the Horned Frogs In Fort Worth.
Improve the Cowboys to 8-2 in games directly following a loss this season.
Improve the Cowboys to 5-1 in February.
Snap a five-game road losing streak against the Horned Frogs.
Give it five wins in its last six game.
Give it seven wins in its last nine games.
Give it three-straight road wins against conference opponents for the first time since 2021.
Be the Cowboys' fourth win over a ranked opponent this season.
Give Mike Boynton 24 wins over ranked opponents in his career.
Be Mike Boynton's 104th career win, putting him three shy of Paul Hansen for fourth-most in school history.
Be the Cowboys' eighth conference win this season, matching their total from last season.

Streaks and Trends

OSU has made at least one three-pointer in 753 consecutive games dating back to Jan. 13, 2001.
The Cowboys have posted 10 or more assists in 33 of their past 38 games dating back to last season.
Dating back to last season, OSU has held 27 of its past 30 opponents under their season scoring average.
Oklahoma State has reached double-digit second chance points in eight of 13 conference games this season, with a high of 16 against Kansas State and Baylor.
As a team, the Cowboys have reached at least three blocks in 25 of 26 games this season. OSU leads the Big 12 with 5.2 blocked shots per game, which ranks 15th in the country.
OSU has held 20 of its 26 opponents to 35 percent shooting or less from the three-point line while 15 of 26 have shot less than 30 percent. The Cowboys rank 20th in the country in three-point defense, holding opponents to 29.9 percent.
The Cowboys have made 10 or more free throws in 19 of 26 games this season after doing so in 18 of their 30 games last season.
OSU has forced 10 or more turnovers in 17-straight Big 12 games.
Oklahoma State has recorded at least five steals in 22 of its 26 games this season.
Kalib Boone has scored 13 or more points in nine of his last 12 games and has scored 18 or more in five of the last seven.
Boone has posted 123 points while shooting 48-56 from the field in his last seven games.
OSU has recorded five or more blocks in six of its seven road games this season.
Bryce Thompson continues to shoot the three at a high clip in conference play, making 41.4 percent of his attempts while averaging 1.8 makes per game.
The Cowboys have shot better than 40 percent from the field in nine-straight games, their longest such streak of the season.
Oklahoma State is 15-3 when they shoot the same percentage or better than their opponent from the field this season. They are 1-7 when their opponent has a higher field goal percentage.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Avery Anderson III

Caleb Asberry

Kalib Boone

Moussa Cisse

Isaac Likekele

Woody Newton

Bryce Thompson

Quion Williams

John-Michael Wright

Oklahoma State University Athletics