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
Men's Basketball At Texas Tech Saturday
January 24, 2002 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 24, 2002
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GAME INFORMATION
Ranked sixth in this week's AP and ESPN/USA Today polls, Oklahoma (15-2 overall, 4-1 Big 12) travels to face Texas Tech (13-4, 3-2) Saturday at noon CST inside the United Spirit Center. The Red Raiders are in the 26th spot in the AP poll and 29th in the coaches' version. 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 Mike Houck (analyst) calling the action. The game will be nationally televised by ABC with Brent Musburger (play-by-play) and Dick Vitale (analyst) announcing.
OKLAHOMA PROJECTED STARTERS F 13 Aaron McGhee (6-8, 250, Sr.) C 21 Jabahri Brown (6-10, 210, So.) G 2 Ebi Ere (6-5, 215, Jr.) G 4 Quannas White (6-1, 190, Jr.) G 10 Hollis Price (6-1, 165, Jr.)TEXAS TECH PROJECTED STARTERS F 11 Pawel Storozynski (6-8, 245, Jr.) F 22 Kasib Powell (6-7, 198, Jr.) F 32 Nick Valdez (6-7, 199, Jr.) C 55 Andy Ellis (6-11, 235, Sr.) G 14 Andre Emmett (6-5, 205, So.)
OKLAHOMA UPDATE
After losing by seven at then-No. 4 Kansas last Saturday in a contest that snapped Oklahoma's 13-game winning streak, the Sooners rebounded by disposing of No. 18 Missouri on Monday night, 84-71, in Norman. OU has now won 14 of its last 15 games and 20 of its last 23 dating back to last season.
The Sooners, tied for second place with Texas in the Big 12 behind Kansas (5-0), are 28-17 (.622) in their last 45 true road games. Fourth in the College RPI and Sagarin ratings, Oklahoma is 3-2 on the road this year (wins at Arkansas, Connecticut and Nebraska, and losses at Michigan State and Kansas). OU ranks third in the nation in scoring margin (+19.8) and 10th in rebounding margin (+9.2).
Junior guard Hollis Price leads the team by averaging 17.2 points per contest and is coming off a 24-point game against Missouri. The All-Big 12 candidate also averages 2.6 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.9 steals. Price has drained a team-high 41 treys (2.6 per game) and is shooting .441 from long range and .878 from the foul line. His .516 field goal percentage is second best among OU regulars (center Jabahri Brown is shooting .547).
Ebi Ere, the Big 12 Preseason Newcomer of the Year and three-time league rookie of the week, averages 16.4 points per game. The junior guard has scored in double digits in 13 of the last 14 outings and is averaging 17.5 points over the stretch. He ranks second on the squad with 6.5 rebounds and third with 2.0 assists on the year. Ere is shooting .341 from long range and owns an .823 free throw percentage. He has led OU in scoring in six games this year, including three of the last five.
Senior forward Aaron McGhee is averaging 14.0 points and 6.8 rebounds over the last 15 games. He has four double-doubles on the year, the only four of his career. McGhee tied a season high with 22 points against Texas A&M in the Big 12 opener and ranks third on the squad in scoring (13.1 ppg) and rebounding (6.4 rpg). He shot a team-high .489 from three-point land last year but is shooting .265 this year.
Junior point guard Quannas White has been super the last two games, averaging 15.5 points, 5.0 boards, 5.0 assists, 2.5 steals and just 1.5 turnovers. He is 13-for-21 (.619) from the field in those two contests.
ABOUT TEXAS TECH
Texas Tech had won 10 straight games prior to its loss at OU Jan. 12. Since that contest, the Red Raiders lost at home to Texas (74-71 in OT) and won at home against then-No. 6 Oklahoma State (94-70). Tech is 10-2 at home this year with its other defeat coming to Sam Houston State on Nov. 24 (69-65). The Red Raiders have had a 20-point scorer in seven of their last eight games. Kasib Powell led the team with 16 points against OU, the lone time during the eight-game stretch someone did not reach 20 points.
Senior center Andy Ellis leads the team with 18.1 points and 7.6 rebounds per game. Sophomore guard Andre Emmett barely trails Ellis in both categories with averages of 17.9 points and 6.9 rebounds. He leads the team with a .522 field goal mark and is shooting .597 in league play. Emmett is coming off a 32-point, seven-rebound game against the Cowboys in which he was 14-for-18 from the field. Junior forward Kasib Powell averages 15.0 points, 6.6 rebounds and a team-high 4.0 assists. Junior guard Will Chavis and junior forward Pawel Storozynski average 9.0 and 7.3 points, respectively. Chavis has made a team-high 23 treys and is shooting .426 from long range. Storozynski served a seven-game NCAA supension to start the year due to overseas playing experience while a high schooler in France.
