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University of Oklahoma Athletics
OU Men's Hoops Faces Texas Tech Tuesday Night
January 15, 2001 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 15, 2001
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GAME INFORMATION
Ranked 22nd in the AP and 21st in the ESPN/USA Today coaches polls, Oklahoma (12-3 overall, 1-2 Big 12) travels to face Texas Tech (7-7, 1-2) Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. CST inside United Spirit Arena in Lubbock, Texas. 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 will also be televised in Oklahoma and Texas by FOX Sports Southwest.
OKLAHOMA UPDATE
Following a 13-point win over Texas A&M last Tuesday, the Sooners shot just .319 from the field in a 69-61 loss to fifth-ranked Kansas Saturday in Norman. OU turned in a solid defensive effort versus the Jayhawks but was slowed on the offensive end as Aaron McGhee went 0-for-9 from the field and was held scoreless. The Sooners are off to a 1-2 conference start for the second time in the five-year history of the Big 12 (they also started 1-2 in the league's first season in 1997).
Despite being shut out Saturday, McGhee leads four Sooners who average double figures in scoring with his 15.3 points per game. He is also averaging 15.3 points in three league games. McGhee has posted totals of 22, 24, 26, 27, 28 and 32 points so far this year, but has also logged games of zero, three, five, six, eight and nine points.
Sophomore point guard Hollis Price averages 14.0 points (20.0 in Big 12 play) and team highs in assists (5.5 apg) and steals (2.1 spg). Price, who has led the team in assists in 13 of 15 games, ranks second in the Big 12 with a 2.4 assist-to-turnover ratio. In three league games, however, he has just eight assists and has committed the same number of turnovers.
Senior guards Nolan Johnson and Kelley Newton average 11.8 and 11.4 points per game on the year, respectively. Johnson, who like McGhee and Price has started in all 15 games, has been a consistent scorer over the last month. Newton ranks second in the Big 12 in three-point percentage (.519) and three-pointers per contest (2.8).
Oklahoma posted an impressive 1.5 assist-to-turnover ratio before Big 12 play started. However, the team has committed four more turnovers (38) than assists (34) in its three league games.
TEXAS TECH UPDATE
A 65-46 loser at Oklahoma State on Saturday, Texas Tech is 7-7 overall and 1-2 in the Big 12. The Red Raiders, who have alternated losses and wins over the past nine games (five losses, four wins), are 4-4 at home this season. In its first two conference games, Tech dropped a 94-82 decision to Kansas and then knocked off previously unbeaten Baylor, 68-58.
Junior center Andy Ellis averages a team-high 16.6 points per game and ranks second on the squad with his 6.4 rebounds. Ellis also sports a team-best .429 three-point percentage (9-for-21). Senior forward Cliff Owens, who scored a team-high 15 points Saturday, leads the Red Raiders in rebounding with 7.6 boards per contest and is second in scoring with 12.9 points per outing. He is the only player on the team who is shooting better than .500 from the field (.607). Junior guard Jamal Brown also averages double figures in points (11.0) and leads the Big 12 with his 7.5 assists per outing.
Head Coach James Dickey is in his 10th year at Texas Tech where he owns a 164-112 record (.594).
SERIES WITH TEXAS TECH
Oklahoma leads the overall series with Texas Tech, 15-10, and has won the last five contests. Despite earning victories in their last four trips to Lubbock, the Sooners trail there, 5-6. Kelvin Sampson is 6-3 against Texas Tech as OU's head coach and is 4-0 versus the Red Raiders on their home court. The average score of the four games in Lubbock has been 76 to 59.
In the teams' most recent meeting, the Sooners posted a 93-65 win in Norman last February. OU recorded a .559 field goal mark and outrebounded Tech by a 37-27 margin. Hollis Price scored a then-career-high 20 points while Eduardo Najera added 19 points, eight rebounds and two steals in 23 minutes. Nolan Johnson recorded a double-double with 14 points (all in the first half) and 10 boards. The Red Raiders' Mario Layne led all scorers with 25 points.
