HEAT ADVISORY Click county for more information: Creek, Nowata, Osage, Pawnee, Rogers, Tulsa, Wagoner, Washington        

STILLWATER — Marcus Dove's career at Oklahoma State has been a long and winding road of ups and downs, complete with a couple of painful injuries and more than a couple memorable games. As he reflected on the five-year journey Dove said he wouldn't change anything about it – even if he has had to walk and bum rides for the last couple miles.

"Five years,” Dove said on the eve of his last game in Gallagher-Iba Arena, a Bedlam matchup against Oklahoma at 7 p.m. tonight. "That's crazy. It seems like I've been here about a year-and-a-half, two years. But I wouldn't trade it for the world.”

The bumps in the California native's road have certainly dictated the player he has become at OSU. A wrist injury he sustained as a redshirt freshman and re-injured as a freshman limited his shooting ability and forced him to focus on defense.

Given the team's "defensive stopper” title – and with props from freshman phenom Kevin Durant last season – Dove has become one of the most highly regarded defensive players in college basketball.

But it's a mistake he made over the summer that may wind up helping Dove reach the NBA.

In June, Dove was arrested and charged with an aggravated DUI, the third arrest of an OSU basketball player over the summer. Upset and humiliated, Dove added early morning shooting sessions to his court-designated punishments of community service and fines. His parents took his car away, so five days a week at 6 a.m. sophomore Obi Muonelo or student-manager Kyle Briggs would pick up Dove and the three of them would head to the gym.

As a result, the defensive specialist is no longer an offensive liability. Dove is shooting 45 percent from the floor and he's hit 24 3-pointers, including critical go-ahead 3s against Kansas and Missouri in the last two weeks. (In the hallway, after the Missouri win, a jubilant Dove hugged Briggs and hollered "6 a.m.! 6 a.m.!”).

Several NBA scouts watching the