STILLWATER, Okla. – In the latest installment of a five-game road stretch, the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles will travel to Stillwater, Okla. to take on the No. 24 ranked Oklahoma State Cowboys Saturday. The meeting marks the first between the two programs in school history.

Tennessee Tech (6-5, 0-0)
vs.
No. 24 Oklahoma State (9-1, 0-0)
Saturday, Dec. 22, 2012 / 12 p.m. CST
Gallagher-Iba Arena – Stillwater, Okla.

The Broadcasts
Television - direcTV (677) - Dish (449)
Radio: Fox Sports Radio, 106.1 The Eagle (Roger Ealey)
Webcast: Live on OKState.tv (okstate.com)

Setting the Stage
Oklahoma State comes into the game with an impressive 9-1 record and is ranked in both national polls at No. 24 in Division I basketball.

The Golden Eagles are coming off a tough road loss in Auburn that saw them struggle to shoot from behind the three-point line, hitting just one-of-18 in the game. The Tigers outshot TTU 40 to 18 at the charity stripe, converting on 30 of those chances.

Tech will look for its first win against a Big 12 program Saturday, having lost all seven meetings against opponents from the conference. While this marks the first time in program history the Golden Eagles will face off against the Cowboys, they have matched up against current and former Big 12 opponents including: Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Nebraska, Texas, and West Virginia.

The Cowboys boast a strong squad led by three players all capable and expected to be selected in the 2013 NBA Draft.

Marcus Smart, a 6-4 freshman guard, has been projected by many experts as a top five pick. He is currently averaging 12.7 points and 6.6 rebounds per contest.

Sophomore forward Le'Bryan Nash and junior guard Markel Brown lead the Pokes in scoring with 15.9 and 14.3 points per game, respectively. Both players are projected to be drafted in the upcoming draft.

OSU owns wins over UC Davis, UT Arlington, Central Arkansas, Missouri State, South Florida, and Portland State. They also have key victories over Tennessee and North Carolina State. The Pokes' lone loss on the season came at Virginia Tech.

The Cowboy defense has been strong all season, limiting opponents to just 56.8 points per game and 35.6 shooting from the floor this year.  

The Golden Eagles will look to combat the strong defense of OSU with accurate shooting, a skill they have not struggled with too often this season, shooting over 45 percent this year in 11 games.

Tech boasts a draftable guy as well in the form of senior guard Jud Dillard. An Atlanta, Ga. native, Dillard is averaging 19.0 points and 7.5 rebounds per game. He currently ranks second in the Ohio Valley Conference in scoring. He is shooting an impressive 84.4 percent from the charity stripe this year.

Jeremiah Samarrippas, a junior transfer from Southern Methodist, leads the Golden Eagles with 4.4 assists per contest. He adds 9.6 points per game and also leads the team in steals with 17 on the year.  His 20 made three pointers are also tops for Tech. He is one of two TTU players to start all 11 games this season and currently averages 30.5 minutes per game.

Fans can tune in to 106.1 TheEagle to listen to live coverage of Tech's contest against the Cowboys on Saturday. Radio coverage will begin approximately 15 minutes prior to the noon CST tip-off time. Fans can also view the live game feed on OKState.tv, the Oklahoma State Cowboys' live webstream for a pay-per-view price here. The game will also be televised in several local Oklahoma channels as well as direcTV (677) and Dish (449).

To read more about the upcoming game and Tennessee Tech basketball, take a look at the game notes for the match-up against Auburn here.