Oklahoma Makes Fourth Final Four Appearance

March 27, 2002

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FINAL FOUR INFORMATION
Making its eighth NCAA Tournament appearance under eighth-year head coach Kelvin Sampson and 21st appearance all told, Oklahoma (31-4 overall, 13-3 Big 12) advanced to its fourth Final Four as the West Region's No. 2 seed. The Sooners will take on Indiana (24-11, 11-5 Big Ten), the South Region's No. 5 seed, Saturday at 6:07 p.m. EST at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. The Sooners are ranked 3rd in the latest AP and ESPN/USA Today polls and posted wins over 15th-seeded Illinois-Chicago (71-63), seventh-seeded Xavier (78-65), third-seeded Arizona (88-67) and 12th-seeded Missouri (81-75) to advance to the Final Four. Indiana beat 12th-seeded Utah (75-56), 13th-seeded UNC Wilmington (76-67), top-seeded Duke (74-73) and 10th-seeded Kent State (81-69) in its first four tourney games.

Saturday's second game will pit Kansas (33-3), the No. 1 seed in the Midwest, against Maryland (30-4), the East's No. 1 seed. Monday's national championship game will start at 9:18 p.m. EST.

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. The national semifinal and national championship games will be televised by CBS (KWTV Channel 9 in OKC). Jim Nantz (play-by-play), Billy Packer (analyst) and Bonnie Bernstein (courtside reporter) will announce.

OKLAHOMA UPDATE
Oklahoma, riding high after claiming a Big 12 Tournament title and four NCAA Tournament victories, has won 12 consecutive games and 16 of its last 17 contests. OU's last loss, an overtime defeat at rival Oklahoma State Feb. 13, came nearly a month and a half ago. With their 31 triumphs, the Sooners have posted their most wins since 1987-88 (the last time they advanced to the Final Four) when they went 35-4, and are assured of registering their best winning percentage under eighth-year mentor Kelvin Sampson. The team's Final Four appearance is its first under Sampson and its fourth overall.

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 is averaging 18.3 points per game in NCAA Tournament action. The West Region's Most Outstanding Player leads the team in scoring with his 16.8 points per contest on the season and recently became OU's 32nd player to score 1,000 career points (he now ranks 22nd with 1,203). Price also averages 3.1 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.7 steals on the season. He has drained a team-high 83 treys (2.4 per game) and is shooting .464 from the field, .390 from long range and .842 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 17 games. McGhee is averaging 21.8 points and 7.0 rebounds in the NCAA Tournament and also averaged 11.7 rebounds in the team's three Big 12 Tournament contests to earn all-tournament team honors. He has posted nine 20-point efforts in the last 15 games. The lefty has led the team in scoring in nine of the last 15 outings and in rebounding in 13 of the last 17. 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, is averaging 15.3 points and 7.0 rebounds in four NCAA Tournament games. On the season he ranks third on the team with his 14.5 points per game, second with 5.9 boards per outing and third with 1.7 assists. The junior guard has collected at least six rebounds in eight of the last nine games.

Point guard Quannas White, another junior, has led the team in assists in 19 of the last 20 games and averages 4.8 handouts per contest against just 1.9 turnovers (2.5 ratio). He sports a 3.6 assist-to-turnover ratio in the NCAA Tournament with 25 assists and seven miscues. White also averages 7.9 points per outing and shoots .413 from beyond the arc (he averaged 9.9 points and shot .459 from three-point range in Big 12 games).

Senior forward Daryan Selvy has been a strong performer off the bench in the postseason as witnessed by his 9.3 points and 7.0 rebounds in NCAA Tournament play. He scored 13 points in OU's first-round win over Illinois-Chicago, had nine boards in the victory over Xavier and scored 15 points against Arizona before adding seven rebounds against Missouri. On the year, Selvy averages 6.8 points, 4.8 rebounds and 1.6 steals while sporting .471 field goal, .346 three-point and .735 free throw marks.