OU also notched a 78-61 win in Lubbock last January as Najera registered a 20-point, 13-rebound effort despite playing with a severe hand injury. Kelley Newton added 18 points with three three-point buckets and J.R. Raymond scored 14 with the help of four treys. OU outshot Tech .525 to .400 and grabbed 33 rebounds to the Red Raiders' 27. Rayford Young led Tech with 16 points.
RECAPPING THE KANSAS CONTEST
Aaron McGhee, Oklahoma's leading scorer entering the game, was held scoreless and the Sooners could not overcome a season-low .319 field goal performance as fifth-ranked Kansas won a 69-61 affair at Lloyd Noble Center. McGhee did grab a team-high eight rebounds but was 0-for-9 from the field before fouling out after 25 minutes of court time. The Jayhawks opened up a 12-point lead late in the first half before OU closed to within eight on a long three-pointer by Kelley Newton at the halftime buzzer. The Sooners chipped away after the break and knotted the score at 40 on a Nolan Johnson driving basket at the 11:05 mark. Nick Collison spurred a Jayhawks surge, however, and KU soon led by nine, 55-46. OU's deficit grew to as many as 14 late in the contest before it pulled to within eight by the final horn. Hollis Price scored a game-high 18 points while Kelley Newton and Nolan Johnson contributed 16 apiece for the Sooners. Johnson also led OU with three assists and three steals. Jeff Boschee was 4-for-8 from beyond the arc for Kansas and scored a team-high 16 points. Kenny Gregory registered 14 points and 13 boards while Eric Chenowith pulled down a game-high 15 boards to go along with his eight points. KU's win was its sixth straight against the Sooners.
KANSAS LEFTOVERS
- OU's eight-point halftime deficit marked just the second time this year it trailed at intermission.
- The Sooners have shot a combined .303 from the field in their last three games versus KU.
- Johnnie Gilbert recorded a career-high five blocked shots, all in the first half. All eight of OU's season-high eight blocks came in the opening 20 minutes.
- Kelley Newton made four three-pointers and is now averaging 2.8 treys per game on the year.
- Nolan Johnson entered the game with a team-best .889 free throw mark (40-for-45) but missed his first three attempts versus KU. He finished 3-for-6 on the day.
OKLAHOMA'S BIG 12 HISTORY
The Sooners boast a 44-23 (.657) Big 12 regular season record in the league's four-plus years, second only to Kansas' 54-12 (.818) mark. OU finished 9-7 (fifth place) in 1997, 11-5 (tied for second) in both 1998 and 1999, and 12-4 (tied for third) last year. Kelvin Sampson's Big 12 squads have posted a 25-9 league record at home and a 19-14 mark on the road.
McGHEE EXPERIENCING ROLLERCOASTER SEASON
OU's leading scorer and second-leading rebounder, Aaron McGhee has experienced a solid season, for sure. However, the junior forward has had a few dips this year, as well, including Saturday's game versus Kansas in which he was held scoreless. McGhee has scored 22 more more points six times on the season and has averaged 26.5 points in those contests. But he has also failed to reach double digits in six games, averaging 5.2 points in those outings.
McGhee, whose season high was 32 points against Montana State in the third game of the year, was a first-team junior college All-American last year at Vincennes (Ind.) University. He was named the MVP of the national junior college tournament when he averaged 34.5 points.
JOHNSON CONTINUES TO PLAY WELL
Senior Nolan Johnson has been OU's most consistent player over the last 11 games, scoring in double figures in nine of those outings. Not including a zero-point performance against Texas A&M last week when he did not attempt a field goal and played just 10 minutes due to a sprained right knee, Johnson is averaging 16.6 points points in the team's last six games. He scored 16 versus Kansas on Saturday.
Johnson reached double figures in points just once in the team's first four games of the year but did it in eight of the next nine. The former Brooklyn (N.Y.) Player of the Year as a high school senior, Johnson is shooting .485 from the field and .843 (43-51) from the free throw line on the season. He is now averaging 11.8 points, 3.4 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.5 steals per game on the year.
