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
Oklahoma Meets Arizona Thursday In Sweet 16 Matchup
March 19, 2002 | Men's Basketball
March 19, 2002
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REGIONAL INFORMATION
Making its eighth NCAA Tournament appearance under eighth-year head coach Kelvin Sampson and 21st appearance all told, Oklahoma (29-4 overall, 13-3 Big 12) enters Thursday's Sweet 16 game against Arizona (24-9 overall, 12-6 Pac-10) as the West Region's No. 2 seed. The contest, which will be played at the Compaq Center in San Jose, Calif., will start at 4:55 p.m. PST (6:55 p.m. CST). The Sooners are ranked 3rd in the latest AP and ESPN/USA Today polls and posted wins over 15th-seeded Illinois-Chicago (71-63) and seventh-seeded Xavier (78-65) to advance to the regional semifinals. Arizona is the region's No. 3 seed and is ranked seventh in the AP and eighth in the coaches' polls. The Wildcats beat 14th-seeded UC Santa Barbara (86-81) and 11th-seeded Wyoming (68-60) last weekend.
Should it advance to the Elite Eight, Oklahoma will play Saturday against the winner of the UCLA (No. 8 seed) versus Missouri (No. 12 seed) affair. The Bruins sport a 21-11 record while the Tigers are 23-11. Game time of the regional final is not yet set.
All of OU's NCAA Tournament games 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. Thursday's and Saturday's games will be televised by CBS (KWTV Channel 9 in OKC and KOTV Channel 6 in Tulsa). Gus Johnson (play-by-play), Dan Bonner (analyst) and Solomon Wilcots (courtside reporter) will announce.
OKLAHOMA UPDATE
Oklahoma, coming off a Big 12 Tournament title and a pair of NCAA Tournament victories, has won 10 consecutive games and 14 of its last 15 contests (the only loss during the stretch was in overtime at Oklahoma State). With their 29 triumphs, the Sooners have posted their most wins since 1988-89 and are assured of registering their best winning percentage under eighth-year mentor Kelvin Sampson. The team's Sweet 16 appearance is the team's second under Sampson as the 1998-99 Oklahoma squad also won its first two NCAA Tournament contests. OU's No. 2 seed is the team's highest since it was a No. 1 in 1989-90 (its previous high under Sampson was a No. 3 seed two seasons ago).
Junior guard Hollis Price, a first-team All-Big 12 selection and postseason tournament MVP, has been the team's catalyst virtually all season. He scored a game-high 23 points in the win over Kansas in the Big 12 Tournament title game and averaged 14.5 points over the first two rounds of NCAA Tournament action. Price leads the team in scoring with his 16.5 points per contest and recently became OU's 32nd player to score 1,000 career points (he now ranks 24th with 1,159). Price also averages 3.1 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.8 steals on the season. He has drained a team-high 73 treys (2.3 per game) and is shooting .460 from the field, .374 from long range and .844 from the foul line. Price was named CollegeInsider.com's Big 12 season MVP and to the Internet publication's 16-man All-America team. He is also one of 20 finalists for the Wooden Award.
Senior forward Aaron McGhee turned in an awesome February by averaging 21.3 points and 9.3 rebounds during the month. He has recorded nine double-doubles in OU's last 15 games. McGhee averaged 25.5 points and 8.5 rebounds in OU's first two NCAA Tournament games and also averaged 11.7 rebounds in the team's three Big 12 Tournament contests to earn all-tournament team honors. He has posted eight 20-point efforts in the last 13 games. The lefty has led the team in scoring in nine of the last 13 outings and in rebounding in 12 of the last 15. In Big 12 play, McGhee ranked sixth in scoring (17.4 ppg) and fifth in rebounding (8.1 rpg).
Ebi Ere, the Big 12 Newcomer of the Year and three-time league rookie of the week, scored 20 points and grabbed seven rebounds on Sunday against Xavier and averages 14.5 points per game on the year. The junior guard has collected at least six boards in six of the last seven games and ranks third on the squad with 5.7 rebounds and 1.7 assists on the year.
