Men's Basketball Looks to Rebound in Wednesday's Bedlam Game

GAME INFORMATION
Ranked No. 11 and No. 13 in the latest AP and ESPN/USA Today polls, respectively, Oklahoma (10-1) opens its Big 12 season when it plays at unranked Oklahoma State (10-2, 0-1) on Wednesday at 7 p.m. CST inside Gallagher-Iba Arena in Stillwater. The game, part of the Bedlam Series presented by the Bank of Oklahoma and Your Oklahoma Ford Dealers, will air on the Sooner 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 Dave Armstrong (play-by-play) and Jon Sundvold (analyst) handling the call.

OKLAHOMA PROJECTED STARTERS
F 34 Kevin Bookout (6-8, 265, So., 8.6 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 0.6 apg)
C 21 Jabahri Brown (6-10, 220, Sr., 7.3 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 1.6 apg)
G 3 Drew Lavender (5-7, 155, Fr., 12.5 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 4.5 apg)
G 5 Jason Detrick (6-6, 215, Sr., 10.9 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 1.7 apg)
G 15 De'Angelo Alexander (6-5, 215, So., 12.4 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 1.7 apg)

OKLAHOMA STATE PROJECTED STARTERS
F 14 Joey Graham (6-7, 217, Jr., 10.8 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 0.9 apg)
F 23 Ivan McFarlin (6-8, 232, Sr., 12.1 ppg, 7.3 rpg, 1.8 apg)
G 15 John Lucas (5-11, 152, Jr., 10.8 ppg, 2.1 rpg, 5.3 apg)
G 20 Daniel Bobik (6-4, 200, Jr., 9.3 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 3.5 apg)
G 24 Tony Allen (6-4, 213, Sr., 15.6 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 3.0 apg)

See how the Sooners stack up against OSU in the Bedlam Series presented by the Bank of Oklahoma and Your Oklahoma Ford Dealers!

OKLAHOMA UPDATE
It took 11 games and nearly two months, but Oklahoma finally suffered its first loss of the season Sunday at No. 1 Connecticut, 86-59. The Sooners, ranked No. 6 in the AP poll at the time, turned in their worst shooting performance of the season as they went 20-for-73 from the field (.274). UConn, meanwhile, shot .523 from the field and .429 from three-point range. The 27-point loss was OU's worst since Feb. 14, 2001, when it fell by 28 at Oklahoma State, 72-44. Wednesday's game is the third of three straight away from home for OU. Before losing at UConn, Kelvin Sampson's team beat Princeton (58-55) in Oklahoma City Jan. 3 to earn the head coach his 400th career victory. The Sooners, the AP poll's highest rated Big 12 team, will return home Saturday to host Missouri in a noon ABC game.

One of the lone bright spots against Connecticut, freshman point guard Drew Lavender scored a game-high 22 points (20 in the second half) and added a career-high-tying seven assists and three steals. Lavender, whose five three-pointers and eight attempts were also career highs, had led the team in scoring in four of the last six games. He leads the team with his 12.5 points and 4.5 assists per game, and also averages 1.6 steals. Lavender's 17 treys tie for the team lead and his .395 three-point percentage is tops on the squad. The Preseason Big 12 Freshman of the Year is averaging 15.3 points over the last six outings and is on pace to break OU's freshman record for assists per contest (Terry Evans holds the freshman mark with 4.4 per game).

Sophomore guard De'Angelo Alexander ranks second in both scoring and rebounding with his 12.4 and 5.6 respective averages. Alexander was held to six points at UConn but pulled down a team-high eight boards. Prior to that, he scored a career-high 22 points against Princeton Jan. 3 and registered his first career double-double Dec. 29 against Texas-Pan American with 16 points and 10 boards. Senior wing Jason Detrick, who tallied 16 points at Connecticut, ranks third on the team with his 10.9 points per game and first with his 2.0 steals. Prior to the UConn game, however, Detrick had averaged only 6.4 points over the previous five games. Junior Jaison Williams, has been extremely valuable most of the season. Coming off the bench in each game, Williams is averaging 8.0 points, 4.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.5 steals. The guard made five three-pointers against Texas-Pan American and finished with a career-high 17 points and a team-high four assists. He is also shooting .905 from the foul line.