Bob Knight is in his first year as Texas Tech head coach after serving 29 years at Indiana and six at Army as head coach. Knight was 662-239 (.735) at Indiana and 102-50 (.671) at Army. He won national titles at Indiana in 1976, 1981 and 1987.
SERIES WITH TEXAS TECH
Oklahoma leads the overall series with Texas Tech, 17-11, and has won seven of the last eight contests. The Red Raiders are 7-5 against the Sooners in Lubbock, although OU has won four of the last five meetings there. Kelvin Sampson is 7-4 against the Red Raiders and 4-1 at Tech. His only loss in Lubbock came last year, 60-59, on a last-second shot by former Tech guard Jamal Brown.
TWO WEEKS AGO VERSUS THE RED RAIDERS
Hollis Price and Ebi Ere combined for 52 points on 18-for-27 (.667) field goal shooting in a 98-72 Oklahoma victory over Texas Tech Jan. 12 in Norman. OU snapped Tech's 10-game winning streak while extending its own to 12 games. Price was 6-for-7 from three-point land and set a season high with 27 points while Ere added 25 points (20 in the first half), eight rebounds, three assists and a career-high four steals. Guard Jason Detrick contributed 17 points and five boards in 23 minutes off the bench. The Sooners began the game with a 16-4 lead and took a 50-28 lead at the half. Tech chipped away in the second half and trailed by 14 with 11:22 to go but the Sooners immediately used a 15-0 run to stifle the Red Raiders. Forward Kasib Powell led Tech with 16 points and seven boards while guard Andre Emmett added 12 points. Center Andy Ellis averaged 17.9 points entering the game but finished with eight points.
MISSOURI RECAP
Oklahoma broke open a close game with an 18-4 run over the last 4:46 of the first half and went on to an impressive 84-71 win over Missouri in a nationally televised (ESPN) contest on Monday in Norman. The Sooners trailed 27-26 but Hollis Price triggered the late first-half spurt with 10 points as OU took a 44-31 lead to the halftime locker room. Oklahoma scored the first bucket of the second half and Missouri never got closer than 11 points the rest of the way. Price drained 5-of-8 three-point tries on the night and finished with a team-high 24 points while backcourt mate Quannas White added 14 points, five boards and a game-high six assists. Aaron McGhee scored 13 points and hauled in eight rebounds, Daryan Selvy scored 12 points off the bench and Ebi Ere registered 11 points and nine boards. Jabahri Brown also grabbed nine rebounds for the Sooners to go along with his eight points, three assists and two blocks. Missouri's Clarence Gilbert put on a long-distance display by connecting on 8-of-13 three-point attempts. The eight treys set an OU single-game opponent record as Gilbert finished with a game-high 26 points. Preseason All-American Kareem Rush was limited to 13 points on 4-for-15 shooting. OU shot .492 from the field, .455 from long range and .706 from the foul line while also outrebounding Missouri, 43-26. The Sooners forced 18 turnovers while committing 12.
MISSOURI LEFTOVERS
WINDEX MEN
Oklahoma did a superb job cleaning the glass in its non-conference games with a +12.0 rebounding advantage in those contests. But in its first four league games, OU was outboarded three times. The Sooners returned to their old form against Missouri on Monday, claiming 43 rebounds to the Tigers' 26.
BALANCED ATTACK
In its five Big 12 contests, OU has six players who average at least 8.8 points per game. Hollis Price (17.8 ppg), Ebi Ere (16.0), Aaron McGhee (13.6), Quannas White (11.6), Jason Detrick (9.6) and Daryan Selvy (8.8) are Oklahoma's leading scorers in conference play.
HOME IS WHERE THE "W" IS
Kelvin Sampson will claim his 100th win at Lloyd Noble Center with one more home victory. Oklahoma is 99-16 (.861) at home under the eighth-year head coach and has won 17 straight in Norman. OU has also won 26 of its last 27 home affairs.
RETURN TO SENDER
After blocking four shots in his OU debut Dec. 15 against High Point, sophomore center Jabahri Brown totaled six rejections over the next six games. He has picked up pace again with eight blocks over the last four games. Brown leads the team with 1.6 blocks per outing. The last Sooner to average more blocks over a season was forward Ryan Humphrey (2.0 bpg) in 1998-99.
