Game Notes: TCU

[rv/rv] TCU (13-4, 2-3) at Oklahoma State (8-10, 0-5)
Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2024 | 8:05 p.m. CT
Stillwater, Okla. (Gallagher-Iba Arena)

Tickets: okstate.com/tickets
TV: ESPN2 (Mark Neely & Tim Welsh)
Radio: Cowboy Radio Network (Dave Hunziker & John Holcomb)
Internet Radio: okstate.com/listen & The Varsity Sports App
Live Stats: okstate.statbroadcast.com
Series: OSU leads 29-13 (13-3 in Stillwater)
Last: Feb. 18, 2023 in Fort Worth, Texas (TCU, 100-75)

The Basics:

After playing three of their last four on the road, the Oklahoma State Cowboys (8-10, 0-5) are back home Tuesday night to take on the TCU Horned Frogs (13-5, 2-3) inside historic Gallagher-Iba Arena.
OSU coaches will wear suits and sneakers to raise awareness for cancer research. Learn more at coachesvscancer.com.
Freshman Eric Dailey Jr. matched his career-high with 15 points, but OSU dropped a 70-66 heart breaker at K-State on Saturday. The Cowboys led by 10 midway through the second half but couldn't hang on.
TCU fell from the national rankings after two close losses of its own last week at Cincinnati (81-77 in overtime) and at home against No. 24 Iowa State (73-72).
OSU ranks second in the Big 12 with 9.1 threes per game. Leading scorer Javon Small (13.8 ppg) averages 2.1 threes on 38.7% accuracy.
Emanuel Miller tops the scoring (16.3) and rebounding (5.7) for TCU, which averages a nation-best 22.1 fast break points.
OSU is 29-13 all-time against TCU, including 13-3 in Stillwater.

Watch:
The game will air on Big 12 Now on ESPN2 with Mark Neely and Tim Welsh. Fans with ESPN2 in their television packages can stream the game live and on-demand through the ESPN app.

Listen:
Dave Hunziker and John Holcomb describe the action on stations across the Cowboy Radio Network. Visit okstate.com/radio for a full list of affiliates by location. Fans outside the listening area can tune in via the Varsity Sports App or at okstate.com/listen.

Last Time on Cowboy Basketball:
Jan. 20, 2024 in Manhattan, Kan. | KSU 70, OSU 66

K-State erased a 10-point deficit over the final 10 minutes to deny OSU its first Big 12 win.
Freshman Eric Dailey Jr. matched his career-high with 15 points and Javon Small stuffed the box score with 11 points, eight rebounds, five assists and five steals.
Small's three-pointer gave the Cowboys their largest lead of the night, 54-44 near the midway point of the second half, but K-State rallied behind Arthur Kaluma (23 points) and Cam Carter, who scored 12 of his 15 after halftime.
Small's layup tied the game at 66 with just under a minute to go, but K-State quickly answered.
With 25 seconds left and the shot clock down to 1.2 seconds, Tylor Perry lobbed a baseline inbound pass to Carter for an alley-oop lay-in and a 68-66 Wildcat lead.
OSU finished with 13 steals and 17 takeaways but committed 17 turnovers of its own, the last with 11 seconds to go.
K-State shot 52% and logged 20 assists on 25 baskets. OSU held a 31-25 advantage on the glass by limiting the Cats to just three offensive rebounds.

K-State leftovers:

OSU lost for the first time this season when leading at halftime (8-1). The Cowboys are 0-9 when tied or trailing at the intermission.
OSU came away with defensive rebounds on 87.5% of K-State misses (21 of 24) – a season-high and the sixth time this year the Cowboys have topped 80%. Per KenPom, the Cowboys' 75.2% deference rebounding percentage is the nation's 23rd-best.
OSU's 18.6% steal percentage was its best in a Big 12 game since Feb. 18. 2017 against Oklahoma (20.3%). That runs counter to a season-long trend. The Cowboys rank 350th out of 362 teams in that category (12.1%).
Likewise, K-State posted assists on 20 of its 25 baskets (80%). OSU opponents had entered the night with the nation's 15th-lowest assist percentage (42.1%).
Javon Small's five steals were the most by a Cowboy this season.
With a first-half steal and stuff, Small became the 10th different Cowboy to record a dunk.
Bryce Thompson played the 100th game of his NCAA career. He's logged 80 of those in an OSU uniform with 75 starts.
After 11 straight games with the starting-5 of Small/Thompson/Williams/Dailey/Garrison, OSU shook things up. John-Michael Wright returned to the starting-five for the first time since Nov. 24 and freshman Connor Dow made his first career start.
Quion Williams (the only Cowboy to start each of the first 17 games) and Eric Dailey Jr. (16 straight starts) both came off the bench.
Due in part to first-half foul trouble, head coach Mike Boynton Jr. used 22 different lineup combos in 40 minutes.