On the inside, sophomore forward Kevin Bookout averages 8.6 points and 5.5 rebounds per game. Bookout has battled a shoulder injury all season and has been held in check the last two games after producing 18 points and 12 rebounds versus Texas-Pan American for his third career double-double. Senior center Jabahri Brown averages 7.3 points, a team-high 5.9 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 1.2 steals and 1.1 blocked shots per game. Brown, who had his jaw wired shut for a couple of days after getting kicked in the Texas-Pan American contest, was held to one point on 0-for-6 field goal shooting at Connecticut. Junior forward Johnnie Gilbert has been solid off the bench, though his production has fallen off the past four contests. The lefty averages 4.9 points, 3.7 rebounds and a team-high 1.5 blocks per game on the season, but just 2.3 points, 1.8 boards and 0.8 rejections over the last four.

ABOUT OKLAHOMA STATE
Oklahoma State posted a 10-1 non-conference record (its only loss was a 76-71 setback at BYU on Dec. 6) before losing its Big 12 opener on Saturday at Texas Tech, 83-62. The Cowboys shot .354 from the field in Lubbock while Tech posted a .528 figure. OSU fared well on the glass and outboarded the Raiders 42-29.

Senior guard Tony Allen leads the team with his 15.6 points per game and also averages 4.7 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.9 steals. Fellow senior Ivan McFarlin averages 12.1 points, a team-high 7.3 rebounds and 2.3 blocked shots per game at one of the forward spots. McFarlin is also shooting .550 from the field. Junior point guard John Lucas, a transfer from Baylor, and junior forward Joey Graham, a transfer from Central Florida, both average 10.8 points per game. Lucas also averages a team-high 5.3 assists and has made 17 treys. Junior guard Daniel Bobik averages 9.3 points, 3.5 assists and 1.6 steals per outing and is shooting .591 from the floor and .500 (21-for-42) from three-point land.

OSU is shooting a remarkable .533 from the field and owns .379 three-point and .640 free throw marks. Opponents have shot .393 from the field and .325 from beyond the arc.

In his 14th season at OSU, Eddie Sutton is 304-126 (.707). He is in his 34th season overall and owns a 734-290 (.717) career mark.

SERIES WITH OKLAHOMA STATE
OU leads the overall series with Oklahoma State, 118-84, but trails in Stillwater, 54-40. Kelvin Sampson is 9-11 against the Cowboys as OU's head coach and owns a 2-7 mark inside Gallagher-Iba Arena. Four of the losses in Stillwater under Sampson have been by four points or less or have gone to overtime. The teams split their two meetings last year with OSU claiming a controversial 48-46 victory on Jan. 13 in Stillwater and OU posting a 64-48 win on Feb. 19 in Norman.

In last season's first meeting, Victor Williams' game-winning basket was ruled to have beaten the 35-second shot clock with 3.6 seconds remaining in the game. Hollis Price and Ebi Ere averaged 18.5 and 18.4 points coming into the game but finished with six each on combined 4-for-24 shooting. OU shot just .327 from the field and .467 (7-for-15) from the foul line. Kevin Bookout recorded his first double-double and led the Sooners in both scoring (14 points) and rebounding (11 boards). The game marked the first time since 1983 that OU held an opponent to less than 50 points and lost.

The rematch in Norman proved to be one sided as the Sooners held the Cowboys to .286 field goal and .143 three-point shooting. OSU's field goal mark was the second worst by an OU conference opponent during the Sampson era. Price scored 22 points and Bookout registered his second career double-double with 15 points and 12 boards.

A WIN OVER OKLAHOMA STATE WOULD...
Improve OU's record inside Gallagher-Iba Arena to 3-7 under Kelvin Sampson.
Give Oklahoma a 9-1 record in Big Eight/Big 12 openers under Sampson (the lone loss came to Iowa State in 2001, 100-80) .

CONNECTICUT RECAP
The No. 1 UConn Huskies proved too much to handle on their home floor on Sunday and handed the No. 6 Sooners an 86-59 loss in Storrs. Connecticut shot .523 from the field, .429 (9-for-21) from three-point range and .818 from the foul line while Oklahoma posted .274, .375 and .667 figures. OU jumped out to an early 7-5 lead but missed opportunities proved costly as the Huskies capitalized on Sooner missed shots and mistakes during a 29-5 run that made the score 34-12. UConn led 39-20 at halftime and increased its advantage to as many as 40 (82-42) before Oklahoma salvaged some dignity with a 16-4 spurt over the final three minutes. Drew Lavender scored a game-high 22 points, 20 of them after halftime, with the help of 5-for-8 three-point shooting and also logged a career-high-tying seven assists and three steals. Jason Detrick added 16 points and De'Angelo Alexander had six points and a team-high eight rebounds. UConn center Emeka Okafor was one of five Huskies in double digits in scoring as he tallied 21 points and a game-high 10 rebounds. The win was Connecticut's 10th straight.