WHITE'S A DELIGHT
Junior point guard Quannas White has played perhaps his two best offensive games of the year over the last two contests against Kansas and Missouri. White poured in 17 points, good for a career high, on 7-for-12 field goal shooting and registered five rebounds, four assists and four steals despite getting into first-half foul trouble against the Jayhawks. Two nights later versus the Tigers, he contributed 14 points, five boards, six assists and a steal on his 21st birthday. That's a two-game average of 15.5 points, 5.0 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 2.5 steals (also just 1.5 turnovers). Prior to the Kansas game he averaged 6.5 points, 2.4 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 1.6 steals. Not usually counted upon for his scoring, White prompted OU coach Kelvin Sampson to say after the Kansas game, "Quannas is more of a table-setter, but that doesn't mean he's not able to sit down and eat, too." White is averaging 7.6 points, 2.7 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 1.7 steals per game.
QUICK TIPS
GETTING DEFENSIVE
Oklahoma's strong offensive performances over the past 11 games are well-documented. But the Sooners' defensive efforts have also been superb during the stretch. OU's last 11 opponents are shooting a mere .382 (234-for-612) from the field and just .291 (52-for-179) from beyond the arc. Also, those same foes are averaging 19.5 turnovers per game while OU has averaged 12.1 steals against them.
A CHARITY CASE
The Sooners lead the Big 12 and rank 12th nationally in free throw percentage at .756. OU's top four scorers are shooting at least .784 from the charity stripe and its top two scorers (Hollis Price and Ebi Ere) own respective .878 and .823 season marks. Oklahoma has traditionally been a sound free throw shooting team under Kelvin Sampson as six of his first seven squads finished first or second in the league in the category. Last year, the Sooners paced the Big 12 with a .740 mark.
ERE EARNS NICKNAME
Nicknamed "ESPN" by his teammates because his best performances seem to have come in games televised by the network family, junior guard Ebi Ere leads the team with his 16.8 points per game and is averaging 17.5 points over the last 14 contests. The three-time Big 12 Rookie of the Week is averaging 20.7 points and 7.5 rebounds in six games on ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPN Plus (he had 16 points at Michigan State, 29 at Arkansas, 19 versus Maryland, 24 at Connecticut, 25 against Texas Tech and 11 points and nine boards against Missouri). Ere has posted double-digit point totals in 13 of the last 14 games and also averages 6.5 rebounds to rank second on the squad. He was a second-team junior college All-American last year at Barton County (Kan.) Community College when he averaged 25.5 points and 7.6 rebounds.
PRICE IS RIGHT
Junior guard Hollis Price, who has shown no ill-effects from a severed triceps tendon sustained in his right (shooting) arm last March, scored a season-high 27 points against Texas Tech on Jan. 12 and scored 24 Monday against Missouri. He is averaging 17.2 points per game to go along with his 2.6 assists and 1.9 steals. Five times this year Price has converted at least four treys in a game. He has made six on two occasions, including a 6-for-7 performance against the Red Raiders. Price is having a solid shooting year with his .516 field goal, .441 three-point and .878 free throw marks.
The New Orleans, La., native spent most of the offseason rehabilitating his arm after an injury during OU's NCAA Tournament game against Indiana State last spring. He collided with ISU's Kelyn Block and had a piece of Block's tooth embedded in the arm. Price underwent three surgeries within the span of a week to irrigate the wound, remove the tooth and repair the severed tendon. He missed his first career game this year (Dec. 29 against Texas Southern) after getting poked in the eye during practice two days earlier.
McGHEE PLAYING LIKE A SENIOR
Aaron McGhee, OU's 6-8, 250-pound senior forward who was a first-team junior college All-American in 1999-2000, struggled in the Sooners' first two games but performed very well during OU's recent 13-game winning streak. McGhee, who averaged 12.9 points and 4.8 rebounds per game last season, averaged just 6.5 points and 3.0 boards in the Sooners' first two games this year. In OU's next 13 games, however, McGhee averaged 14.7 points and 7.1 rebounds. He has posted his lone four career double-doubles this year against Central Michigan (19 points and 11 rebounds), St. Bonaventure (19 points and a career-high 19 boards), Maryland (16 points and 11 rebounds) and Nebraska (13 points and 10 boards). McGhee is now averaging 13.1 points and 6.4 rebounds per outing.
DETRICK STRONG OFF THE BENCH
Junior college transfer Jason Detrick has been superb off the bench this year. The 6-5, 210-pound guard is averaging 10.2 points, 3.8 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.4 steals in 20.6 minutes per contest. Detrick has scored in double figures in eight of the last 11 games and is averaging 11.3 points over the span.
