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 Closes Out Home Season Tonight Against Iowa State
February 26, 2002 | Men's Basketball
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Feb. 26, 2002
GAME INFORMATION
Ranked fifth in this week's ESPN/USA Today poll, Oklahoma (22-4 overall, 11-3 Big 12) hosts Iowa State (12-16, 4-10) Tuesday at 8 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 Mike Houck (analyst) calling the action. The game will be televised regionally by ESPN Plus (KOCB Channel 34 in OKC) with Doug Bell (play-by-play) and Chris Piper (analyst) announcing.
OKLAHOMA UPDATE
Oklahoma will look to wrap up its first perfect home season since the 1994-95 campaign (Kelvin Sampson's first year at OU) on Tuesday and will say good-bye to seniors Richard Ainooson, Michael Cano, Aaron McGhee and Daryan Selvy as the quartet will play its final game at Lloyd Noble Center. The Sooners have already clinched a No. 2 seed in the upcoming Big 12 Tournament and will play Friday, March 8 at 6 p.m. at Kemper Arena in Kansas City. OU, which has won 21 games in a row at home and 30 of its last 31, has now secured a first-round bye in the league tournament five straight years.
Senior forward Aaron McGhee continues to turn in one awesome effort after another and has been one of the league's top performers during the month of February. McGhee has recorded six double-doubles in OU's last eight games and is averaging 19.2 points and 9.3 rebounds over the last nine contests. He has posted five 20-point efforts in the last six games. He has led the team in scoring in five of the last six games and in rebounding in eight of the last nine. In Big 12 play, McGhee ranks fifth in Big 12 games in scoring (17.2 ppg) and rebounding (8.2 rpg).
Junior guard Hollis Price leads the team in scoring with his 16.3 points per contest and recently became OU's 32nd player to score 1,000 career points (he now ranks 29th with 1,040). Price also averages 2.8 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.5 steals on the season. He has drained a team-high 57 treys (2.3 per game) and is shooting .474 from the field and .388 from beyond the arc. His .859 mark from the foul line ranks as the third best in the conference.
Ebi Ere, the Big 12 Preseason Newcomer of the Year and three-time league rookie of the week, has come off the bench the last three outings after starting the first 23 and averages 14.9 points per game. He scored a game-high 23 points against Texas on Saturday, 21 in the second half, and registered five assists. The junior guard ranks third on the squad with 5.6 rebounds and with 1.7 assists on the year.
Jason Detrick, another junior guard, has started the last three games in Ere's place and has averaged 12.3 points. He has scored in double figures in five of the last seven games and averages 10.4 points and 3.8 rebounds on the season. He has made 30 of his last 33 free throw tries (.909).
ABOUT IOWA STATE
Iowa State began Big 12 play with a 1-9 record but has rallied to win three of its last four, including a last-second 73-71 home decision over Kansas State on Saturday. The Cyclones are 11-5 at home, 1-2 at neutral sites and have yet to win a true road game (0-9). Iowa State boasts solid shooting percentages with a .461 field goal, .393 three-point and .742 free throw marks.
Senior forward Tyray Pearson ranks fourth in the Big 12 with his 18.6 points per game and ranks seventh by averaging 7.9 boards. He is coming off a 20-point, 11-rebound, three-block effort against Kansas State and is shooting .500 from the field on the year. Sophomore guard Jake Sullivan averages 16.6 points to rank sixth in the conference and has buried 56 treys (2.2 per game). He leads the league with his .483 three-point mark and ranks second with a .905 free throw figure. Also a sophomore guard, Shane Power averages 13.7 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.5 assists per contest while shooting .800 from the foul line.
Head coach Larry Eustachy is in his fourth season at Iowa State where he is 84-42 (.667). He has guided the Cyclones to outright Big 12 titles the past two years and also won the league's tournament crown two seasons ago. Eustachy is in his 12th season as a college head coach and is 243-128 (.655).