                                           SEASON AVERAGES
OKLAHOMA PROJECTED STARTERS               PPG    RPG    APG
F  13  Aaron McGhee (6-8, 250, Sr.)       15.8   7.7    1.1
C  21  Jabahri Brown (6-10, 210, So.)     4.6    5.7    1.0
G  2   Ebi Ere (6-5, 215, Jr.)            14.5   5.9    1.7
G  4   Quannas White (6-1, 190, Jr.)      7.9    2.8    4.8
G  10  Hollis Price (6-1, 165, Jr.)       16.8   3.1    2.6

RESERVES (Listed by scoring average)      PPG    RPG    APG
G  5   Jason Detrick (6-5, 210, Jr.)      9.3    3.5    1.2
F  24  Daryan Selvy (6-6, 220, Sr.)       6.8    4.8    1.1
G  12  Blake Johnston (6-1, 180, Fr-RS)   1.7    0.7    1.3
C  42  Jozsef Szendrei (6-9, 240, Jr.)    1.5    2.4    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    0.6    0.1
F  55  Michael Liggett (6-6, 190, Fr.)    0.2    0.2    0.0

ABOUT INDIANA
The South Region's No. 5 seed, Indiana enters Final Four weekend a winner in six of its last seven games. The Hoosiers, who are playing in their eighth Final Four and first since 1992, have posted tournament wins over Utah, UNC Wilmington, Duke and Kent State this year. In those four victories, IU has shot .559 from the field and .509 from three-point range. Indiana tied for first place in the Big Ten regular season and beat Michigan State in the conference tournament quarterfinals before losing to Iowa in the semifinals.

Sophomore forward Jared Jeffries leads the team in scoring and rebounding with his 15.4 and 7.6 respective per-game averages. Jeffries also averages 2.0 assists, 1.3 blocks and 1.5 steals. In the NCAA Tournament he averages 17.0 points and 8.5 boards. Junior guard Tom Coverdale averages 12.2 points and 4.9 assists per contest this season and has made a team-high 67 three-pointers (shooting .374 from beyond the arc). Coverdale left the Hoosiers' last game with a left ankle sprain in the second half and did not return. Senior forward Jarrad Odle averages 9.0 points and 5.2 rebounds per game and senior guard Dane Fife averages 8.8 points and 1.8 treys per outing. Kyle Hornsby, a junior forward, has made 66 three-pointers (1.9 per game) and averages 7.6 points.

Mike Davis, in his second year as Indiana's head coach, owns a 45-24 (.652) record.

SERIES WITH INDIANA
Oklahoma owns a 1-3 all-time record against Indiana, including a 0-2 mark in NCAA Tournament competition. The teams last met in the 1998 NCAA Tournament first round and the Hoosiers came away with a 94-87 overtime victory in Washington, D.C. Indiana also posted a 63-49 decision in the second round of the tournament in 1983 in Evansville, Ind. The squads split their two regular season meetings with Indiana winning 87-69 in 1964 in Bloomington and OU returning the favor the following year in Norman, 83-82.

BEYOND THE HOOSIERS
If Oklahoma defeats Indiana on Saturday it will meet either Kansas or Maryland in Monday's title game. The Sooners have posted wins against both potential opponents this year. OU beat Maryland, 72-56, on Dec. 21 and split its two games with Kansas. The Jayhawks notched a 74-67 win in Lawrence on Jan. 19 before the Sooners avenged the loss with a 64-55 victory in the Big 12 Tournament championship game.

OU IN THE GEORGIA DOME
The Sooners have played one previous game in the Georgia Dome. In its second game of the 1995-96 season, Oklahoma lost to Georgia Tech, 83-72, in a Preseason NIT contest.

SOONERS IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
Oklahoma, which now owns a 28-20 NCAA Tournament record, is making its 21st tourney appearance. The Sooners had lost five straight first-round games prior to a Sweet 16 showing in 1999. OU also picked up a first-round win over Winthrop two years ago before dropping a first-round 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    4-0

BIG 12: FINAL FOUR, FINALLY
Prior to this year, no Big 12 team had ever participated in the Final Four as a member of the conference. The league has had its most successful tournament run this year as four teams (OU, Kansas, Missouri and Texas) advanced to the Sweet 16 and three made it to the Elite Eight (OU, Kansas and Missouri).