Point guard Quannas White, another junior, has led the team in assists in 17 of the last 18 games and averages 4.7 handouts per contest. He has tallied 70 assists and just 24 turnovers (2.9-to-1 ratio) over the last 13 games. White also averages 7.9 points per outing and shoots .425 from beyond the arc (he averaged 9.9 points and shot .459 from three-point range in Big 12 games).
SEASON AVERAGES OKLAHOMA PROJECTED STARTERS PPG RPG APG F 13 Aaron McGhee (6-8, 250, Sr.) 15.7 7.8 1.1 C 21 Jabahri Brown (6-10, 210, So.) 4.6 6.0 1.0 G 2 Ebi Ere (6-5, 215, Jr.) 14.5 5.8 1.6 G 4 Quannas White (6-1, 190, Jr.) 7.9 2.7 4.7 G 10 Hollis Price (6-1, 165, Jr.) 16.5 3.1 2.6RESERVES (Listed by scoring average) PPG RPG APG G 5 Jason Detrick (6-5, 210, Jr.) 9.5 3.5 1.2 F 24 Daryan Selvy (6-6, 220, Sr.) 6.6 4.7 1.2 G 12 Blake Johnston (6-1, 180, Fr-RS) 1.7 0.7 1.2 C 42 Jozsef Szendrei (6-9, 240, Jr.) 1.5 2.5 0.1 G 3 Michael Cano (6-1, 180, Sr.) 0.9 0.5 0.3 G 20 Richard Ainooson (6-3, 185, Sr.) 0.8 0.7 0.1 F 55 Michael Liggett (6-6, 190, Fr.) 0.2 0.2 0.0
ABOUT ARIZONA
The West Region's No. 3 seed, Arizona enters Thursday's game on a six-game winning streak and owns a 24-9 overall record. The Wildcats posted a 12-6 Pac-10 mark to finish in a four-way tie for second place behind Oregon before beating Arizona State, California and USC to win their conference tournament. Arizona beat UC Santa Barbara (86-81) and Wyoming (68-60) to advance to its fifth Sweet 16 in the last seven seasons. Last year the Cats lost to Duke in the national championship game, 82-72.
Junior guard Jason Gardner leads Arizona with his 20.5 points and his 3.2 three-pointers per game. He also averages 4.6 assists and 1.6 steals. Junior forward Luke Walton averages 15.9 points per contest and leads the team withi his 7.3 rebounds, 6.2 assists and 1.7 steals per outing. Freshman guard Salim Stoudamire scores 12.9 points per game and is shooting .458 from beyond the arc and .902 from the free throw line. Rick Anderson, a junior forward averages 12.5 points and 7.3 rebounds while freshman center Channing Frye averages 9.5 points and 6.3 rebounds to go along with a .587 season field goal mark.
Lute Olson is in his 19th season at Arizona where he is 471-142 (.768), and is in his 29th season year as a college head coach. He owns a 663-234 (.739) career record and has guided four Arizona squads to Final Four appearances.
SERIES WITH ARIZONA
Oklahoma holds a 3-1 all-time series advantage over Arizona and is 2-0 against the Wildcats in NCAA Tournament play. The teams first met in the 1988 Final Four in Kansas City, Mo., with the Sooners winning that contest 86-78 before losing to Kansas in the title game. Harvey Grant and Stacey King scored 21 points apiece for OU while Sean Elliott scored 31 points and pulled down 11 boards in a losing effort. Fifth-ranked Oklahoma won the rematch the following year in Norman against the top-ranked Wildcats, 82-80. King registered 24 points and nine boards while Elliott scored a game-high 26 points. Arizona avenged the losses with a victory in Tucson the next season, 78-74. Jud Buechler and Sean Rooks helped the Wildcats to their 41st consecutive home triumph by scoring 18 points each. Skeeter Henry paced OU with 14 points. The teams last met in the 1999 NCAA Tournament first round in Milwaukee, Wis. The 13th-seeded Sooners pulled the upset over fourth-seeded Arizona, 61-60, as Eduardo Najera registered 17 points, 13 rebounds, three steals and two blocks. Ryan Humphrey's tip-in with 21 seconds left proved to be the game-winner. The win marked the first in NCAA Tournament competition for Kelvin Sampson who was 0-5 entering the game.