SEASON AVERAGES IOWA STATE PROJECTED STARTERS PPG RPG APG F 1 Omar Bynum (6-7, 210, Jr.) 6.9 6.6 1.1 F 34 Tyray Pearson (6-7, 225, Sr.) 18.6 7.9 0.6 G 0 Jake Sullivan (6-1, 195, So.) 16.6 2.3 2.2 G 11 Ricky Morgan (5-11, 185, Fr.) 2.0 2.0 3.0 G 21 Shane Power (6-5, 210, So.) 13.7 4.6 2.5OKLAHOMA PROJECTED STARTERS PPG RPG APG F 13 Aaron McGhee (6-8, 250, Sr.) 15.2 7.4 1.0 F 24 Daryan Selvy (6-6, 215, Sr.) 6.7 4.3 1.2 G 3 Michael Cano (6-1, 180, Sr.) 1.1 0.7 0.4 G 10 Hollis Price (6-1, 165, Jr.) 16.3 2.8 2.8 G 20 Richard Ainooson (6-3, 185, Sr.) 0.9 0.8 0.1
SERIES WITH IOWA STATE
Oklahoma leads the overall series with Iowa State, 101-75, and holds a 55-21 advantage in Norman. Kelvin Sampson is 5-5 against the Cyclones as OU's head coach and owns a 3-1 record at Lloyd Noble Center. The Sooners won the last two games in Norman by five points (in 2000 in overtime) and one point (in 1998).
LAST YEAR VS. THE CYCLONES
In a tale of two completely different halves, Iowa State ran its home court winning streak to 29 games with a 100-80 win over Oklahoma in Ames last year. The Sooners appeared to be in good shape after shooting their way to a 14-point lead with 3:24 left in the first half. OU, which shot .643 (18-for-28) in the opening 20 minutes, took a 49-41 lead to halftime, but a remarkable second-half effort by the Cyclones erased Oklahoma's lead and any hopes of starting the Big 12 season with a road victory. Iowa State made eight three-point baskets in the second half, seven in the first 7:20 of the period, and outscored the Sooners 59-31 after the break. Senior guards Jamal Tinsley (5-for-7) and Kantrail Horton (4-for-6) combined to make nine treys and freshman Jake Sullivan canned three of his four long-range attempts on the day. Horton, who scored 21 of his game-high 27 points after halftime, led five Cyclones in double figures. Tinsley and Sullivan contributed 17 points each while Paul Shirley and Richard Evans added 15 and 14, respectively. Hollis Price paced OU with 25 points while Aaron McGhee scored 22 and Nolan Johnson 14. Iowa State outrebounded the Sooners by 18 and OU's 21 boards tied for the fewest by Oklahoma in seven seasons under Sampson.
TEXAS RECAP
For the first time this season, three Oklahoma players scored 20 or more points and the Sooners disposed of Texas 96-78 Saturday night in Norman. Ebi Ere scored a game-high 23 points, 21 after halftime, while Aaron McGhee and Quannas White contributed 20 each. McGhee also grabbed 10 rebounds for his 10th double-double of the year. After trailing 14-12 with 13:30 left in the first half, OU used a 14-2 run to go up by 10. It pushed its lead to 15 before settling for a 42-34 halftime lead. Texas cut the margin to five points early in the second half but a 22-8 run put the Sooners up by 19 with 11:03 remaining. Ere scored 12 points during the spree. The Longhorns drew as close as 14 before OU pushed its lead as high as 23. Oklahoma made a season-high 12 three-pointers and a season-most 28 free throws as it won its 21st straight home game and seventh consecutive game against Texas. OU registered 20 assists (Ere, White and Hollis Price all had five) while it committed just six turnovers, one more than its season low. T.J. Ford scored 22 points and had seven rebounds and eight assists to lead the Texas charge while James Thomas added 14 points and 11 boards.
TEXAS LEFTOVERS
AN OU WIN AGAINST IOWA STATE WOULD...
PICK YOUR POISON
Junior point guard Quannas White became the fifth Sooner to score at least 20 points in a game this year with his 20-point effort against Texas on Saturday. Aaron McGhee leads the team with eight 20-point games while Ebi Ere and Hollis Price have logged six apiece. Jason Detrick has scored at least 20 points twice. A sixth Sooner, Daryan Selvy, scored 18 points against Texas A&M in the Big 12 opener.
HOME IS WHERE THE "W" IS
Lloyd Noble Center has always been extremely kind to the Sooners over the years, and this season is no different. Oklahoma, which is a perfect 15-0 at home this year, is 340-59 (.852) inside the building since it opened for the 1975-76 campaign. The Sooners are 103-16 (.866) at home under eighth-year head coach Kelvin Sampson and have won 21 straight. The 21-game home winning streak is OU's longest since winning 51 in a row in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
20/20
OU's win over Kansas State Feb. 16 marked the Sooners' 20th victory of the season. This is the 20th time in school history that Oklahoma has reached the 20-win plateau. Eighteen of those 20-win seasons have come in the last 21 years. Kelvin Sampson has posted six 20-win campaigns in his eight years at OU, including five straight.
