Oklahoma State Headed to K-State, Tip Off Tonight at Six
(This story was produced by Oklahoma State Athletic Media Relations.)
Facing Kansas State - Here's The Scout
Oklahoma State men's basketball is set to hit the road for a pair of Big 12 road games, starting Tuesday in Manhattan when it faces a Kansas State team that checked in at No. 11 in the latest AP Top-25 Poll. Tip is set for 6 p.m. CT on ESPNU with Chuckie Kempf and King McClure on the call while Cowboy fans can listen to Dave Hunziker and John Holcomb on the Cowboy Radio Network or Varsity App.
Kansas State leads the all-time series, 84-58, and owns a 41-18 advantage at home against the Cowboys. Coming into the 143rd meeting between the two schools, the two programs are tied at 5-5 over the past 10 games in a series that dates back to 1922.
The Wildcats come into Tuesday's game with a 14-1 record, including a 3-0 mark in Big 12 play. K-State is a perfect 8-0 at home this year and has won eight-straight games. Head coach Jerome Tang's 14-1 start to his tenure at K-State is the best any current first-year Division I head coach.
Kansas State earned a 97-95 win on the road Saturday at Baylor after setting the school record for points in a 116-103 victory over Texas on Tuesday. The 213 points are the most combined points over a 2-game stretch in school history.
The 14-1 start is KSU's best since the 1958-59 Big Eight Championship team won 25 of its first 26 games. K-State's current winning streak is the longest since winning 10 in a row from Nov. 14, 2013, to Jan. 7, 2014. The Wildcats are 3-0 in Big 12 play for the first time since 2012-13 and have won 3 consecutive Top 25 games (all in a row) for the first time in school history.
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
Kalib Boone and Bryce Thompson have averaged 11 points per game this season against teams that are either ranked or receiving votes.
Moussa Cisse has dominated through 15 games with five double-doubles to his name so far. The five double-doubles are the second most in the Big 12, only behind Jalen Wilson of Kansas with seven. Cisse is four double-doubles away from becoming the first Cowboy since Bryant "Big Country" Reeves to post 10 or more in a season.
After the Wichita State result, 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.
Good luck looking for an easy basket against the OSU defense. Oklahoma State owns the fourth-best field goal percentage defense in the country after this weekend's action and has recorded the 10th-best adjust efficiency defense, according to KenPom.
According to KenPom, it gets even tougher once you're inside the three-point line. OSU has posted the sixth-best two-point percentage defense in the country and the fifth-best block percentage.
In his past four trips to the state of Kansas (Kansas, Kansas State and Wichita State), Thompson has averaged 15 points per game on 12-of-24 shooting from behind the arc.
Oklahoma State's 12 blocks against Texas on Jan. 7 were the second most in a Big 12 game this season. Boone's six in that game, and Cisse's six against UCF on Nov. 18 are tied alongside Daniel Batcho of Texas for the most this season for Big 12 players.
Cisse's 15 rebounds against Southern Illinois on Nov. 10 are the most rebounds of any Big 12 player so far this season.
Thompson's seven three-pointers at Kansas on Nov. 31 are tied for the second most of any Big 12 players this year.
Through three Big 12 games, OSU has allowed just 185 points (61.7 points per game), the fewest in the conference. Oklahoma State is the only Big 12 defense to have held its in-conference opponents to an average of less than 40 percent shooting from the field thus far.
The Defense Lately
Has not allowed 30 points in 10 of the past 20 halves of action and hasn't let opponents reach that mark in 22 of the past 38 dating back to last season.
Has held teams to 60 or less points in seven of the past 10 games and hasn't allowed a team to score 61 or more in 10 of their past 17 games dating back to last year.
Has held teams to less than 40 percent shooting from the field in 16 of its past 17 games dating back to last year and has done so in 20 of their past 24 games. To expand, only four teams (SIU, DePaul, Virginia Tech and Kansas) have shot 38 percent or better this season against the Cowboys. Behind the arc, 10 of OSU's 15 foes have shot less than 30 percent this year.
Has started its success early in its 15 contests as it has held teams to less than 10 points in the first 10 minutes of a game four times this season.
Moussa Is A Monster
If you only counted his blocks at home (20), Moussa Cisse would still have the second-most blocks in the Big 12 as of Jan. 5. He has recorded at least one block in each of his past 24 games played. There have been just three games in his Oklahoma State career in which he did not record at least one block. In his home game against Sam Houston earlier this season, he recorded four blocks. It marked the fourth time this season he recorded four or more blocks and was the eighth time he posted two or more in a game this year.