BEYOND THE WILDCATS
If Oklahoma defeats Arizona on Thursday it will take on the winner of the UCLA vs. Missouri contest on Saturday. The Sooners are 0-3 all-time against the Bruins while they hold a 107-88 all-time mark against the Tigers. Oklahoma is 10-5 against Missouri under head coach Kelvin Sampson and has won eight straight, including an 84-71 decision in Norman this season.
SOONERS IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
Oklahoma, which now owns a 26-20 NCAA Tournament record, is making its 21st tourney appearance. The Sooners had lost five straight first-round games prior to their last Sweet 16 showing in 1999. OU also picked up a first-round win over Winthrop two years ago before dropping an overtime decision last season to Indiana State. The 1939, 1947 and 1988 squads advanced to the national semifinals with the most recent of the two teams losing in the championship game. Below is a year-by-year look at OU's NCAA Tournament appearances, seeds and records.
Year Seed Record Final Opponent 1939 -- 1-1 Oregon 1943 -- 1-1 Wyoming 1947 -- 3-1 Holy Cross 1979 No. 5 1-1 Indiana State 1983 No. 7 1-1 Indiana 1984 No. 2 0-1 Dayton 1985 No. 1 3-1 Memphis State 1986 No. 4 1-1 DePaul 1987 No. 6 2-1 Iowa 1988 No. 1 5-1 Kansas 1989 No. 1 2-1 Virginia 1990 No. 1 1-1 North Carolina 1992 No. 4 0-1 Southwestern La. 1995 No. 4 0-1 Manhattan 1996 No. 10 0-1 Temple 1997 No. 11 0-1 Stanford 1998 No. 10 0-1 Indiana 1999 No. 13 2-1 Michigan State 2000 No. 3 1-1 Purdue 2001 No. 4 0-1 Indiana State 2002 No. 2 2-0
OU BOASTS NATION'S SECOND-LONGEST POSTSEASON STREAK
Oklahoma has made 21 consecutive postseason appearances (17 NCAA and four NIT), the second-longest streak among Division I programs. Only Indiana (23 NCAA and two NIT showings) owns a longer postseason streak at 25 years.
OKLAHOMA VERSUS TEAMS IN THE SWEET 16
The Sooners, at 7-1, have won more games against this year's Sweet 16 field than any other remaining team has. Following Oklahoma is Kansas (5-2), Oregon (4-0), Arizona (4-5), Illinois (3-3), Maryland (3-3), Duke (2-1), Kentucky (2-1), Connecticut (2-2), Indiana (2-3), UCLA (2-3), Texas (2-6), Southern Illinois (1-1), Kent State (0-1), Pittsburgh (0-1) and Missouri (0-6).
RECAPPING OU'S FIRST TWO ROUNDS
Aaron McGhee recorded his 13th double-double of the season and led four Sooners in double figures in scoring as Oklahoma knocked off Illinois-Chicago 71-63 in first-round NCAA Tournament action on Friday in Dallas. McGhee led the No. 2 seeded Sooners with 26 points and 12 rebounds while Hollis Price, Daryan Selvy and Ebi Ere scored 17, 13 and 10 points, respectively. The 15th-seeded Flames took a 7-4 lead early in the game but Price's three-pointer knotted the score and OU never trailed again. The Sooners led by as many as 15 points in the first half (28-13 with 6:32 remaining) before UIC cut the margin to eight, 38-30, by halftime. Oklahoma's advantage hovered around the 10-point mark most of the second half before the Flames got to within seven with 3:41 to go. Two straight McGhee buckets and a Selvy layup pushed the lead back to 13, however, and the Sooners eventually won by eight despite shooting just .111 from three-point range (2-for-18). Illinois-Chicago, Horizon League Tournament champion, shot .333 from the field and .227 from beyond the arc. The Flames entered the game as one of the nation's top three-point shooting teams with their .412 season mark.