PRICE CRACKS 1,000-POINT MARK
Junior guard Hollis Price became the 32nd Sooner to score 1,000 career points in OU's game at Oklahoma State on Feb. 13. Price now ranks 29th on the school's all-time scoring list with 1,040 points. He also ranks eighth on OU's career steals list with 148 and is on the verge of cracking the top 10 in three-pointers (120) and three-point attempts (325).
PRICE ADDED TO WOODEN AWARD WATCH LIST
Junior guard Hollis Price is one of 15 players who were added to the list of midseason candidates to make the 10-player Wooden Award All-America Team and to receive the John R. Wooden Award. Thirty players were named to the original midseason list, including Big 12 standouts Maurice Baker, Nick Collison, Drew Gooden and Kareem Rush. Price was the only Big 12 player on the list of 15 additional candidates. The Wooden Award All-America Team will be announced March 26 and the Wooden Award Trophy will be awarded to the nation's "Most Outstanding Collegiate Basketball Player of the Year" April 7.
SAMPSON NAMED NAISMITH FINALIST
Kelvin Sampson was named one of 25 finalists for the Naismith Award, given to the national coach of the year, on Tuesday. Fellow Big 12 coaches joining Sampson on the list were Texas Tech's Bob Knight, Oklahoma State's Eddie Sutton and Kansas' Roy Williams. Sampson won AP, USBWA and Basketball Times national coach-of-the-year honors in 1995, his first year at Oklahoma, when his team went 23-9.
SAMPSON'S SUCCESS VS. STATE OF TEXAS
After their victory over the Longhorns on Saturday, the Sooners own an impressive 62-9 (.873) record against teams from the state of Texas under Kelvin Sampson. Against Big 12 foes Baylor (14-0), Texas (14-3), Texas A&M (12-1) and Texas Tech (8-5), OU is 48-9 (.842) under Sampson.
SOONER STREAKERS
OU's win against Texas on Saturday marked its seventh straight against the Longhorns. The Sooners have also won 16 in a row against Baylor, eight in a row versus Missouri and six straight against Texas A&M. Oklahoma also owns three-game winning streaks against Kansas State and Nebraska.
HANDLE WITH CARE
Last year the Sooners led the Big 12 by committing just 12.7 turnovers per game. Though the team ranks second in the category this season, it is actually committing fewer miscues per contest (12.3) than last year. OU had a season-low six turnovers Saturday against Texas and is averaging just 9.6 over its last five games. Nebraska leads the Big 12 with just 11.0 turnovers per game while the Sooners pace the league in turnover margin at +3.9.
A CHARITY CASE
The Sooners, who are among the nation's best foul shooters, lead the Big 12 with a .773 season mark (they're shooting a Big 12-best .792 in league games) and are on pace to shatter the school record of .755 set in 1985-86. OU boasts four of the Big 12's top-10 free throw shooters in Hollis Price (3rd), Jason Detrick (5th), Aaron McGhee (7th) and Ebi Ere (10th). The quartet combines for an .829 figure (295-for-356). The Sooners have shot .800 or better from the line in five of the last six games and are coming off a 28-for-30 (.933) effort against Texas.
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.
SOONERS RANK WELL IN LEAGUE GAMES, NATIONAL STATS
In Big 12 Conference games, Oklahoma leads the league in scoring defense (68.1), free throw percentage (.792) and three-point percentage defense (.290) while ranking second in scoring margin (+9.1) and field goal percentage defense (.410). OU also ranks third in steals (7.6) and turnover margin (+2.6).
In the latest NCAA stats (games through Feb. 18), the Sooners rank eighth in free throw percentage (.762) and scoring margin (+14.6), 12th in rebounding margin (+7.5) and 29th in scoring offense (79.1 ppg).
QUICK TIPS
VOTE HOLLIS
Junior guard Hollis Price has shown no ill-effects from a severed triceps tendon sustained in his right (shooting) arm last March and has been stellar all year for OU. He has scored at least 24 points four times in the last 12 games and is averaging 16.3 points, 2.8 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.5 steals on the season. Ten times this year Price has converted at least three treys in a game. He has made six on two occasions, including a 6-for-7 performance against Texas Tech on Jan. 12. Price is having a solid shooting year with his .474 field goal, .388 three-point and .859 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 SPECTACULAR OF LATE
Based on his recent performances, Aaron McGhee has become a viable first-team All-Big 12 candidate. The 6-8, 250-pound senior forward has six double-doubles in the last eight games and 10 on the year. He has been the team's most consistent producer over the last month and a half and is averaging 19.2 points and 9.3 rebounds over the last nine games. On the season, he ranks second on the team in scoring with his 15.2 points per outing and leads the squad with his 7.4 rebounds. The lefty has posted five 20-point performances (23, 21, 27, 22 and 20) in the last six games and has led the team in rebounding in eight of the last nine games. He also has eight blocked shots over the last seven contests. The owner of a good shooting touch for a big man, McGhee is shooting .824 from the foul line and is 21-for-22 over the last four outings. He is also shooting .381 from 3-point land over the last 10 games (8-for-21).
