Completed Event: Men's Basketball versus Auburn on February 24, 2026 , Win , 91, to, 79
Final
Men's Basketball
91
vs Auburn
79
University of Oklahoma Athletics
Sooners Look To Bounce Back Versus North Texas
December 08, 2000 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 8, 2000
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GAME INFORMATION
Ranked 20th in the AP poll and 16th in the ESPN/USA Today coaches' version, Oklahoma (5-1) hosts North Texas (1-5) Saturday at 7 p.m CST inside Lloyd Noble Center. The game will air live on the Sooner Basketball Radio Network (flagship KOMA 1520 AM in Oklahoma City) with Bob Barry, Sr. (play-by-play) and Mark Mathew (analyst) calling the action. The contest, which will not be televised, can also be heard live on soonersports.com.
OKLAHOMA UPDATE
The Sooners suffered a 60-55 setback last Saturday at Mississippi, its first of the season. Strong Ole Miss perimeter defense prevented Oklahoma from getting into an offensive flow and limited OU to just 45 field goal attempts and 10 three-point tries. The Sooners lost despite shooting .511 from the field, their fourth .500-or-better performance of the season.
Although he has averaged just 6.3 points over OU's last three games, junior forward Aaron McGhee touts a team-high 15.5 points-per-game average on the year. He is followed by sophomore point guard Hollis Price, who averages 15.0 points per outing. Price's five-point effort at Ole Miss marked the first time this season he failed to reach double figures. Price also averages team highs in assists (6.3 apg) and steals (2.5 spg). Junior guard J.R. Raymond averages 11.0 points per contest while senior guard Nolan Johnson averages 10.5. Johnson has totaled 30 points over the last two games.
Senior forward Jameel Heywood and junior forward Daryan Selvy average 6.0 rebounds per game apiece to lead the squad. Selvy has been consistent in the category with games of four, five, six, eight and seven boards. Senior guard Kelley Newton has made a team-high 13 three-pointers on 23 attempts for a healthy .565 figure, but fellow senior Tim Heskett, OU's career leader in three-point percentage entering the year (.420), is just 6-for-26 (.231) from long range thus far.
The Sooners' .497 field goal and .397 three-point marks are solid, but opponents have fared even better with their .506 and .410 respective figures.
On the injury front, freshman forward Johnnie Gilbert, a starter in the team's last three games, underwent successful arthroscopic surgery Friday morning on his left knee to repair torn cartilage. The injury occurred during OU's practice Wednesday. Gilbert is expected to miss 10-21 days of action.
ABOUT NORTH TEXAS
North Texas enters Saturday's game with a 1-5 record and is coming off a 97-77 road loss to Arkansas on Tuesday. The Mean Green opened the season with losses to Tulsa (89-71), Texas A&M (77-74), Oklahoma State (94-56) and Southwest Missouri State (81-64) before defeating Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (111-102).
Sophomore guard Chris Davis, who ranked 14th in the NCAA last year in scoring with a 21.7 points-per-game average, leads the team this year with his 15.7 points per outing. Senior forward Bryan Lucas averages 13.3 points and 7.5 rebounds to go along with a .587 field goal percentage, while sophomore forward Jason Miller averages 12.2 points and a team-high 8.0 boards per contest.
In its lone win, North Texas shot a strong .596 from the field. In its five losses, though, the team has posted just a combined .401 mark.
Head Coach Vic Trilli is in his fourth season at North Texas where he is 17-68 (.200). Prior to becoming head coach of the Mean Green, Trilli spent eight seasons as an assistant at Texas under Tom Penders. Trilli was also head coach at Lon Morris Junior College (Jacksonville, Texas) for eight seasons (1982-89) where he posted a 169-82 (.673) record.
SERIES WITH NORTH TEXAS
Oklahoma leads the all-time series with North Texas, 2-1. The teams last faced each other Dec. 22, 1997, in Norman when the Sooners posted a 95-72 victory. Corey Brewer made six three-pointers en route to a 27-point performance and Michael Johnson tied Jan Pannell's Oklahoma record with 18 assists, 11 of them after halftime. OU's .655 field goal mark was the second best in school history. North Texas, meanwhile, shot just .347 from the field.
OU also notched a 147-94 win in the first round of the 1989 All-College Tournament in Oklahoma City as Tony Martin's 30 points led an astounding eight Sooners in double figures. North Texas earned its only series triumph in 1966 in Denton, 86-78.