UCONN LEFTOVERS
The 27-point loss marked OU's worst since a 28-point (72-44) defeat at Oklahoma State in 2001.
OU's .274 field goal mark was its lowest since posting a .273 mark at Missouri last year (span of 21 games).
Oklahoma's five-player frontcourt combined for eight points on 3-for-22 shooting.
All 10 Sooners who played shot below .500 from the field.

BIG 12 DOMINANCE
Since Oklahoma's Big 12 Conference season opens Wednesday at Oklahoma State, it seems appropriate to mention the fact that OU has won 24 of its last 28 games against Big 12 opponents. The Sooners won their final five regular season games in 2001-02, earned three victories at the Big 12 Tournament and knocked off Missouri to go to the Final Four. Last year, OU went 12-4 in league play before earning another conference tournament crown. OU's only four losses in the last 28 outings versus league foes came at Oklahoma State, at Texas, at Missouri and versus Texas.

A TOUGH ROW TO HOE
The first three weeks of January present a difficult challenge for OU. The Sooners, who beat Princeton 58-55 Jan. 3 in Oklahoma City and lost at No. 1 Connecticut on Sunday, play at 10-2 Oklahoma State on Wednesday, host preseason Big 12 No. 1 Missouri on Saturday and then travel to face 13-2 Texas Tech two days later.

STOUT SOONER “D”
With the exception of Sunday's game at UConn, Oklahoma's defense has been extremely solid the last eight games after inauspicious performances in the first three. Over the last eight outings, opponents have shot a combined .366 from the field and .304 from three-point range. They have also committed a collective 168 turnovers for a 21.0 average. On the season, Oklahoma is giving up just 58.1 points per game (ranks second in the Big 12). Last year, the Sooners gave up 60.0 points per game, their fewest in 25 years.

NOT AFRAID OF REJECTION
Through 11 games, the Sooners have registered 66 blocked shots, an average of 6.0 per contest. No OU team in history has averaged at least 6.0 rejections per game and last year's squad averaged 3.6. Junior Johnnie Gilbert leads Oklahoma and ranks 11th in the Big 12 with his 1.5 blocks per game. Senior center Jabahri Brown and sophomore Kevin Bookout have 12 blocks each this year. Brown ranks sixth on the school's career list with 93 blocks while Gilbert ranks eighth with 80.

TOBIAS TRANSFERS
Kelvin Sampson announced on Jan. 7 that freshman guard Jimmy Tobias will transfer to Seminole Junior College in Sanford, Fla., for the second semester. “Jimmy made a decision to go somewhere where he can play immediately and contribute right away,” said Sampson. “We respect his decision and wish him nothing but the best in his future endeavors.” Tobias, from Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., averaged 7.7 minutes, 2.0 points and 1.2 rebounds in his six games with the Sooners this season. He scored a season-high five points against Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Dec. 2. Tobias also averaged 13.0 points and 5.0 rebounds over four games during OU's exhibition trip to Costa Rica in August.

LOVING LAVENDER
Preseason Big 12 Freshman of the Year Drew Lavender has led OU in scoring in four of the last six games (with 14-, 13-, 23- and 22-point efforts against Purdue, Prairie View A&M, Jackson State and Connecticut, respectively). Lavender became the first frosh and the shortest player to ever win Big 12 Player of the Week honors when he reeled in the award Dec. 16. Lavender, who hit the game-winning shot with 1.1 seconds left to give OU a 47-45 victory over Purdue, is averaging 12.5 points, 4.5 assists and 1.5 steals per game. The last Oklahoma freshman to average as many points per game for an entire season was Jeff Webster (18.3 ppg in 1990-91). Since Oklahoma assist statistics were first kept during the 1976-77 season, no Sooner freshman has averaged 4.5 assists for an entire campaign (Terry Evans averaged 4.4 in 1989-90).

FRESH FACES
Making their Oklahoma debuts in the season opener against Eastern Washington were freshmen Brandon Foust, Drew Lavender, Lawrence McKenzie and Jimmy Tobias, and junior Jaison Williams. Through 11 games, the group has accounted for 323 of OU's 795 points (41 percent), 97 of its 163 assists (60 percent) and 47 of its 61 three-pointers (77 percent). Redshirt freshman center Larry Turner has also seen action in nine games and scored a career-high nine points Dec. 13 against Prairie View A&M. Five of OU's 11 roster players are freshmen (walk-on Kellen Sampson is the fifth) while seven are freshmen or sophomores.

