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 Host Colorado Wednesday
February 27, 2001 | Men's Basketball
Feb. 27, 2001
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GAME INFORMATION
Ranked 17th in both the AP and ESPN/USA Today polls, Oklahoma (21-6 overall, 10-4 Big 12) hosts unranked Colorado (15-12, 5-9) Wednesday at 8 p.m. CST inside Lloyd Noble Center. The game will air live on the Sooner Basketball Radio Network (flagship KRXO 107.7 FM in Oklahoma City) with Bob Barry, Sr. (play-by-play) and Mark Mathew (analyst) calling the action. The contest will also be televised regionally by ESPN Plus. Fred White (play-by-play) and Paul Splittorff (analyst) will announce.
OKLAHOMA UPDATE
A winner of nine of its last 10 Big 12 games following a 1-3 league start, Oklahoma is coming off a 68-60 non-conference loss at Maryland on Saturday. With their 10-4 conference mark, the Sooners stand in a tie (with Kansas) for third place in the Big 12, just a half game behind second-place Texas and one game behind league-leading Iowa State. With wins in their final two conference contests (home games Wednesday versus Colorado and Saturday against Oklahoma State), OU would equal its best ever Big 12 mark (it also finished 12-4 last year).
Bad news came Sunday in the form of Head Coach Kelvin Sampson's dismissal of starting point guard J.R. Raymond from the team. Raymond, who violated team policy and was suspended last Thursday for an indefinite period of time (he did not travel to Maryland), led OU in scoring in six of its last 10 conference outings and averaged 18.5 points and 3.9 three-pointers during the stretch. Raymond was the team's leading scorer in Big 12 play with his 13.7 average.
Replacing Raymond at the point Saturday was sophomore Hollis Price. Price started OU's first 16 games this year at the position and averages 11.6 points, 4.7 assists and 1.8 steals per outing on the year. He has led the team in assists in 21 of 27 games this season. Price was named MVP of the team's first two tournaments of the campaign (Sooner Invitational and Big Island Invitational) while directing the team.
Junior forward Aaron McGhee has been a welcome addition to the team's frontcourt this year and averages a team-high 13.7 points per game. McGhee, who has scored at least 20 points eight times this season, also ranks third on the team with his 4.6 rebounds per contest. McGhee has battled foul trouble virtually all year and averages 23.8 minutes per game. Projected to 40 minutes per outing, his scoring average equals 23.0 points. McGhee has also made 19-of-41 three-point attempts (.463).
Nolan Johnson averages 12.1 points, 4.6 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.6 steals per contest. The senior guard, who ranks third in the Big 12 with his .843 free throw percentage, has averaged 6.2 rebounds over the last 11 outings. Johnson, McGhee and Price have each started in all 27 games.
Senior guard Kelley Newton made his first start Saturday since Jan. 6 and is shooting .462 from long range. He averages 2.3 three-pointers per game and has made at least one trey in 23 of 27 games.
COLORADO UPDATE
Colorado began the Big 12 season with a 5-6 record but has dropped three straight contests since. The Buffs, who are 6-5 on the road this season and own a better conference away mark (3-4) than home record (2-5), have dropped decisions at Missouri (80-69 Feb. 14), versus Nebraska (87-82 in overtime Feb. 17) and at Kansas (91-79 Feb. 21) over the past two weeks.
Junior forward D.J. Harrison has started all 27 games is averaging a team-high 15.8 points per outing. The junior college transfer is also averaging 4.6 rebounds and 1.6 assists, and leads the team with 46 three-point and 109 free throw makes. Senior forward Jamahl Mosley averages 13.7 points as well as a team-high-tying 7.4 rebounds, and is shooting a team-best .567 from the field. Sophomore forward Stephane Pelle averages 11.3 points and 7.4 boards per game, and over the last two games is averaging 20.5 points and 16.5 rebounds. He has seven double-doubles on the year. Junior point guard Jose Winston scores just 3.6 points per contest, but ranks second in the Big 12 with his 6.7 assists per game.
