Sooners Looking To Return To Winning Ways

Jan. 19, 2001

Head Coach Sampson Audio

Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader

GAME INFORMATION
Ranked 22nd in the AP and 21st in the ESPN/USA Today coaches polls, Oklahoma (12-4 overall, 1-3 Big 12) travels to face Kansas State (8-7, 2-2) Saturday at 7 p.m. CST inside Bramlage Coliseum in Manhattan, Kan. 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 by the Sooner Sports Network (KWTV Channel 9 in OKC and KWBT Channel 19 in Tulsa. Dean Blevins (play-by-play), Charlie Spoonhour (analyst) and Renzi Stone (roving reporter) will announce.

OKLAHOMA UPDATE
The Sooners, who began the season with an 11-1 record, have lost three of their last four games, all in Big 12 play. Most recently, OU dropped a heart-breaking 60-59 affair on the road versus Texas Tech Tuesday as the Red Raiders won on a last-second basket. Oklahoma has also lost at Iowa State and versus Kansas in league play, and beat Texas A&M at home for its lone conference win. The Sooners' 1-3 league start is their worst since beginning the 1982 Big Eight season with the same record.

Coming off a 16-point performance (14 in the second half) against Texas Tech, Aaron McGhee leads four Sooners who average double figures in scoring with his 15.4 points per game. The junior forward is enjoying a solid shooting season, as evidenced by his .524 field goal, .609 three-point and .757 free throw marks. McGhee, who has scored at least 22 points six times this year, also ranks second on the team with his 4.8 rebounds per outing.

Sophomore point guard Hollis Price averages 13.6 points (17.0 in Big 12 play) and team highs in assists (5.6 apg) and steals (2.1 spg). Price, who has led the team in assists in 14 of 16 games, ranks second in the Big 12 with a 2.5 assist-to-turnover ratio. In conference play, that ratio stands at 1.7.

Senior guards Nolan Johnson and Kelley Newton average 12.3 and 11.2 points per game on the year, respectively. Johnson, who scored a game-high 19 points versus Texas Tech, has been a consistent scorer over the last month. Newton ranks third in the Big 12 in three-point percentage (.500) and three-pointers per contest (2.8).

In its four conference outings, Oklahoma has been outshot .472 to .403. League opponents have also posted a .500 three-point mark compared to OU's .356 percentage.

KANSAS STATE UPDATE
Kansas State snapped a two-game losing streak with its impressive 80-59 home win Tuesday over Missouri, a team that was 3-0 entering the contest. The Wildcats, who are 7-2 at Bramlage Coliseum this season, won at Texas A&M (53-48) in their conference opener before losing at Texas (63-41) and at home to Baylor (63-55). In its win against Missouri, KSU shot .554 from the field while limiting the Tigers to a meager .299 mark. The Wildcats held Kareem Rush (12 points) and Clarence Gilbert (7 points) to a combined 19 points. The pair entered the game ranked first and second in the Big 12, respectively, in scoring.

Junior guard Phineas Atchison, a starter in six games this year, leads Kansas State with his 13.3 points per outing. Atchison also leads the team with his 27 three-pointers and .422 three-point percentage. Sophomore forward Matt Siebrandt ranks second in scoring (11.2 ppg) and third in rebounding (4.6 rpg) while junior forward Travis Reynolds averages 10.5 points and a team-high 7.9 rebounds. Reynolds sports a team-best .504 field goal mark. Junior guard Larry Reid adds 9.1 points per contest, as well as a team-high 4.1 assists.

Head Coach Jim Wooldridge is in his first year at Kansas State and his 14th year as a college head coach. His career record is 237-154 (.606).

SERIES WITH KANSAS STATE
An evenly played series, Oklahoma owns a 93-89 all-time edge over Kansas State. The Sooners are 55-23 in Norman, 31-53 in Manhattan and 7-13 in neutral sites. OU has won just two of its last nine games in Manhattan with its last victory coming during the 1995-96 season (64-59). Kelvin Sampson is 4-4 against Kansas State as Oklahoma's head coach and is 1-3 inside Bramlage Coliseum.

In the teams' lone meeting last year, the Sooners notched an 85-64 win in Norman despite shooting .422 from the field. OU used a 31-10 spurt to turn a three-point lead (43-40) into a blowout. J.R. Raymond nailed five three-pointers and scored a game-high 17 points. Eduardo Najera (15), Tim Heskett (11), Nolan Johnson (11) and Jameel Heywood (10) also scored in double figures. Nolan Johnson's 10 rebounds resulted in his first career double-double. Tony Kitt, Kelvin Howell and Cortez Groves all scored 12 points to pace the Wildcats.

RECAPPING THE TEXAS TECH CONTEST
Oklahoma trailed virtually the entire game versus Texas Tech Tuesday but battled to take a one-point lead on Nolan Johnson's basket in the lane with 22.4 seconds left. Just when it appeared OU was going to sneak out of Lubbock with a road win, however, the Red Raiders hit a last-second shot to earn a 60-59 victory. Point guard Jamal Brown's 10-foot driving bank shot with 1.5 seconds showing on the clock proved to be the game winner for Tech. The Sooners, who trailed 27-20 at halftime, took their first lead with 17:25 left in the contest on a Johnson three-pointer. The advantage was short-lived, though, and OU would not lead again until Johnson's last-minute hoop. Johnson and Aaron McGhee ignited the Sooners after halftime by combining for 29 of the squad's 39 second-half points (Johnson had 15 in the second stanza while McGhee had 14). McGhee nailed 3-of-4 three-point attempts, all after the break, and finished with 16 points. Hollis Price added eight points and handed out a game-high seven assists for OU, while Johnnie Gilbert grabbed a game-high nine boards. Brown scored 15 second-half points for the Red Raiders and finished with a team-high 18 while adding five assists and three steals. Andy Ellis and Cliff Owens added 16 and 12 points, respectively. OU's loss snapped a string of five straight wins versus Tech. The Sooners had also won their last four in Lubbock.