Through his first seven home games this season, Cisse is averaging a block approximately every 9 minutes of his playing time in Gallagher-Iba Arena.
As of last Thursday, he checked in at No. 5 in KenPom's block percentage rankings only behind Milwaukee's Ahmad Rand, Western Kentucky's Jamarion Sharp, San Jose St. Ibrahimo Diallo and Liam Robbins of Vanderbilt.
In his last five home games, Cisse has combined to post 49 points, 13 blocks and 49 rebounds.
It's been tough to keep him off the boards this year, as he has posted 10 or more rebounds in five of his past eight games and has reached the mark in nine of his first 14 games.
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
Each of OSU's first four Big 12 opponents are ranked inside the AP Poll or getting votes while seven of their first eight are ranked or receiving votes.
Oklahoma State had a quick turn to open Big 12 play as it played Kansas New Year's Eve before playing host to West Virginia on Monday two days later.
The Cowboys welcomed No. 6 Texas to Stillwater this past Saturday afternoon, and now turn their attention to a pair of key road games starting Tuesday in Manhattan.
From here, OSU will hit the road for a pair of games next week, starting on Tuesday against No. 11 Kansas State before closing the week on Saturday in Waco against a Baylor team that is getting votes in the latest AP Top-25 Poll.
Big 12 Notes Three Games In
Through three Big 12 games, Bryce Thompson and John-Michael Wright have found the most success offensively for the Cowboys. Thompson has averaged 14.3 points while Wright has averaged 12.3.
Don't overlook Kalib Boone's play, either, as he's averaged 9.3 points and 7.7 rebounds.
The block differential has been hard to ignore as the Cowboys have already recorded 20 blocks through three Big 12 games while their opponents have had just five. By himself, Boone has record seven blocks while Tyreek Smith has six.
The defensive numbers as a whole have been stellar for OSU, as it has held its three conference foes to 38.3 percent shooting from the field thus far.
OSU has held two of its first three Big 12 opponents (West Virginia and Texas) to season lows in scoring. Texas' 56 points on Saturday were the fewest the Longhorns have scored since scoring just 55 in a 61-55 loss to Texas Tech on Feb. 19 of last season.
An Oklahoma State Win Would...
Improve the Cowboys to 59-84 in the Kansas State series, which dates back to 1922.
Push the Cowboys to 19-41 on the road against the Wildcats.
Make OSU 6-5 in the past 11 meetings against the two schools.
Improve OSU to 3-1 in the past four meetings on the road in the series.
Make OSU 6-1 in the past seven meetings in the series.
Be OSU's first win over a ranked team this season and first on the road since beating No. 1 Baylor, 61-54, on Jan. 15, 2022.
Be the third-straight year OSU has won a game on the road over a ranked foe, marking the first time in the Big 12 era the Cowboys have done so.
Streaks and Trends
OSU has made at least one three-pointer in 742 consecutive games dating back to Jan. 13, 2001.
The Cowboys have posted ten or more assists in 22 of their past 27 games dating back to last season.
Dating back to last season, OSU has held 18 of its past 19 opponents under their season scoring average.
Oklahoma State has used its size to dominate in the paint offensively, outscoring 11 of its 15 opponents in the paint.
As a team, the Cowboys have reached at least three blocks in all 15 games this season. OSU leads the Big 12 with 5.5 blocked shots per game.
Avery Anderson III has made a name for himself with his hounding on-ball defense. The senior guard has recorded at least two steals in 10 of the Cowboys first 15 games.
The Cowboys have made 10 or more free throws in 11 of the first 15 games this season after doing so in 18 of their 30 games last season.
Bryce Thompson has led the Cowboys in scoring in four of the past five games.
Kalib Boone has led OSU in rebounding in three of the past four games coming into the game against Kansas State.
19 of Bryce Thompson's 30 three-point baskets this season have come in the past five games dating back to the Wichita State game on Nov. 17.
Oklahoma State has recorded five steals in three-straight games dating back to the Kansas game on Dec. 31.
OSU has forced at least 12 turnovers in four-straight games dating back to the Texas A&M Corpus Christ game on Dec. 20.
Bryce Thompson has made at least one three-point shot in five-straight games, his longest such streak of the season and his second-longest as a Cowboy after going six-straight games with a three-pointer last season.
Along those lines, John-Michael Wright has made a three-pointer in 10-straight games dating back to the win over Tulsa on Nov. 25. He has made at least one three-pointer in 28 of his past 34 games dating back to last season at High Point.