On Sunday, McGhee (25) and Ere (20) combined for 45 points in a 78-65 victory over seventh-seeded Xavier. The Musketeers had won 21 of their previous 23 games but Oklahoma never trailed as it won its 10th straight. OU took a 7-0 lead and led by as many as 10 (30-20) in the first half before settling for a four-point halftime edge. Xavier managed four ties in the second half but a 9-0 run midway through the period helped seal the Musketeers' fate as McGhee scored six points during the spurt. The Sooners shot .446 from the field and a solid .857 from the foul line (24-for-28) while Xavier posted .404 and .652 respective figures. Price added 12 points, three assists and three steals for OU while Selvy registered a game-high nine rebounds and a pair of steals.
SOONER BOSS TO BE HONORED AT FINAL FOUR
Kelvin Sampson will be honored as the Chevrolet Coach of the Year during a presentation Thursday, March 28 at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. Sampson was selected for the award by CBS Sports production staff and talent. Duke's Jason Williams will be presented with the Chevrolet Player of the Year award during the same ceremony. Sampson also won national coach of the year honors in 1994-95 (his first season at OU) from the AP, the USBWA and Basketball Times.
SAMPSON EARNS NINTH STRAIGHT NCAA TOURNEY BID
This year's NCAA Tournament appearance marks Kelvin Sampson's ninth straight as a head coach (eight at Oklahoma and one at Washington State). That string ranks fourth among active coaches. Only Arizona's Lute Olson (18 straight), Kansas' Roy Williams (13) and Cincinnati's Bob Huggins (11) have taken teams to more consecutive NCAA Tournaments. Kentucky's Tubby Smith and Maryland's Gary Williams have also been to nine straight "Big Dances" while Stanford's Mike Montgomery has been to eight.
AN OU VICTORY THURSDAY WOULD...
LAST YEAR IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
Oklahoma's seventh straight NCAA Tournament visit turned out to be a short one as the South Region's No. 4 seed dropped a 70-68 first-round overtime decision to No. 13 seed Indiana State in Memphis, Tenn. The Sooners outshot (.400 to.390) and outrebounded (45-34) the Sycamores, but a 21-8 made-free throw margin in favor of the underdogs proved very harmful. Oklahoma took a 33-26 lead to halftime thanks to Kelley Newton's buzzer-beating bank shot. Newton, who celebrated his 22nd birthday by scoring a career-high-tying 26 points, made six three-pointers on the day and helped OU up its advantage to a seemingly comfortable 13 points (47-34) with 14:57 left in regulation. An 8-0 run drew the Sycamores within five midway through the half and eventually tied the score at 54-54 on a Matt Renn free throw with 5:09 remaining in regulation. The Sycamores claimed a three-point lead with 2:18 left on two more Renn free throws and still led by two after Djibril Kante drained a pair of foul shots at the 28-second mark. OU's Hollis Price forced overtime, however, by sinking a driving layup with 19.1 seconds to go. The Sycamores scored the first points of overtime and then never trailed. OU played the overtime session without the services of Price, who severed the triceps tendon in his right arm while driving for a bucket with 51 seconds left in regulation. Without him, the Sooners scored seven points in the extra session and failed to force a second overtime when Nolan Johnson's baseline runner was off the mark at the horn. Newton's 26 points led all scorers while Johnson and Price added 15 and 11 for OU. Aaron McGhee scored nine and grabbed a career-high 12 rebounds. Renn was 12-for-17 from the foul line and led ISU with 22 points.
SOONERS WIN SECOND STRAIGHT BIG 12 TOURNEY TITLE
This year's Oklahoma squad became the first in school history to earn a second consecutive league postseason tournament crown when it beat top-ranked Kansas on Sunday at Kemper Arena in Kansas City. It was the Sooners' 11th conference tournament championship game appearance (fourth in the last five years) and sixth title. Before knocking off Kansas, No. 2 seed OU beat No. 7 seed Kansas State on Friday and No. 3 seed Texas on Saturday.