FOURTH TIME A CHARM?
OU is making its fourth appearance in the Final Four with previous showings coming in 1939 (the first year of the NCAA Tournament), 1947 and 1988. Below is a quick look at the team's Final Four history:

Year    Result(s)
1939    Lost to Oregon (55-37)
1947    Beat Texas (55-54), lost to Holy Cross (58-47)
1988    Beat Arizona (86-78), lost to Kansas (83-79)

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 owns a longer postseason streak. The last time OU did not compete in the postseason was in 1980-81.

RECAPPING OU'S FIRST FOUR 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 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.

In the second round, 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.

Oklahoma used a 55-point second half to turn a four-point halftime deficit into a 21-point victory against No. 3 seed Arizona in the West Regional semifinal in San Jose, Calif. Junior guard Hollis Price kept Oklahoma afloat in the first half as he helped negate the team's .364 field goal performance by draining six three-pointers on 10 tries in the opening 20 minutes. OU trailed by nine late in the period before scoring the last five points to go to the locker room down 37-33. The Sooners scored the first five of the second half to take a one-point lead before Arizona went back up by four at the 15:44 mark. Ebi Ere and Daryan Selvy spurred an 11-0 run for OU, though, and the Sooners went ahead 51-44 with 11:40 remaining. The Wildcats got to within three again but an 11-2 spurt put Oklahoma up by 12. OU extended its lead to as many as 23 late in the contest before claiming the 88-67 triumph. The Sooners committed a season-low five turnovers and outrebounded the Cats by a 42-37 margin in improving to 30-4. Price finished with a game-high 26 points while McGhee, Selvy and Ere netted 21, 15 and 14, respectively. Arizona shot .565 in the first half and held a three-rebound advantage, but turned in a .294 mark in the second half and was outboarded by eight.

In the regional championship game, OU survived major foul trouble to record an 81-75 victory over 12th-seeded Missouri. Four Sooners ended the game with four fouls and three more finished with three. The Sooners took an eight-point halftime lead on Price's buzzer-beating three-pointer and led by 10 with 16:38 remaining in the game before the Tigers used a 12-3 run over the next six minutes to cut the margin to one. With OU leading by three, McGhee nailed a critical three-pointer at the 2:15 mark and then the Sooners made 8-of-10 free throw tries down the stretch to seal the win. Price led four OU players in double digits with 18 points and was followed by Ere's 17, McGhee's 15 and White's 12. White also grabbed a career-high seven rebounds and had seven assists against just one turnover. Oklahoma shot .446 from the field, .500 from long range and .750 from the foul line while Missouri posted .421, .318 and .588 respective marks. The Sooners forced 15 turnovers while committing just eight.

NCAA TOURNEY QUICK TIPS

Aaron McGhee, Ebi Ere and Daryan Selvy are all averaging 7.0 rebounds a game.

Hollis Price has made 12-of-25 three-point tries for a .480 mark and he's 11-for-12 at the foul line.

Quannas White has registered 25 assists against just seven turnovers (3.6 ratio).

OU's four opponents have shot a combined .390 from the field and .294 from three-point range.

The Sooners are averaging 4.3 more assists and 5.8 fewer turnovers per game than their foes. Their 61 assists and 30 turnovers are good for a sparkling 2-to-1 ratio.

Oklahoma has made 83-of-103 free throw attempts for a solid .806 mark.

OU's No. 2 NCAA Tournament seed is its highest since 1990 when it was a No. 1 seed.

The Sooners are playing in their eighth straight NCAA Tournament and their 17th in the last 20 years.

The Sooners are now 12-8 in NCAA Tournament games as a West Region participant and are 28-20 all-time in NCAA Tournament play.

Only four Sooners (Johnnie Gilbert, Aaron McGhee, Hollis Price and Daryan Selvy) entered the postseason with NCAA Tournament experience. For Gilbert, McGhee and Selvy, that experience amounted to one game. Gilbert will not participate in this year's tournament due to injury.

Playing in their first NCAA Tournament game March 15 were Jabahri Brown, Jason Detrick, Ebi Ere, Blake Johnston, Jozsef Szendrei and Quannas White.