TEXAS TECH LEFTOVERS
OU's seven-point halftime deficit marked just the third time this year it trailed at intermission. It took just 7:03 of clock time to start the second half for the Sooners to amass 20 points (their halftime total). Oklahoma's 20 first-half points and 21 field goals were season lows. Aaron McGhee's three three-pointers marked a career high. After missing his first three free throws versus Kansas two games ago, Nolan Johnson has canned nine in a row at the line (he was 6-for-6 against Texas Tech).

OKLAHOMA'S BIG 12 HISTORY
The Sooners boast a 44-24 (.647) Big 12 regular season record in the league's four-plus years, second only to Kansas' 55-12 (.821) 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 19-15 mark on the road.

GILBERT PROVIDING A SPARK
Freshman Johnnie Gilbert has performed admirably in OU's last two games off the bench. The forward grabbed a game-high nine rebounds Tuesday against Texas Tech in a season-high 28 minutes of action. Not recognized as a scorer, Gilbert did make both of his field goal attempts versus the Red Raiders. Against Kansas last Saturday, the Minneapolis, Minn., product blocked a career-high five shots, all in the first half, and grabbed five boards in just 14 minutes.

Gilbert missed two games in December after undergoing arthroscopic surgery on his left knee to repair torn cartilage. He is averaging 2.5 points, 4.8 rebounds and 1.0 blocks on the year. His 5.3 rebounds per game in Big 12 play are a team high.

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 last Saturday's game versus Kansas in which he was held scoreless. 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.

McGhee, who leads the Big 12 (conference games) with his .667 three-point percentage, 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 12 games, scoring in double figures in 10 of those outings. Not including a zero-point performance against Texas A&M Jan. 9 when he did not attempt a field goal and played just 10 minutes due to a sprained right knee, Johnson is averaging 17.0 points in the team's last seven games. He scored 19 versus Texas Tech on Tuesday.

Johnson reached double figures in points just once in the team's first four games of the year but has done it in all but two games since. The former Brooklyn (N.Y.) Player of the Year as a high school senior, Johnson is shooting .486 from the field and .860 (49-57) from the free throw line on the season. He is now averaging 12.3 points, 3.5 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.4 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 third in the Big 12 in both three-point percentage (.500) and three-pointers per game (2.8), has made at least one three-pointer in 15 of 16 games and at least two treys in 14 contests. He has raised his career three-point percentage to .441 (93-for-211). 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 last 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 11.2 points per game.

PRICE IS RIGHT
Sophomore point guard Hollis Price has recorded 25-, 17- and 18-point performances against Iowa State, Texas A&M and Kansas, respectively, and is averaging a team-high 17.0 points in Big 12 play. In all games, Price ranks second on the squad in scoring with his 13.6 points per game. Price leads the team in assists (5.6 apg) and steals (2.1 spg). He also boasts a 2.5 assist-to-turnover ratio to rank second in the Big 12 and has been OU's leading assist man in 14 of 16 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 six games, however, Heskett has gone 8-for-17 from long range. He is now shooting .303 from beyond the arc on the season. Heskett ranks second in OU history in both three-point makes (203) and three-point attempts (502).

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 .733 season mark. Under Kelvin Sampson, the Sooners have finished first or second in the conference in free throw shooting every season except 1998-99. Here's the year-by-year breakdown:

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 and Nolan Johnson have done it four times apiece. 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 15.4 points per game and also averages 4.8 rebounds. Daryan Selvy is averaging 8.3 points and a team-high 5.5 boards per game. And in his 13 games (eight have been starts), Ronnie Griffin is averaging 4.8 points and 3.4 rebounds. The trio, which is shooting a combined .525 from the field (160-for-305), has accounted for 34 percent of the team's points and 39 percent of its rebounds through 16 games.

BALANCED ATTACK
Aaron McGhee leads four Sooners who average double digits in points per game. McGhee, who averages 15.4 per outing, is followed by Hollis Price (13.6), Nolan Johnson (12.3) and Kelley Newton (11.2). Daryan Selvy is not far behind with his 8.3 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 14 games, OU has gone 108-for-269 from beyond the arc for a strong .401 percentage.

The Sooners now own a .387 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 .303 percentage (20-for-66) through 16 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
In four Big 12 games, opponents are shooting .472 from the field and .500 from three-point range. OU, meanwhile, is shooting .403 from the field and .356 in those same games. Aaron McGhee has committed at least four fouls in 11 of 16 games and has fouled out four times. Nine Sooners average at least 15.0 minutes per game. In six games versus Alcorn State, Montana State, North Texas, Southwest Texas, Iowa State and Texas A&M, McGhee averaged 26.5 points. In OU's other 10 games this year, he is averaging 8.7 points. The Sooners are averaging 13.2 more field goal attempts per game than their opponents. After starting the season by missing four of his first six free throws attempts, Daryan Selvy has made 25-of-30 from the charity stripe (.833). A third-team All-Big 12 pick last year, J.R. Raymond has totaled just seven points in OU's last five games. He is averaging 6.5 points per game in 22 minutes per contest on the year. OU opponents are averaging 7.0 more turnovers per game than the Sooners. Foes have committed more turnovers in all but two games (Oregon State and SMU). Six different Sooners have led the team in scoring while seven have paced the squad in rebounding. Entering this contest, Head Coach Kelvin Sampson has utilized eight different starting lineups.

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 142-66 (.683) 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.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Sooners Looking To Return To Winning Ways

Related News

Related Videos

Sponsors