Oklahoma opened tournament play with a 63-52 quarterfinals win over Kansas State. The Sooners made five of their first eight field goal attempts, including four treys on five tries, to open a 14-4 lead early. Twelve first-half turnovers and frigid shooting the remainder of the period (OU went 4-for-21 the rest of the half) helped K-State take a 25-24 lead at the break. Oklahoma's zone defense limited the Wildcats to .308 shooting in the second half, though, and a 14-for-20 OU free throw effort helped the Sooners pull away. The story of the game was OU's dominance on the boards as it grabbed 54 rebounds to K-State's 30. Twenty-eight of those 54 caroms came on the offensive end of the floor. Ebi Ere notched his first career double-double with 20 points and a career-high 11 rebounds and added three assists with no turnovers. Hollis Price contributed 13 points and three steals while Aaron McGhee tallied seven points and a game-high 16 rebounds. Daryan Selvy also performed well with his seven points, seven boards and three steals. Jabahri Brown pulled down nine rebounds, his most in 12 games.
In a rematch of the 2001 Big 12 Tournament title game, McGhee scored a team-high 16 points and pulled down a game-high 15 rebounds against Texas as Oklahoma led from start to finish in a 67-51 semifinals victory. McGhee also helped shut down Texas' inside game, namely that of James Thomas. Thomas scored just one point on the night and was limited to two field goal attempts. Longhorns guard/forward Brandon Mouton entered the contest as the team's leading scorer but also managed just one point on 0-for-7 field goal shooting. For the second straight night, strong three-point shooting helped OU jump out to an early lead. The Sooners nailed six treys in the first 11:50 to take a 26-16 lead before pushing their advantage to 38-23 at the half. An 8-2 OU run to start the second half increased the margin to 21 and Texas never got closer than 13 points. Ere and Jason Detrick both nailed three treys and contributed 15 points each. OU forced 22 Texas turnovers and held the Longhorns to .375 field goal shooting.
In the title game, OU turned in one of its best defensive efforts in a 64-55 victory over the nation's highest-scoring team. Kansas entered the game averaging 93.2 points per contest but poor shooting and a rash of turnovers hurt the Jayhawks, particularly in the first half. The Sooners limited KU to .333 field goal shooting and .167 three-point shooting on the day while forcing 20 Kansas miscues. A Jeff Boschee three-pointer gave the Jayhawks an early 3-2 lead but it turned out to be their only lead. Playing without McGhee for most of the first half due to foul trouble, OU managed to build a 29-17 advantage before settling for a 29-19 halftime lead. KU shot .233 from the field in the first 20 minutes and committed 12 turnovers. The Jayhawks rallied to tie the score twice midway through the second stanza but Oklahoma wouldn't break and never fell behind. Price, the tournament MVP, scored 12 of his game-high 23 points in the final 8:26 to help put the game away. Quannas White added 10 points for OU while McGhee had nine in 15 minutes before fouling out. Brown was all over the court with seven points, eight rebounds four blocks and four steals. Drew Gooden had 22 points and 15 boards for KU, but Kirk Hinrich, the team's second-leading scorer, was 0-for-10 from the field and scored four points. Kansas set season lows in points, points in a half, field goal percentage and three-point percentage.
BIG 12 TOURNAMENT LEFTOVERS
TOURNAMENT TOUGH
The Sooners are 16-2 in tournament play over the last two years with five tournament trophies in their pockets. Last season, OU won the Sooner Invitational, the Big Island Invitational, the All-College Tournament and the Big 12 Tournament before losing in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. This year OU went 1-1 in the Preseason NIT (lost at Michigan State), claimed the Big 12 Tournament title and won its first two NCAA Tournament contests.
ACADEMIC ACCLAIM
Sooners Michael Cano, Blake Johnston and Jozsef Szendrei were all named to the Academic All-Big 12 Teams on Feb. 28. Cano, a senior, and Johnston, a redshirt freshman, were first-team selections while Szendrei, a junior, was a second-teamer. The first team consists of student-athletes who have maintained a 3.2-or-higher grade-point average, either cumulatively or over each of the last two semesters. Second-team selections were required to maintain a 3.0 to 3.19 GPA.
