Preview: NCAA Tournament – (8) Gonzaga vs. (9) Oklahoma State

2014 NCAA Tournament
Second Round Game
Viejas Arena – San Diego, Calif.

OKLAHOMA STATE COWBOYS (21-12)

• The Cowboys started the year winning 15 of 17 and have won five of the last seven.
• This is the second consecutive year for OSU to make the NCAA Tournament and 26th trip overall.  The Cowboys lost to Oregon in the first round last season, 68-55.
•  Oklahoma State (then Oklahoma A&M) won the national championship in 1945 and 1946.
• Marcus Smart is leading his team in points, assists and steals and is in the top five in the Big 12 each of those categories.
• Oklahoma State has four players that are averaging in double figures in scoring and all four received All-Big 12 honors.  Smart (17.8 ppg) was named to the league’s First Team, Markel Brown (17.1) tabbed on the Second Team, Le’Bryan Nash (14.2) to the Third Team and Phil Forte (13.3) shared co-Sixth Man of the Year honor.

GONZAGA BULLDOGS (28-6)

• The Bulldogs are 5-0 all-time against the Cowboys, including a 69-68 win in Stillwater on Dec. 31, 2012.
• This is the 16th consecutive trip to the Tournament for Gonzaga and 17th overall.  The Bulldogs have won at least once in the Tournament in each of the previous five years.  They have also played in the West Coast Conference title game 17 consecutive times.
• Sam Dower was named the WCC Championship MVP and made 23 consecutive free throws during the tournament.
• Coach Mark Few has never won less than 20 games in his 15 years as the head coach at Gonzaga and is the winningest active coach in terms of percentage (.802) and just earned his 400th win in the WCC Tournament.
• The Bulldogs also have four players that average double digit scoring: Dower (15.0 ppg), Kevin Pangos (14.1), Gary Bell Jr. (11.2) and Przemek Karnowski (10.2).