Oklahoma State’s History at the Big 12 Tournament

Oklahoma State (20-11, 9-9 in the Big 12) heads into Kansas City as the No. 5-seed in the Big 12 tournament, despite a pair of close losses to end their season. The Cowboys will face off against No. 4-seed Iowa State for the third time this season (20-10, 12-6 in the Big 12), who ended their season on a roll, winning 6 out of their last 7.

Iowa State won both tight meetings this year over OSU, with a 96-86 win on January 11th in Stillwater and a 86-83 win last Tuesday in Ames. Who’s ready for round 3 of Monte Morris vs. Jawun Evans?

Historically, Oklahoma State is 3-1 against the Cyclones in the Big 12 tournament, as well as 3-1 in the Big 8 tournament so 6-2 overall in postseason tournaments. The last time the two met in the Big 12 tournament was 2009, when OSU won 81-69 in Oklahoma City.

Believe it or not, the Cowboys have only arrived at the Big 12 tournament with a higher seed than this team once since Eddie Sutton was the head coach. That was in 2013 when they were the No. 3-seed and lost to Kansas State in the semifinals.

Here are a couple of numbers you want to know about Oklahoma State and their history at the Big 12 tournament.

OSU has historically done well as the Big 12 Tournament. despite the relative lack of success in the Travis Ford era, the Cowboys are 23-18 overall in the Big 12 tournament, with Big 12 tournament championships in 2004 and 2005 under Eddie Sutton.

They are third in Big 12 history in tournament wins with 23, and also 3rd in winning percentage, behind just Kansas and Oklahoma. I don’t want to put the cart in front of the horse, but after a year of Brad Underwood, I don’t think it would shock anyone to see the Cowboys return to a similar success as the Sutton-era Pokes.

The Cowboys have done pretty well in this position, too. As the No. 5-seed, Oklahoma State has a 4-2 record at the Big 12 tournament. They made it all the way to the finals in 1999 as a 5-seed, as well as beating the No. 12 Texas Tech Red Raiders in 2001. Playing against the 4-seed, the Cowboys are 2-1, beating Oklahoma in 1999, losing to Texas in the second round in 2001, and knocking off 4-seed Texas Tech in the Big 12 title game in 2005.

These Cowboys don’t have a lot of Big 12 Tournament experience. With Tavarius Shine out for the year, the rest of the Cowboys roster has only played in 13 combined games. Phil Forte and Leyton Hammonds have combined for nine (!) of those 13 games and are the only players with Big 12 tournament wins. Here are some players that have never played in the Big 12 tournament before-.

• Jawun Evans (was injured last year)
• Davon Dillard
• Brandon Averette
• Cam McGriff
• Lindy Waters III
• Lucas N’Guessan

This group of Cowboys, as well as Brad Underwood has a chance to write their own history in Kansas City to usher in the new era of Oklahoma State basketball. Even with Phil Forte’s 133 career games, the young Cowboys are the 279th-most experienced team in the nation according to KenPom. Their average age is just 20.2 years old, tied with Texas for the youngest in the Big 12. They’ll kick it off on Thursday against the senior-laden Iowa State Cyclones at 11:30 AM on ESPN2.