WHITE'S A DELIGHT
Junior point guard Quannas White, who had a career-high 20 points and five assists Saturday versus Texas, has played his best basketball of the season over the last 11 games. White started the spurt by producing a then-career-high 17 points, five rebounds, four assists and four steals at Kansas on Jan. 19 and has been sensational since. Over the last 11 games he is averaging 10.5 points, 3.5 rebounds and 5.0 assists. Prior to the KU game he averaged 6.5 points, 2.4 rebounds and 4.2 assists. Not usually counted upon for his scoring, White prompted 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 averages 10.1 points, 3.4 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 1.4 steals in Big 12 play while shooting .485 from long range.
ERE BACK IN THE SADDLE
Following the Jan. 19 Kansas affair, junior guard Ebi Ere averaged 16.8 points and 6.4 rebounds per game for the Sooners. Over the next seven contests, however, Ere averaged 9.9 points and 3.7 rebounds to drop his season averages to 14.7 and 5.6. Included was a three-game string of single-digit outputs. Over the last three games, however, Ere has come off the bench to average 17.0 points and 6.0 boards. The Preseason Big 12 Newcomer of the Year and three-time league rookie of the week scored a game-high 23 points against Texas on Saturday (21 in the second half). Ere was a second-team junior college All-American last year at Barton County (Kan.) Community College, averaging 25.5 points and 7.6 rebounds.
DETRICK RESPONDS TO STARTING ROLE
Junior college transfer Jason Detrick, who came off the bench in 20 of the first 23 games this year, has averaged 12.3 points over the last three contests as a starter. He registered a career-high 21 points, six rebounds and three assists with no turnovers last Feb. 16 against Kansas State. Detrick, who has scored at least 15 points in three of the last six games, is averaging 10.4 points, 3.8 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.2 steals in 21.8 minutes per contest. He is averaging 12.6 points over the last seven games. Detrick was a first-team junior college All-American last year at Southwest Missouri State-West Plains.
SZENDREI PROVIDES SPARK
Junior post Jozsef Szendrei, who redshirted last year and played a combined 35 minutes in OU's first 10 league games this season, has totaled 63 minutes over the last four games (the last three as a starter). He earned 17 minutes of court time at Oklahoma State Feb. 13 and grabbed a career-high-tying 11 rebounds. The 17 minutes were his most since playing 20 minutes Dec. 29 against Texas Southern. His performance landed him a starting role against Kansas State last Feb. 16 and he responded with a game-high-tying eight rebounds. Szendrei, who had not started since the season opener, had four more rebounds last Tuesday at Baylor and scored three points against Texas on Saturday. He is averaging 6.0 boards over the last four games.
Szendrei's parents, Jozsef IV and Eva, are visiting Norman from Budapest. They arrived Feb. 14 and will stay for two weeks. The Feb. 16 Kansas State game marked the first time Szendrei's parents have seen him play basketball at the collegiate level, either Division I or junior college.
SELVY STEALING AND SHOOTING
Oklahoma's top steals man, Daryan Selvy is averaging 1.7 thefts per game to rank seventh in the Big 12. Selvy is also enjoying a solid shooting season with his .473 field goal mark. Last year in conference action, Selvy shot just .275 (22-for-80) from the floor. Over the last 19 games he is shooting .510 (51-for-100). He averages 6.7 points, 4.3 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game on the year.
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 19 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 4.4 points, 6.2 rebounds, 1.1 assists, 1.5 blocks and 1.1 steals for the Sooners. He also averages 5.8 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 26 games, only one has multiple years of Division I experience at OU - 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 D-I competition. Juniors Jason Detrick, Ebi Ere and Quannas White are all in their first season after spending two years at junior colleges. Sophomore Jabahri Brown is in his first year at Oklahoma after playing his freshman year at Florida International.
More than 54 percent of OU's minutes this year are from first-year players. Ere leads the newcomers with 29.4 minutes per game and is followed by White (29.3), Brown (22.9) and Detrick (21.6).
SOONER SUCCESS UNDER SAMPSON
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.
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Thursday, April 02
