Oklahoma St. faces Kansas in Big 12 quarters

No. 8 seed Oklahoma State (18-14, 8-11) vs. No. 1 seed Kansas (28-3, 17-1)

Big 12 Conference Tourney Quarterfinals, Sprint Center, Kansas City, Missouri; Thursday, 1:30 p.m. EDT

BOTTOM LINE: A spot in the Big 12 semifinals is on the line as Oklahoma State matches up against Kansas. Kansas won both of the regular season matchups earlier this season. The teams last played on Feb. 24, when the Jayhawks outshot Oklahoma State 43.8 percent to 38.5 percent and hit seven more 3-pointers on the way to an 83-58 victory.

SUPER SENIORS: Oklahoma State has relied heavily on its seniors. Cameron McGriff, Isaac Likekele, Lindy Waters III and Thomas Dziagwa have collectively accounted for 60 percent of the team’s scoring this year and 79 percent of all Cowboys points over the team’s last five games.

FUELING THE OFFENSE: Likekele has made or assisted on 46 percent of all Oklahoma State field goals over the last three games. The sophomore guard has accounted for 17 field goals and 19 assists in those games.

ASSIST RATIOS: The Cowboys have recently used assists to create baskets more often than the Jayhawks. Kansas has an assist on 30 of 72 field goals (41.7 percent) over its past three outings while Oklahoma State has assists on 39 of 78 field goals (50 percent) during its past three games.

DID YOU KNOW: The Kansas defense has allowed only 60.7 points per game to opponents this season, ranking the Jayhawks 10th among Division I teams. The Oklahoma State offense has averaged 67.6 points through 32 games (ranked 251st, nationally).