Head Coach Ricardo Patton has compiled a 90-74 (.549) record in five-plus years of coaching, all at Colorado.
SERIES WITH COLORADO
Oklahoma leads the all-time series with Colorado, 79-45, and is 41-12 against the Buffaloes in Norman. Last year's 88-80 CU win in Boulder snapped OU's 11-game series winning streak. Despite the loss, the Sooners have won 39 of their last 42 games against Colorado, including the last 18 inside Lloyd Noble Center. OU has won 30 of the last 31 contests against the Buffs in Norman. Kelvin Sampson owns a 9-1 mark against Colorado and is 4-0 in Norman.
In last year's eight-point CU victory, the Sooners jumped out to a 27-18 lead by making their first five three-point tries. The Buffs bounced back to take a 44-38 halftime lead, however, and outscored OU by two in the second half. Jaquay Walls made 13-of-15 free throw attempts and finished with a game-high 28 points for Colorado while Jamahl Mosley added 19 points on 8-for-12 shooting. Eduardo Najera registered a 17-point, 14-rebound performance while Hollis Price added 15 points, four assists and three steals. Tim Heskett was 4-for-6 from three-point land and finished with 14 points. Colorado shot .547 from the field while OU turned in a .467 mark.
RECAPPING THE MARYLAND CONTEST
After a slow start in which it scored just two points in the game's first nine-and-a-half minutes, Oklahoma turned in a strong effort before falling short at 20th-ranked Maryland on Saturday, 68-60. Following an Aaron McGhee lay-in at the 18:58 mark of the first half, the Sooners failed to score over the next eight-and-a-half minutes as the Terrapins grabbed a 14-2 lead. Stingy defense kept OU in the game, however, and the Sooners trimmed their deficit to one before heading to the locker room trailing 27-25. A three-pointer by Hollis Price two minutes into the second half gave the Sooners their first lead at 30-29. OU posted a pair of two-point leads, but Maryland used a 14-3 run to take a 45-36 advantage. The Terrapins never led by fewer than six points the rest of the way. Maryland junior guard Juan Dixon scored all 23 of his points after halftime when he hit 4-of-5 three-pointers while junior center Lonny Baxter added 16 points and a team-high seven rebounds on the day. OU's Kelley Newton drained 4-of-8 three-point attempts and led the squad with 14 points. Daryan Selvy was 6-for-8 from the field and contributed 12 points. Nolan Johnson and Aaron McGhee both added 10 for the Sooners, who lost just for just the second time in their last seven road games. Oklahoma's .538 three-point mark (7-for-13) was its fourth best of the season. OU also outshot the Terrapins from the field, .471 to .442.
MARYLAND LEFTOVERS
PATCH HONORS OSU PLANE CRASH VICTIMS
The Sooners began donning a black circular patch with an orange "O" inside it on their jerseys Jan. 31 versus Baylor. The patch, which appears on the upper left chest, will be worn for the rest of the season to honor the 10 victims of the Jan. 27 Oklahoma State charter plane crash. OU is also wearing the black jersey bands issued by the Big 12 Conference.
RAYMOND DISMISSED FROM TEAM
OU's leading scorer over its past 10 conference games, junior point guard J.R. Raymond was dismissed from the team by Head Coach Kelvin Sampson Sunday night for a violation of team policy. Raymond had been suspended by Sampson on Thursday and did not travel with the Sooners for Saturday's 68-60 loss at Maryland.
Raymond averaged 11.3 points in 25 games this year for OU and had averaged 18.5 points, 5.0 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 3.9 three-pointers over his final 10 games (the Sooners went 9-1 during the stretch). The Gastonia, N.C., native made 58 treys on the season and recorded a .400 three-point mark. Raymond was a third-team All-Big 12 selection last season when he averaged 13.4 points and drained 95 three-pointers, the second-highest single-season total in school history.