SELVY RESURFACES
Senior forward Daryan Selvy has been more aggressive the past 10 games than he had been the previous several, and the effort has paid off statistically. In OU's first seven games, Selvy averaged 5.7 points and 0.7 assists, and shot .391 from the field. Over the last 10 games, though, he has averaged 10.4 points, 1.7 assists, and has shot .585 (38-for-65) from the floor. Against Texas Southern on Dec. 29, Selvy scored 15 points in 16 minutes on 7-of-10 shooting and registered a career-high five steals. He tied a career-high with 18 points against Texas A&M Jan. 5 and is now averaging 8.5 points, 4.9 boards, 1.3 assists and a team-high 2.0 steals while shooting .505 from the field.
BROWN IS OU'S MAN IN THE MIDDLE
Is it coincidental that OU seems to be playing some of its best basketball in recent memory since Jabahri Brown became eligible 11 games ago? Maybe, but then again maybe not. Brown, OU's 6-10, 210-pound sophomore center who transferred from Rose State College in Midwest City, is averaging 5.9 points, 8.1 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 1.6 blocks and 1.3 steals for the Sooners. He also averages 6.5 altered shots per game (the stat is kept by the OU basketball staff). A native of the U.S. Virgin Islands, Brown began his playing career at Florida International in 1999-2000 and signed with OU last November while a student at Rose State. He practiced with the Sooners last spring and this past fall. The athletic Brown has helped supply a defensive presence Coach Sampson has been seeking in the middle for several years. Brown averaged 8.6 points, 6.3 rebounds and 2.3 blocked shots per game as a freshman at Florida International.
GILBERT LIKELY DONE FOR SEASON
Sophomore Johnnie Gilbert has likely played his last game of the season for the Sooners. The forward played in the team's first six games (started in five) and averaged 4.2 points, 4.8 rebounds and 1.8 blocked shots, but injuries have forced him to the sideline. Gilbert has a rotator cuff injury in his left (shooting) shoulder and he is also battling bursitis in his right hip.
YOUTH IS SERVED
Of Oklahoma's 10 regular players who have seen action in the team's first 17 games, only one has multiple years of Division I experience at Oklahoma - junior guard Hollis Price. Seniors Aaron McGhee and Daryan Selvy are in their second seasons at OU after transferring from junior college, as is true sophomore Johnnie Gilbert. Junior Jozsef Szendrei and freshman Blake Johnston redshirted last year and are in their first full season of Division I competition. Juniors Jason Detrick, Ebi Ere and Quannas White are all in their first season at OU after spending two years at the junior college level. Sophomore Jabahri Brown is in his first year at Oklahoma after playing his freshman year at Florida International.
SOONER SUCCESS UNDER SAMPSON
Kelvin Sampson guided Oklahoma to a .791 combined winning percentage the past two seasons (53-14), the seventh best in NCAA Division I. Only Stanford, Duke, Michigan State, Iowa State, Tulsa and Cincinnati posted higher winning percentages over the span.
Last season's NCAA Tournament appearance marked Sampson's eighth straight as a head coach (seven with Oklahoma and one with Washington State). That streak ranks fifth among current coaches.
Oklahoma has finished 12th (2000) and 13th (2001) in the final AP poll the past two years.
BOOK IT
Kelvin Sampson: The OU Basketball Story is now in bookstores. Written by Dallas Morning News' Steve Richardson and released in October, the book chronicles the Oklahoma head coach's journey from his childhood days in North Carolina to coaching stints at Michigan State, Montana Tech and Washington State, and to his current position at OU. The 269-page book is filled with interviews and accounts of former players, coaches and associates. Retail price is $18.95.
OU BOASTS NATION'S FOURTH-LONGEST POSTSEASON STREAK
Oklahoma has made 20 consecutive postseason appearances (16 NCAA and four NIT), the fourth-longest streak among Division I programs. Only North Carolina (35 years), Georgetown (27) and Indiana (24) 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 24 of its last 25 seasons. No other Big 12 team can boast as many winning campaigns since the 1975-76 season as the Sooners. Entering the current campaign, OU had posted a 557-246 (.694) record over the past 25 years.
BACK TO THE FUTURE
The 26-year-old Lloyd Noble Center is in the midst of a $17.8 million renovation and expansion project with the majority of the facelift to the existing arena recently completed. The renovation included a new ceiling, new and brighter "sports lighting" and the addition of retractable floor seating that has moved fans closer to the playing surface.
The expansion portion of the project will result in arguably the top collegiate basketball practice, training and office facility in the country. The OU men's and women's teams have each begun working out in new practice gyms and will soon have at their disposal new locker rooms, player lounges, film rooms, training rooms, meeting rooms, a hydrotherapy room, an X-ray and examination room, a weight room and coaching offices. The new 70,000-square-foot facility will also include a banquet room and a legacy lobby.
Oklahoma posted a 13-1 record at Lloyd Noble Center last season and is 99-16 (.861) in seven-plus seasons inside the building under Kelvin Sampson.
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