Individual Trends:

Thompson needs just 78 more points to become the 44th member of OSU's 1,000-point club. He'd be the sixth to join the club under Mike Boynton's watch, alongside Jeffrey Carroll (1,416 from 2014-18), Cameron McGriff (1,211 from 2016-20), Lindy Waters III (1,152 from 2016-20), Isaac Likekele (1,015 from 2018-22) and Avery Anderson III (1,061 from 2019-23).
Thompson scored his 1,000th collegiate point last Tuesday. Fittingly, it came against his former school, Kansas (where he scored the first 91 during his freshman season). That gives OSU a trio of 1,000-point scorers on its roster.
Graduate guard Jarius Hicklen scored his 1,400th collegiate point against the Jayhawks and also knocked down his 200th Division I three-pointer.
Fellow fifth-year John-Michael Wright needs just 36 more points to reach the 2,000-mark.
Eric Dailey is shooting 58.3% from the field in Big 12 play, including 74.1% (20/27) from inside the arc.
Hicklen has made a three-pointer in 14 straight games going back to Nov. 20. He's 29-of-58 (.500) from deep over that stretch.
Small ranks second in the Big 12 and 66th nationally in free throw percentage (51/59, .864). He's also among the league leaders in threes (8th, 2.1), defensive rebounds (8th, 4.8), assists (8th, 4.5) and minutes (9th, 32:12).
Freshman Brandon Garrison has played some of his best ball of late, averaging 8.0 points on 67% shooting and a team-best 5.8 rebounds in five Big 12 games (up from 5.6 points, 53% shooting during non-conference play).
Garrison ranks fourth on the Big 12 leaderboard in blocks (1.6).
Five different Cowboys have posted a double-double this year: Williams (x2), Dailey (x2), Mike Marsh, Garrison and Small.

Team Trending:

OSU opened conference play with five straight Quadrant I contests. The schedule (sort of) loosens up over the next two weeks with three of the next four falling into QII or QIII territory. But then it's back to QI's for eight of the last nine regular season dates.
OSU is 7-2 this season (and 26-5 over the last two) when out-shooting its opponent compared to 1-8 when out-shot.
OSU opponents have taken over 69.6% of their shots and scored 57.3% of their points from inside the arc. Both percentages rank among the top-20 nationally. By contrast, OSU has taken 44.3% of its shots (35th) and scored 37.7% of its points from beyond the arc (28th).

Fresh Perspective:

20 Big 12 freshmen have clocked at least 100 minutes this season. Five of them are Cowboys.
Rookies have combined for roughly a third of OSU's points (34.1%) and minutes (34.4%). Both percentages lead the Big 12.
Only five of the league's 41 active freshmen have been on the court for more than half of their team's minutes. That group includes Eric Dailey Jr. (61.4%) and Brandon Garrison (53.0%).
Garrison's 29 blocks and 104 rebounds are both tops among Big 12 freshmen. Dailey's 180 points are third-most.

Close Encounters:

In six of their losses this season, the Cowboys have had the ball in the final 15 seconds with a chance to tie or take the lead.
OSU is 0-6 in games decided by five points in either direction.
KenPom's "Luck" metric, which compares team's expected winning percentage (based on efficiency) to its actual record, rates the Cowboys 351st out of 362 teams.

The Series with TCU:

OSU is 29-13 all-time against TCU but just 12-11 since the 2012-13 season when the Horned Frogs joined the Big 12 Conference.
OSU has won 13 of the 16 matchups in Stillwater (11-2 at GIA) including back-to-back.
The Cowboys are 9-8 against TCU in Fort Worth but have lost their last six visits.
The teams have split the last two season series, with each protecting home court.
OSU upset the 15th-ranked Horned Frogs in Stillwater last February (79-73) behind Kalib Boone's career-high 25 points. Two weeks later in Fort Worth, TCU shot 68% from the field to win the rematch, 100-75.
This is the only meeting between the teams in the 2023-24. Due to the league's new unbalanced schedule format, the Cowboys will not travel to Fort Worth.