STARTING FRESH(MEN)
Against Eastern Washington on Nov. 21, Drew Lavender and Lawrence McKenzie became the third and fourth freshmen under 10th-year head coach Kelvin Sampson to start the first game of a season. The others were Kevin Bookout last season and guard Prince Fowler in 1994-95, Sampson's first OU campaign. Lavender's 23 points against Jackson State Dec. 20 were the most by a freshman during the Sampson era while McKenzie's 19 points versus Oral Roberts Nov. 22 stand as the sixth most by an OU frosh under Sampson.

NOT SO FINE AT THE LINE
Oklahoma shot .739 from the free throw line over its first five games but has dipped significantly since. Over the last six contests, the Sooners have posted a .595 mark (69-for-116). OU now owns a .677 season mark to rank seventh in the Big 12. OU has traditionally been a sound free throw shooting team under Kelvin Sampson as seven of his previous nine squads have finished first or second in the Big Eight/Big 12 in percentage. Last year's squad finished third in the Big 12 with a .693 figure.

AP POLL A FAMILIAR PLACE
Oklahoma's streak of 30 straight weeks in the AP poll's top 10 came to an end when the organization ranked the Sooners No. 14 in its preseason poll. But OU reappeared in the top 10 in the season's fifth poll and stayed there for four weeks before dropping to 11 this week. The Sooners have now been ranked in the last 42 AP polls and in 75 of the last 79. Kelvin Sampson's teams were ranked No. 3 in the past two seasons' final AP polls.

BREAKING 80
With its 83-56 win over Prairie View A&M Dec. 13, Oklahoma improved to 114-10 (.919) when scoring at least 80 points under 10th-year mentor Kelvin Sampson. OU was 7-0 last season under the circumstance and has won 53 of its last 55 games (.964) when scoring 80 or more.

HOME IS WHERE THE “W” IS
Lloyd Noble Center has always been extremely kind to the Sooners. Oklahoma, which posted a perfect 16-0 mark at home in 2001-02 and finished 15-1 last season, is 362-60 (.858) inside the building since it opened for the 1975-76 campaign. The Sooners are 127-17 (.882) at home under 10th-year head coach Kelvin Sampson and have won 45 of their last 46. OU had won 37 straight at home before losing to Texas in last year's regular season finale. The 37-game home winning streak was OU's longest since winning 51 in a row in the late 1980s and early 1990s and was the nation's longest streak at the time. It also stands as the longest streak in Big 12 history (Kansas held the previous league record with 33 straight home wins).

BIG 12 DOMINANCE
Since Oklahoma's Big 12 Conference season opens Jan. 14 at Oklahoma State, it seems appropriate to mention the fact that OU has won 24 of its last 28 games against Big 12 opponents. The Sooners won their final five regular season games in 2001-02, earned three victories at the Big 12 Tournament and knocked off Missouri to go to the Final Four. Last year, OU went 12-4 in league play before earning another conference tournament crown. OU's only four losses in the last 28 outings versus league foes came at Oklahoma State, at Texas, at Missouri and versus Texas.

OU SIGNS A PAIR OF STANDOUTS
Sooners head coach Kelvin Sampson inked two recruits to national letters of intent during the early signing period. Post players Taj Gray and Longar Longar will join Oklahoma for the 2004-05 season.

Gray, a 6-9, 240-pound forward who is regarded as one of the nation's top junior college players, hails from Wichita, Kan., and attends Redlands Community College in El Reno, Okla. The preseason first-team All-American led Redlands to a 32-3 record and NJCAA Tournament berth last year when he averaged 15.4 points, 8.5 rebounds and 3.0 blocked shots per game. He also shot 68 percent from the field. Gray was the NJCAA's Region 2 Player of the Year and earned second-team All-America acclaim. A Wichita East High School product, Gray was Kansas' Class 6A Player of the Year as a senior in 2001-02. He led his 24-3 team to the state title and was named the state tournament's MVP.