RECAPPING THE OLE MISS CONTEST
Oklahoma lost for the first time in six games last Saturday at Mississippi, 60-55. The Sooners led 25-24 at halftime, but trailed much of the second half. Ole Miss took a five-point lead - its largest of the game - on a Jason Harrison layup with 5:46 to go. However, consecutive baskets down low by Daryan Selvy, Ronnie Griffin and Aaron McGhee put the Sooners up by one at 48-47 with 4:26 left. It was OU's last lead, though, as the Rebels outscored the Sooners 13-7 down the stretch. Nolan Johnson led Oklahoma with 12 points and was followed by Selvy's 11 and McGhee's 10. Selvy also pulled down seven rebounds, and Hollis Price's four assists and three steals led the team. Freshman Aaron Harper paced Ole Miss with 18 points thanks to 4-for-5 three-point shooting. Rahim Lockhart grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds. The Rebels, who improved to 5-0, won their 39th straight home non-conference game. Ole Miss shot .514 from the field, marking the fourth consecutive game an OU foe recorded at least a .500 percentage.
OLE MISS LEFTOVERS
SZENDREI TO MAKE OU DEBUT
Junior Jozsef Szendrei, a 6-9, 240-pound post player who has been recovering from a torn anterior cruciate ligament injury sustained last summer, will make his Oklahoma debut Saturday versus North Texas, said OU Head Coach Kelvin Sampson. A native of Budapest, Hungary, Szendrei was a first-team Region 9 selection last year at Northeastern (Colo.) Junior College when he averaged 15.3 points and 14.8 rebounds per outing. Szendrei will wear a brace on his right knee.
ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT
Head Coach Kelvin Sampson has been less than pleased with his team's defense so far this season, and for good reason. Although the Sooners are surrendering a respectable 65.5 points per game, each of OU's last four opponents have shot better than .500 from the field. On the season, Oklahoma foes own a combined .506 field goal percentage. In Sampson's six previous years at OU, opponents never shot better than .444 (1995-96) for a season. The only time in Oklahoma history that opponents combined for a .500 field goal mark for an entire campaign was in 1980-81 (.501).
BALANCED ATTACK
Aaron McGhee leads four Sooners who average double digits in points per game. McGhee, who averages 15.5 per outing, is joined by Hollis Price (15.0), J.R. Raymond (11.0) and Nolan Johnson (10.5). Kelley Newton is not far behind with his 9.7 points per game. No Kelvin Sampson-coached Oklahoma team has ever finished a season with five players averaging double figures in scoring. Four players averaged at least 10.0 points per game in both the 1994-95 and 1995-96 seasons, however.
BACK ON TRACK
Since shooting .295 from three-point land in its first two games, Oklahoma has rebounded sharply in the department. In its last four games, OU has gone 33-for-72 from beyond the arc for a stellar .468 percentage.
The Sooners now own a .397 three-point mark for the season and boast four players (Aaron McGhee, Kelley Newton, Nolan Johnson and J.R. Raymond) with a .400 or better figure and one (Hollis Price) with a .391 mark. Interestingly, the school's career leader in three-point percentage entering the year (.420), senior guard Tim Heskett sports just a .231 percentage (6-for-26).
Last year, the Sooners ranked second in the Big 12 with a .383 season three-point mark and two years ago finished second with a .388 percentage.
PRICE IS RIGHT
Hollis Price is off to a terrific start this season, as evidenced by his 15.0 points, 6.3 assists and 2.5 steals averages. The sophomore point guard is also shooting .569 from the field, .391 from three-point range and .833 from the charity stripe.
Price, who scored 10 or more points in OU's first five games, has already earned MVP honors in two tournaments this year. He won the Sooner Invitational MVP trophy after averaging 11.0 points, 8.5 assists, 4.0 rebounds, 3.5 steals and just 1.5 turnovers in wins over Alcorn State and La Salle. At the Big Island Invitational, Price took home another trophy after averaging 21.0 points, 5.7 assists and 1.7 steals while shooting .719 (23-for-32) from the field and .615 (8-for-13) from three-point land in victories against Montana State, Tulane and Oregon State. Versus the Green Wave, Price was 10-for-14 from the floor, 3-for-5 from beyond the arc and 7-for-9 from the foul line for a career-high 30 points. He also contributed six assists and four steals in that contest.
FOULS LIMIT McGHEE'S PRODUCTION
Junior forward Aaron McGhee averaged 24.7 points and 6.7 rebounds over OU's first three games. Included in the brief stretch was a 32-point performance versus Montana State in the opening round of the Big Island Invitational. But foul problems have limited the playing time of the former first-team junior college All-American in the Sooners' last three games. McGhee scored 10, three and six points against Ole Miss, Oregon State and Tulane, respectively, when he averaged only 20.7 minutes. He was also held to a combined seven boards in those three contests.