OU trainer Alex Brown is the lone member of the program making his second Final Four appearance. In 1988, his first season with the Sooners, the team beat Arizona and lost to Kansas in Kansas City, Mo.

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. 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 MAKING NINTH STRAIGHT NCAA TOURNEY APPEARANCE
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 SATURDAY WOULD...

give the Sooners 32 wins on the year, their second most in a season (the 1987-88 team went 35-4).

make for the program's third appearance in the national championship game. The Sooners lost title games in 1947 to Holy Cross and in 1988 to Kansas.

extend the team's winning streak to 13 games, matching its longest under Kelvin Sampson. After losing in its second game of this year, OU ran off 13 straight victories.

improve the team's record in neutral site contests this year to 9-0.

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 March 10 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 in the quarterfinals and No. 3 seed Texas in semifinal play.

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 Aaron 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. Hollis 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. Jabahri 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

OU won the tournament despite shooting a combined .358 from the field and .600 from the foul line.

The Sooners limited Kansas State, Texas and Kansas to .348 field goal and .256 three-point figures.

Oklahoma set school Big 12 Tournament records in field goal attempts (179), three-pointers (20), rebounds (139), blocks (15) and steals (30).

OU's win over Kansas in the title game marked its first against a No. 1-ranked team since the Sooners beat the Jayhawks in Norman in 1994-95, Kelvin Sampson's first year at Oklahoma.

TOURNAMENT TOUGH
The Sooners are now 18-2 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 has won its first four NCAA Tournament contests.

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 Feb. 23. Aaron McGhee leads the team with 12 20-point games while Hollis Price, Ebi Ere and Jason Detrick have scored at least 20 points on 19, nine and two occasions, respectively. 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 25.6 victories over the last five seasons and 28.0 over the last three years.

30/30
It's been quite a year for the Oklahoma athletic department. The OU football team finished No. 6 in the nation with an 11-2 record and a Cotton Bowl victory. And now the men's and women's basketball teams have both surpassed the 30-win plateau. The Oklahoma men are 31-4 and ranked No. 3 in the nation while the women, as of Sunday, are 30-3 and ranked No. 2. That's a 72-9 combined record by the three teams this year. Several other OU athletic teams are also ranked in the nation's top 10, including wrestling, men's and women's gymnastics and softball.

31...AND COUNTING
Oklahoma's victory over Arizona on Thursday was its 31st of the season against just four losses. This marks just the fourth time in school history the Sooners have assembled a 30-win season. OU went 30-6 in 1988-89, 35-4 in 1987-88 and 31-6 in 1984-85. A win on Saturday would give the Sooners their second-largest victory total in school history.

ACADEMIC ACCLAIM
Sooners Michael Cano, Blake Johnston and Jozsef Szendrei were all named to the Academic All-Big 12 Team 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.

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 (Nebraska averaged 11.3), it is actually committing fewer miscues per contest (11.9) than last year. OU committed a season-low five turnovers against Arizona last Thursday and had just eight against Missouri in the regional final. The Sooners are now averaging just 10.1 turnovers over their last 12 games and a mere 7.5 in four NCAA Tournament games . The Sooners also pace the league in turnover margin at +4.4 per game.

A CHARITY CASE
The Sooners, who are among the nation's best foul shooters, lead the Big 12 with a .766 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 10 free throw shooters in Hollis Price (4th), Aaron McGhee (5th), Jason Detrick (8th) and Ebi Ere (10th). The quartet combines for an .819 season figure (402-for-491) and shot .843 in league contests (219-for-271). In its four NCAA Tournament games the Sooners posted an .806 free throw mark (83-for-103).

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 102-10 (.911) record when scoring at least 80 points. OU is 15-0 under the circumstance this year and 41-2 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.

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

By the time Oklahoma starts play in Final Four action, it will have been 44 days since it last lost.

In its seven postseason games (three Big 12 and four NCAA), Oklahoma has trailed for just 16 minutes and seven seconds (out of 280 minutes).

In seven games since the regular season ended, OU has held its opponents to combined .373 field goal (141-for-378) and .281 three-point (36-for-128) shooting marks.

More than 55 percent of OU's minutes this year have been played by newcomers.