NEWTON IS OU'S MAD BOMBER
Senior guard Kelley Newton is enjoying a stellar season from beyond the three-point arc. Newton who ranks second in the Big 12 in both three-point percentage (.519) and three-pointers per game (2.8), has made at least one three-pointer in 14 of 15 games and at least two treys in 13 contests. He has raised his career three-point percentage to .446 (91-for-204). The Kansas City, Kan., native drained eight treys (tying Texas A&M's Bernard King for the most by a Big 12 player this year) on 11 tries versus Coppin State Dec. 16 en route to a career-high 26 points. He was also 6-for-9 from downtown while scoring 20 points Dec. 30 versus SMU in the All-College Tournament final.
Newton scored 16 points off the bench Saturday versus Kansas on 4-for-9 three-point shooting and has reached double digits in points 10 times this year. He ranks fourth on the squad with his 11.4 points per game.
PRICE IS RIGHT
Sophomore point guard Hollis Price is coming off 25-, 17- and 18-point performances against Iowa State, Texas A&M and Kansas, respectively, and ranks second on the squad in scoring (14.0 ppg). Price leads the team in assists (5.5 apg) and steals (2.1 spg). He also boasts a 2.4 assist-to-turnover ratio to rank second in the Big 12 and has been OU's leading assist man in 13 of 15 games.
A member of last year's Big 12 All-Freshman Team, Price 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.
HESKETT RETURNING TO FORM
Tim Heskett, a fifth-year senior who was OU's career leader in three-point percentage entering the year with his .420 mark, has seen his season percentage rise recently after a dismal start to the year. The Lexington, S.C., product made just 12 of his first 49 three-point tries this year for a .245 mark. Over the last five games, however, Heskett has gone 7-for-13 from long range. He is now shooting .306 from beyond the arc on the season. Heskett ranks second in OU history in both three-point makes (202) and three-point attempts (498).
OU LEADS LEAGUE IN FREE THROW PERCENTAGE
It should come as no surprise that Oklahoma leads the Big 12 Conference in free throw percentage with its .734 season mark. Under Kelvin Sampson, the Sooners have finished first or second in the conference in free throw shooting every season except 1998-99.
WHO WILL IT BE?
Six different Sooners have led the team in scoring this season. Aaron McGhee has done it five times while Hollis Price has done it four times and Nolan Johnson three. J.R. Raymond has done it twice while Kelley Newton and Daryan Selvy have paced the team once each. Seven different Sooners have also led the team in rebounding this year.
JUCO TRANSFERS CONTRIBUTING
OU signed four junior college recruits last year, and three of them have made significant contributions so far this season (the fourth, center Jozsef Szendrei, has battled injuries and has played in just two games). Aaron McGhee leads the team with his 15.3 points per game and also averages 4.9 rebounds. Daryan Selvy is averaging 8.9 points and a team-high 5.8 boards per game. And in his 12 games (seven have been starts), Ronnie Griffin is averaging 5.2 points and 3.6 rebounds. The trio, which is shooting a combined .538 from the field (155-for-288), has accounted for 34 percent of the team's points and 40 percent of its rebounds through 15 games.
BALANCED ATTACK
Aaron McGhee leads four Sooners who average double digits in points per game. McGhee, who averages 15.3 per outing, is followed by Hollis Price (14.0), Nolan Johnson (11.8) and Kelley Newton (11.4). Daryan Selvy is not far behind with his 8.9 average. 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.
LONG-RANGE THREATS
Since shooting .295 from three-point land in its first two games of the season, Oklahoma has been extremely solid in the department. In its last 13 games, OU has gone 101-for-247 from beyond the arc for a strong .409 percentage.
The Sooners now own a .392 three-point mark for the season. Interestingly, the school's career leader in three-point percentage entering the year (.420), senior guard Tim Heskett sports just a .306 percentage (19-for-62) through 15 games.
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. The OU single-season record of .414 was set in 1986-87, the first year of the three-point line.
SEVEN STRAIGHT TOURNAMENT CROWNS
Oklahoma's tournament titles in the Sooner Invitational, the Big Island Invitational and the All-College Tournament this year marked its fifth, sixth and seventh in a row 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 regular-season tournament winning streak stands at 16 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 142-65 (.686) record and an 82-16 (.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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