SAMPSON NAMED NAISMITH AWARD FINALIST
Kelvin Sampson is one of 20 finalists on the Naismith Coach of the Year Award list released late last week. Sampson joins fellow Big 12 coaches Larry Eustachy (Iowa State) and Roy Williams (Kansas) as finalists. The seventh-year OU head coach has guided the Sooners to four straight 20-win seasons and is expected to earn his eighth consecutive NCAA Tournament bid (he guided Washington State to the "Big Dance" in 1993-94). Sampson was named the 1995 national coach of the year by the Associated Press, United States Basketball Writers Association and Basketball Weekly in his first season at OU.
STREAK STOPPERS
OU's victory at Missouri last Monday snapped the Tigers' 13-game home winning streak. Missouri entered the contest 12-0 at home this year. The Sooners also stopped Texas' 25-game home winning streak Feb. 10 with a 75-54 victory in Austin. The Longhorns were 13-0 at home this season. Unfortunately, Oklahoma was unable to halt Maryland's 76-game non-conference home winning streak on Saturday.
SOONERS POST FOURTH STRAIGHT 20-WIN SEASON
Oklahoma's 82-60 win over Baylor Feb. 17 marked its 20th victory of the season. The Sooners have recorded four consecutive 20-win campaigns and have reached the 20-win mark in five of seven seasons under Kelvin Sampson. This is the 19th time in school history that OU has won at least 20 games. Seventeen of those 20-win seasons have come over the past 20 years.
SOLID DOWN THE STRETCH
Since Kelvin Sampson became OU's head coach prior to the 1994-95 season, the Sooners are 41-18 (.695) in February and March regular season games. Oklahoma is 18-6 (.750) in the regular season in those two months over the last three years. This year, OU is 5-2 in February.
GUARDS SHOULDERING THE LOAD
In OU's 14 Big 12 games, the team's guards have accounted for 66 percent of its points (641 of 975). That figure is even larger over the Sooners' last 11 conference games as the backcourt has scored 68 percent of OU's points (558 of 817).
TOPPING THE FREE THROW CHARTS...AGAIN
It should come as no surprise that Oklahoma leads the Big 12 Conference in free throw percentage with its .738 season mark. Under Kelvin Sampson, the Sooners have finished first or second in the conference in free throw shooting every season except 1998-99. The Sooners have shot .700 or better from the line in 11 of 14 conference games and own a .750 free throw mark in those 14 outings.
Three Sooners rank in the top 10 in the league in free throw shooting. Nolan Johnson (.843) ranks third while Aaron McGhee (.785) and Hollis Price (.784) rank ninth and 10th, respectively.
SAMPSON JOINS WILLIAMS IN 50-WIN CLUB
Kelvin Sampson won his 50th Big 12 league game Feb. 7 against Texas Tech. Only Sampson (53-25) and Kansas' Roy Williams (62-16) have posted more than 50 wins in the Big 12 regular season.
OKLAHOMA'S BIG 12 HISTORY
The Sooners boast a 53-25 (.679) Big 12 regular season record in the league's four-plus years, second only to Kansas' 62-16 (.795) 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 29-9 league record at home and a 24-16 mark on the road.
ROAD WARRIORS
The Sooners concluded their road season with a 5-5 record, marking the fourth straight year they have posted a .500-or-better finish on enemy turf. Oklahoma's 24-16 conference road record since Big 12 play began is the league's second best behind Kansas' 27-12 record. Since the Big 12's inception prior to the 1996-97 season, no other conference team has an aggregate winning road record. Texas ranks third with a 20-19 mark and is followed by Oklahoma State (17-21).
BREAKING 80
In six-plus years under Kelvin Sampson, the Sooners sport an 85-10 (.895) mark when scoring at least 80 points. OU is 10-1 (.909) this year under the circumstance and 24-2 (.923) over the last two years.