SOLID DOWN THE STRETCH
Since Kelvin Sampson became OU's head coach prior to the 1994-95 season, the Sooners are 51-19 (.729) in February and March regular season games. Oklahoma is 28-7 (.800) in the regular season in those two months over the last four years. This season, OU posted an 8-1 mark in February and March with its only loss coming in overtime at Oklahoma State.
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 Feb. 23. Aaron McGhee and Hollis Price lead the team with nine 20-point games each. Ebi Ere has scored at least 20 points seven times and Jason Detrick has done it twice. A sixth Sooner, Daryan Selvy, scored 18 points twice this year.
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. The Sooners are averaging 25.2 victories over the last five seasons and 27.3 over the last three years.
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 24th on the school's all-time scoring list with 1,159 points. He also ranks eighth on OU's career steals list (167), seventh in three-point attempts (373) and ninth in three-pointers (136).
SAMPSON NAMED NAISMITH FINALIST
Kelvin Sampson is one of 25 finalists for the Naismith Award, given to the national coach of the year. Fellow Big 12 coaches accompanying Sampson on the list are 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.
HANDLE WITH CARE
Last year the Sooners led the Big 12 by committing just 12.7 turnovers per game. Though the team ranks third in the category this season, it is actually committing fewer miscues per contest (12.2) than last year. OU tied a season low by committing six turnovers against Xavier on Sunday and is averaging just 10.8 over its last 10 games. Nebraska leads the Big 12 with just 11.3 turnovers per game while the Sooners pace the league in turnover margin at +4.2.
A CHARITY CASE
The Sooners, who are among the nation's best foul shooters, lead the Big 12 with a .764 season mark (they shot an amazing .798 in league games) and are on pace to break the school record of .755 set in 1985-86. OU boasts four of the Big 12's top 12 free throw shooters in Hollis Price (3rd), Aaron McGhee (6th), Jason Detrick (7th) and Ebi Ere (12th). The quartet combines for an .816 season figure (377-for-462) and shot .843 in league contests (219-for-271). In its first two NCAA Tournament games the Sooners posted an .811 free throw mark (43-for-53).
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 Big 12 in the category. Last year, the Sooners paced the league with a .740 mark.
BREAKING 80
In eight years under Kelvin Sampson, the Sooners sport a 99-10 (.908) record when scoring at least 80 points. OU is 12-0 under the circumstance this year and 38-2 over the last three years.
HOME IS WHERE THE "W" IS
Lloyd Noble Center has always been extremely kind to the Sooners over the years, and this season was no different. Oklahoma, which posted a perfect 16-0 mark at home this year, is 341-59 (.853) inside the building since it opened for the 1975-76 campaign. The Sooners are 104-16 (.867) at home under eighth-year head coach Kelvin Sampson and have won 22 straight. The 22-game home winning streak is OU's longest since winning 51 in a row in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
ROAD RULE
Oklahoma has had its share of success on the road under Kelvin Sampson with a 32-19 (.627) record in its last 51 true away contests. In Big 12 play, OU is 28-14 in its last 42 road contests for a .667 mark. The Sooners have finished 5-3 in four of the last five seasons in conference road play and went 6-2 in 1998-99. Kansas (36-12), Oklahoma (29-19) and Texas (27-21) are the only schools with a winning road record since the Big 12 was formed.
SOONERS RANK WELL IN LEAGUE GAMES, NATIONAL STATS
In Big 12 Conference games, Oklahoma led the league in free throw percentage (.798), field goal percentage defense (.412) and three-point percentage defense (.295). OU also ranked second in scoring defense (68.8), scoring margin (+9.6), steals (8.2) and turnover margin (+3.1).
In the latest NCAA statistical release (games through March 11), the Sooners ranked 11th in free throw percentage (.760), seventh in scoring margin (+14.2) and 18th in rebounding margin (+6.3).