Despite the recent slowdown, McGhee leads the team in scoring (15.5 ppg) and ranks third in rebounding (4.5 rpg). He is shooting .565 from the field, .600 from three-point range and .741 from the free throw line.
NOW PLAYING: RONNIE GRIFFIN
Junior forward Ronnie Griffin, who did not participate in Oklahoma's first three games due to eligibility issues that occurred prior to his recruitment by or attendance at OU, made his debut against Tulane in the Big Island Invitational Nov. 25. Griffin has played a total of 20 minutes over three games and is averaging 3.7 points. He has made all five of his field goal attempts.
The 6-9 Louisville, Ky., native averaged 12.5 points and 5.3 rebounds at Tallahassee (Fla.) Community College last year and was a first-team All-Panhandle Conference selection. Griffin shot .544 from the field and helped the Eagles to a 25-5 final record.
ANOTHER TOURNAMENT TROPHY
Oklahoma's tournament titles in the Sooner Invitational and the Big Island Invitational this season give the Sooners six straight in the regular season. Last year the Sooners won the Top of the World Classic in Fairbanks, Alaska, the Sooner Invitational in Norman and the All-College Tournament in Oklahoma City. OU also captured the All-College Tournament championship in the 1998-99 season. The Sooners' last loss in regular season tourney competition came to North Carolina State (62-58) in the final round of the Puerto Rico Holiday Classic in December 1998. Their winning streak stands at 14 games.
MISCELLANEOUS NOTES
PRESEASON PREDICTIONS
In the annual preseason Big 12 media poll released Nov. 2, Oklahoma was picked to finish second in the league behind Kansas. Among the teams the Sooners were predicted to finish ahead of were Missouri (third), Texas (fourth), Iowa State (fifth) and Oklahoma State (sixth). OU was also picked second in the league race by conference coaches.
SAMPSON SIGNS PAIR OF RECRUITS
Head Coach Kelvin Sampson announced Nov. 7 that center Jabahri Brown and wing Matt Gipson have signed National Letters of Intent to play basketball at OU next season.
"Jabahri and Matt are two young men who give us a great follow-up to last year's outstanding recruiting class," said Sampson. "We really wanted to get better inside and be more athletic. We accomplished both goals by signing these two talented players."
A native of St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, the 6-11 Brown transferred to Rose State College in Midwest City, Okla., following his freshman year at Florida International University last season. Brown will transfer to OU at the end of the current semester and will be eligible to play for the Sooners following the conclusion of the fall 2001 semester when he will have sophomore status. He averaged 8.6 points, 6.3 rebounds, 2.3 blocked shots and 1.6 steals in 24.3 minutes per game last season as a true freshman at Florida International.
Gipson is a 6-9 wing player from Burkburnett High School in Burkburnett, Texas, who averaged 21.5 points, 8.3 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game as a junior last year. Compared in style by some to former Utah standout Keith Van Horn, Gipson helped his squad to a 24-11 record while earning unanimous all-district and all-region honors. Fastbreak Recruiting rates him as the fifth-best senior in the Midwest.
OU BOASTS NATION'S FOURTH-LONGEST POSTSEASON STREAK
Oklahoma has made 19 consecutive postseason appearances (15 NCAA and four NIT), the fourth-longest streak among Division I programs. Only North Carolina (34 years), Georgetown (26) and Indiana (23) own longer postseason streaks. The last time Oklahoma did not compete in the postseason was in 1980-81. The four longest current postseason streaks are as follows:
MODEL OF CONSISTENCY
Oklahoma has registered a winning record in 23 of its last 24 seasons. No other Big 12 team can boast as many winning campaigns since the 1975-76 season as the Sooners. OU has posted a 531-239 (.690) record over the past 24 years.
HEAD COACH KELVIN SAMPSON
Now in his 18th year as a collegiate head coach, Kelvin Sampson is in his seventh year at the Oklahoma helm. He has averaged 21.7 wins per season at OU and is one of two Big 12 coaches -- Kansas' Roy Williams is the other -- to lead his team to the NCAA Tournament each of the last six seasons.
Sampson began his head coaching career in 1980 at Montana Tech when he was hired as the program's interim head coach. He recorded a 73-45 mark in four seasons and was inducted into the school's sports hall of fame three years ago.
In 1988, Sampson was named head coach at Washington State and compiled an even 103-103 record over seven years, including two 20-win campaigns.
Hired by Oklahoma on April 25, 1994, he has guided the Sooners to a 135-63 (.683) record and a 77-15 (.837) home mark. Two of his OU squads (1997-98 and 1999-00) have played in the Big 12 Tournament championship game. In 1998-99, he directed OU to an NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 appearance.
Sampson was named the 1995 national coach of the year by the Associated Press, the USBWA and Basketball Times.
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