HANDLING WITH CARE
Despite committing more turnovers than their opponents in five of the last eight games, OU leads the Big 12 in turnovers per game (12.7) and turnover margin (+4.5). OU led the league with 12.8 turnovers per game last year. This year, opponents have committed 122 more miscues. The Sooners have committed more turnovers than their foes in just seven of 27 games.
HEYWOOD'S ROLE INCREASING
Senior Jameel Heywood has started 11 games this year (including the team's last eight), and the Sooners are 9-2 in those outings. Following a two-point, one-rebound effort in OU's loss at Oklahoma State Feb. 14, the forward has been a steady force. Not known for his offensive output, Heywood is averaging 6.0 points and 6.3 rebounds in games against Baylor, Missouri and Maryland (he has shot a combined 8-for-13 from the field in those games). His eight-foot jumper in the lane with no time left on the clock gave OU a 63-61 road win against the Tigers last Monday night. He is shooting .542 from the field (26-for-48) over his last 15 games.
JOHNSON STEADY AS HE GOES
Senior guard Nolan Johnson, who ranks second on the team with his 12.1 scoring average, has been one of OU's most consistent players this season and was named Big 12 Player of the Week Feb. 12 after averaging 19.0 points, 8.0 rebounds and 2.5 steals in wins over Texas Tech and Texas. He turned in a career-high 23-point, eight-rebound effort at Texas Feb. 10. Over the past 11 games, Johnson is averaging 11.8 points, 6.2 rebounds and 1.9 steals. Johnson, who has scored in double figures in eight of the last 10 games, ranks third in the Big 12 with his .843 season free throw mark.
McGHEE EXPERIENCING ROLLERCOASTER SEASON
OU's leading scorer (13.7 ppg) and third-leading rebounder (4.6 rpg), Aaron McGhee has experienced a solid season, for sure. However, the junior forward has had several dips this year, as well. McGhee has recorded totals of 20, 22 (twice), 24, 26, 27, 28 and 32 points so far this year, but has also logged games of zero, three, four (twice), five, six (twice), eight (twice) and nine (twice) points. On the year, he is shooting .474 from the field, .463 from three-point range and .785 from the foul line.
McGhee 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.
NEWTON IS OU'S MAD BOMBER
Senior guard Kelley Newton is enjoying a stellar season from beyond the three-point arc. Newton, who made 4-of-8 trey attempts Saturday at Maryland, ranks among the Big 12's leaders in three-point percentage (.462) and three-pointers per game (2.3). He has made at least one three-pointer in 23 of 27 games and at least two treys in 17 contests. He has raised his career three-point percentage to .431 (110-for-255). 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, who has reached double digits in points 13 times this year, made his first start Saturday since OU's league opener at Iowa State Jan. 6. He ranks fifth on the squad with his 9.1 points per game.
PRICE IS RIGHT
Sophomore point guard Hollis Price ranks third on the squad in scoring with his 11.6 points per game, but is averaging just 5.4 field goal attempts and 7.1 points over the last nine contests. Price, who plays a team-high 32.7 minutes per game, never struggles in finding ways to help his team, though. He leads the squad in assists (4.7 apg) and steals (1.8 spg) and also boasts a 2.0 assist-to-turnover ratio to rank sixth in the Big 12. Additionally, he has been OU's leading assist man in 21 of 27 games.
A member of last year's Big 12 All-Freshman Team, Price has 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.
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 transferred to OU at the end of the fall 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.
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 151-68 (.689) record and an 86-16 (.843) 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.
Porter Moser Postgame vs West Virginia
Sunday, April 05
MBB Highlights: OU 82, Baylor 69
Saturday, April 04
Porter Moser, Xzayvier Brown, and Tae Davis Postgame vs Baylor
Saturday, April 04
Porter Moser and Nijel Pack Postgame vs Colorado
Thursday, April 02