QUICK TIPS
PRICE IS RIGHT
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. The first-team All-Big 12 pick has scored at least 23 points seven times in the last 19 games and is averaging 16.5 points, 3.1 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.8 steals on the season. Thirteen 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 .460 field goal, .374 three-point and .844 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.
"ACE" IN THE HOLE
Aaron "Ace" McGhee enjoyed an awesome February and earned first-team All-Big 12 acclaim from league coaches. The 6-8, 250-pound senior forward has nine double-doubles in the last 15 games and 13 on the year. He has been the team's most consistent producer the last two months and is averaging 18.4 points and 9.4 rebounds over the last 16 games. In OU's first two NCAA Tournament games he averaged 25.5 points and 8.5 boards. On the season, he ranks second on the team in scoring with his 15.7 points per outing and leads the squad with his 7.8 rebounds. The lefty has posted eight 20-point performances (23, 21, 27, 22, 20, 26, 26 and 25) in the last 13 games and has led the team in rebounding in 12 of the last 15 games. He also has 13 blocked shots over the last 14 contests. The owner of a good shooting touch for a big man, McGhee is shooting .818 from the foul line on the season and .367 from 3-point land over the last 17 games (11-for-30).
WHITE'S A DELIGHT
Junior point guard Quannas White, who had a career-high 20 points and five assists Feb. 23 versus Texas, has played his best basketball of the season over the last 18 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 18 games he is averaging 9.1 points, 2.9 rebounds and 5.1 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 averaged 9.9 points, 3.1 rebounds and 5.1 assists in Big 12 play while shooting .459 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 10 games, however, Ere has bounced back to average 14.1 points and 6.3 boards. The Big 12 Newcomer of the Year and three-time league rookie of the week scored a game-high 21 points against Kansas State in Big 12 Tournament quarterfinal play and hauled in a career-high 11 rebounds for his first career double-double. He also poured in 20 points on Sunday against Xavier. Ere was a second-team junior college All-American last year at Barton County (Kan.) Community College.
DETRICK STEPS UP PLAY
Junior college transfer Jason Detrick, who came off the bench in 20 of the first 23 games this year, earned a starting spot over three games late in the season and averaged 12.3 points in those contests. He registered a career-high 21 points, six rebounds and three assists with no turnovers Feb. 16 against Kansas State. Detrick, who has scored at least 11 points in seven of the last 14 games, is averaging 9.5 points, 3.5 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 1.1 steals in 21.1 minutes per contest. He is shooting .816 from the free throw line on the year and posted an .889 mark in Big 12 play. 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 95 minutes over the last 11 games (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 by far 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. He only played one minute Feb. 26 against Iowa State due to illness but grabbed four boards in 12 minutes at Colorado in the regular season finale. He totaled 13 minutes of action in the Big 12 Tournament and played six minutes against Illinois-Chicago last Friday.
SELVY STEALING AND SHOOTING
One of the Big 12's top steals men, Daryan Selvy had four thefts in the regular season finale at Colorado and had six more in three Big 12 Tournament games. He is averaging 1.7 steals per game to rank fifth in the Big 12. Selvy is also enjoying a solid shooting season with his .476 field goal mark. Last year in conference action, Selvy shot just .275 (22-for-80) from the floor. Over the last 26 games he is shooting .504 (71-for-141). He also averages 6.6 points, 4.7 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 25 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 4.6 points, 6.0 rebounds, 1.0 assist, 1.5 blocks and 1.3 steals for the Sooners. He also averages 6.3 altered shots per game (the stat is kept by the OU basketball staff). He played a huge role in OU's win over No. 1 Kansas in the Big 12 Tournament final by contributing seven points, eight rebounds, four blocks and four steals. 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 DONE FOR SEASON
Sophomore forward Johnnie Gilbert 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. He will not play the remainder of the season.
YOUTH IS SERVED
Of Oklahoma's 10 regular players who have seen action in the team's 31 games, only one entered the season with 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 55 percent of OU's minutes this year are from first-year players. White leads the newcomers with 30.1 minutes per game and is followed by Ere (29.2), Brown (22.2) and Detrick (21.1).
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.
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