Scouting the Horned Frogs:

Jamie Dixon has guided TCU to back-to-back NCAA Round of 32 appearances – the school's first NCAA tournament wins since 1987.
The Horned Frogs lost second team All-Big 12 guards Damion Baugh and Mike Miles from last year's 22-13 team but have continued their momentum behind a core of five returning veterans and five new transfers.
TCU is the nation's third-most experienced team, per KenPom, with an average of 3.33 years at the Division I level. The Horned Frogs' top-8 scorers are all in at least their fourth seasons of college basketball. Four of them are in year No. 5 and one (Chuck O'Bannon) is in the midst of his seventh season. TCU has gotten a grand total of zero minutes from freshmen this season.
TCU is 2-3 in league play after falling in overtime last Tuesday at Cincinnati (77-81) and by a point to Iowa State on Saturday (73-72). Four of its five Big 12 games have been decided by four points in either direction.
TCU is 2-2 on the road with non-conference wins at Georgetown and Hawaii.
TCU it putting up 82.9 points per game on 48.5% shooting, helped by its defense. The Frogs force 10 steals per game and average a nation-best 22.2 fastbreak points. They've been great on the offensive glass, as well, ranking 16th in offensive rebounding percentage. 36.0% of their misses turn into second-chance opportunities.
6-7 senior Emanuel Miller -- a three-year starter and 2023 Honorable Mention All-Big 12 selection – is the team's leading scorer (16.3) and rebounder (5.7).
6-7 senior Micah Peavy (10.7 ppg, 5.0 rpg) and 6-7 junior JaKobe Coles (10.4 ppg, 4.6 rpg) have both thrived in expanded roles after coming off the bench last year.
Fifth-year Delaware transfer Jameer Nelson Jr. (son of former 14-year NBA veteran Jameer Nelson Sr.) averages 10.8 points and 3.2 assists and ranks second on the Big 12 leaderboard in steals (2.4).
Fifth-year senior guard Avery Anderson III adds an additional 1.6 steals off the bench, along with 9.1 points and a team-best 3.7 assists.
6-3 senior Trevian Tennyson (9.4 ppg) made 100 threes last year at A&M-Corpus Christi and has played a similar role for TCU, knocking down 36-of-75 (.480) so far.
The lone underclassman in the mix is starting center Earnest Udeh – a Kansas transfer and former McDonald's All-American – who averages 4.7 points, 5.6 rebounds in 16.5 minutes. He leads the team in blocks (15) and ranks among the top-10 nationally in offensive rebounding percentage (19.1%).

Matchup Mashup:

OSU freshman Eric Dailey Jr.'s mother, Shell, is a former TCU's women's basketball head coach (1993-96).
Dailey's father, Eric Sr., played his last two seasons for the Horned Frogs under OSU graduate Moe Iba (1992-94). He was the team's leading scorer (14.9 ppg) and rebounder (6.5 rpg) as a junior and served as team captain the following year.
OSU assistant David Cason spent two years on the late Neal Dougherty's TCU staff (2003-05) and helped the Horned Frogs to the 2005 NIT quarterfinals.
Former Cowboy Avery Anderson III returns to Stillwater as a Horned Frog. He scored more than 1,000 points in his four seasons (2019-23).

A Cowboy win would...

Be their first in Big 12 play (1-5) and boost their overall record back to 9-10.
Make them 8-4 at home this season.
Up their series lead over TCU to 30-13 and make them 14-3 against the Frogs in Stillwater.

Up Next: West Virginia
Tuesday, 8 p.m. CT (ESPN2)

OSU is home again Saturday afternoon against West Virginia (1 p.m. CT, ESPN+).
The Mountaineers (7-11, 2-3 heading into Tuesday's road game at UCF) are led by interim head coach Josh Eilert.
WVU knocked off No. 3 Kansas last weekend but is still in search of its first road victory.
Saturday marks the 23rd anniversary of the plane crash that claimed the lives of 10 members of the OSU men's basketball program.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Avery Anderson III

Kalib Boone

Eric Dailey Jr.

Connor Dow

Brandon Garrison

Jarius Hicklen

Mike Marsh

Javon Small

Bryce Thompson

Quion Williams

John-Michael Wright

Oklahoma State University Athletics