A Sudan native who moved to the United States as a high schooler, Longar stands 6-11 and weighs 210 pounds. He attended John Marshall High School in Rochester, Minn., and is now at Laurinburg (N.C.) Institute, the nation's No. 1-ranked preparatory school. Longar, who originally signed with Oklahoma in November 2002, was a consensus top-75 recruit as a senior last year and led his 24-4 John Marshall squad to the Elite Eight of the state tournament, the school's best-ever finish. He averaged 18.0 points, 10.4 rebounds and 4.7 blocks en route to earning first-team All-State honors.

SOONER MISCELLANY
The Sooners made their ninth straight NCAA Tournament appearance last year and 18th in the last 21 years.
Oklahoma is 16-3 over the last three postseasons (9-0 in Big 12 and 7-3 in NCAA Tournaments).
The Sooners have won more NCAA Tournament games the past two years (seven) than they did in their previous 10 appearances combined.
The Sooners have won at least 26 games each of the last four seasons.
The Sooners' scoring defense mark of 60.0 points per game last year marked their lowest in 25 years.
Oklahoma is 18-8 in overtime games under Sampson and has won 12 of its last 14. OU went 3-0 in overtime affairs last season (beat Texas Tech twice and Kansas State).
Sampson's .732 winning percentage is the best in OU history (Billy Tubbs ranks second at .716).

SIX STRAIGHT 20-WIN SEASONS
The Sooners have compiled six straight seasons of at least 22 wins under head coach Kelvin Sampson. Last year marked the 21st 20-win season in school history and seventh under Sampson (this is his 10th year).

NINE STRAIGHT...AND COUNTING
Oklahoma has qualified for the NCAA Tournament in each of Kelvin Sampson's nine years in Norman. Only seven other schools have made the “Big Dance” each of the past nine seasons (Arizona, Cincinnati, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland and Stanford).

KELVIN'S SCHOOL OF DANCE
Last year's NCAA Tournament appearance marked Kelvin Sampson's 10th straight as a head coach (nine with Oklahoma and one with Washington State). That string ranks fourth among current coaches. Only Arizona's Lute Olson (19 straight), North Carolina's Roy Williams (14) and Cincinnati's Bob Huggins (12) have taken teams to more consecutive NCAA Tournaments. Kentucky's Tubby Smith and Maryland's Gary Williams have also been to 10 straight “Big Dances” while Stanford's Mike Montgomery has been to nine.

OU OWNS NATION'S SECOND-LONGEST POSTSEASON STREAK
Oklahoma has made 22 consecutive postseason appearances (18 NCAA and four NIT), the second-longest streak among Division I programs. Only Indiana (26 years) owns a longer postseason streak. The last time OU did not compete in the postseason was in 1980-81.

HEAD COACH KELVIN SAMPSON
Now in his 21st year as a collegiate head coach, Kelvin Sampson is in his 10th year at the Oklahoma helm. He has averaged 24 wins per season at OU, including 28 victories over the last four years. Sampson has led the Sooners to the NCAA Tournament each of the last nine seasons and directed OU to the Final Four in 2001-02 and the Elite Eight last year.

Sampson began his head coaching career in 1980 at Montana Tech when he was hired as the program's interim head coach. He went 73-45 in four seasons and was inducted into the school's sports hall of fame five years ago. In 1988, Sampson was named head coach at Washington State and compiled an even 103-103 record over seven years, including two 20-win campaigns. Hired by Oklahoma on April 25, 1994, he has guided the Sooners to a 224-82 (.732) record and a 127-17 (.882) home mark. Five of his squads have played in the Big 12 Tournament championship game and the last three squads won tournament titles.

Sampson was named the 1995 national coach of the year by the Associated Press, the USBWA and Basketball Times. He earned the same honor in 2003 from the NABC and CBS/Chevrolet.

UNDER KELVIN SAMPSON...
OU has a 121-26 record the last four-plus years for the NCAA's second-best winning percentage (.823).
OU has posted an 80-32 (.714) Big 12 Conference record.
OU has made nine consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances.
OU has advanced to the Sweet 16 (1999), Final Four (2002) and Elite Eight (2003).
OU has recorded a 127-17 (.879) record at Lloyd Noble Center and has won 45 of its last 46 home games.
OU has won at least 26 games each of the last four seasons and at least 22 games each of the last six years.
OU has won three straight Big 12 Tournaments and has made five title game appearances in the last six events.
OU has won 24 of its last 28 games against Big 12 opponents (including Big 12 and NCAA Tournaments).

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Men's Basketball Looks to Rebound in Wednesday's Bedlam Game

Related News

Related Videos

Sponsors