Dating back to last year, Oklahoma has won 36 of its last 41 games and 46 of its last 52.

Over the past three seasons, OU is 84-18 (.822).

The Sooners lead the Big 12 Conference in turnover margin (+4.3) and free throw shooting (.766).

The Sooners boast a 68-28 (.708) Big 12 regular season record in the league's five-plus years, second only to Kansas' 80-16 (.833) mark.

OU has held its last 17 opponents to .468-or-worse field goal shooting and eight of its last 12 foes to .286-or-worse three-point shooting. In Big 12 games, opponents shot .412 and .295, respectively.

Three Sooners (Ebi Ere, Aaron McGhee and Quannas White) scored at least 20 points against Texas Feb. 23. Two Sooners have reached 20 in a game five other times.

Oklahoma's 22-game home winning streak is its longest since winning 51 consecutive home contests from the 1987-88 through 1990-91 seasons.

In seven previous seasons under Kelvin Sampson, OU was never ranked in the AP top 10. It has now been ranked there in 11 straight polls.

Ebi Ere has grabbed at least seven rebounds on 16 occasions this season.

Hollis Price shot a combined .439 from the field and .354 from three-point land his first two seasons. So far this year, he owns .464 and .390 respective marks.

Aaron McGhee is the only Sooner to start all 35 games this year.

Oklahoma (16-0) and Kansas (13-0) are the only Big 12 schools who went undefeated at home this year. All other league teams lost at least twice at home this season.

The Sooners are 2-1 in overtime games this year and are 13-8 under Sampson. OU has won seven of its last nine overtime games.

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 20 points 11 times this year and is averaging 16.8 points, 3.1 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.7 steals on the season. Fifteen times this year Price has converted at least three treys in a game. He has made six on three occasions, including a 6-for-11 performance against Arizona in the West Regional semifinals. The Big 12 Tournament and West Regional MVP is having a solid shooting year with his .464 field goal, .390 three-point and .842 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.

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 and now ranks 22nd on the school's all-time scoring list with 1,203 points. Price also ranks sixth on OU's career three-point attempts list (391), seventh in three-pointers (146) and eighth in steals (168).

"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 17 games and 13 on the year. He has been the team's most consistent producer the last two months and is averaging 18.3 points and 8.9 rebounds over the last 18 games. In OU's first four NCAA Tournament games he has averaged 21.8 points and 7.0 boards. On the season, he ranks second on the team in scoring with his 15.8 points per outing and leads the squad with his 7.7 rebounds. The lefty has posted nine 20-point performances (23, 21, 27, 22, 20, 26, 26, 25 and 21) in the last 15 games and has led the team in rebounding in 13 of the last 17 games. He also has 14 blocked shots over the last 16 contests. The owner of a good shooting touch for a big man, McGhee is shooting .821 from the foul line on the season and .394 from 3-point land over the last 19 games (13-for-33).

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 20 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 20 games he is averaging 8.9 points, 3.1 rebounds and 5.3 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 12 games, however, Ere has bounced back to average 14.3 points and 6.4 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 is averaging 15.3 points and 7.0 rebounds in NCAA Tournament play. 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 is averaging 9.3 points, 3.5 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 1.1 steals in 20.8 minutes per contest. He is shooting .813 from the free throw line on the year and shot .889 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 109 minutes over the last 15 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 11 minutes against Missouri last Saturday in San Jose.

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 1.6 steals per game to rank ninth in the Big 12. Selvy is also enjoying a solid shooting season with his .471 field goal mark. Last year in conference action, Selvy shot just .275 (22-for-80) from the floor. Over the last 28 games he is shooting .494 (78-for-158). He also averages 6.8 points, 4.8 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game on the year.

BROWN IS OU'S MAN IN THE MIDDLE
Is it coincidental that OU seems to be playing its best basketball in recent memory since Jabahri Brown became eligible 29 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, 5.7 rebounds, 1.0 assist, 1.4 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 this weekend.

YOUTH IS SERVED
Of Oklahoma's 10 regular players who have seen action in the team's 35 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 (29.3), Brown (22.0) and Detrick (20.8).

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.

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