Sooner Men Host K-State in Saturday Hoops Battle

GAME INFORMATION
Ranked No. 20 and No. 21 in this week's AP and ESPN/USA Today polls, respectively, Oklahoma (10-4 overall, 0-3 Big 12) tries for its first league win when it hosts unranked Kansas State (9-5, 1-2) on Saturday at 12:45 p.m. CST inside Lloyd Noble Center. The game 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. It will be televised regionally by ESPN Plus (KOCB Ch. 34/ Cox Cable 11 in OKC) with Dave Armstrong (play-by-play) and Reid Gettys (analyst) handling the call.

TICKET INFORMATION
A limited number of $20 upper-level reserved seats are still available and can be purchased by calling the OU Athletics Ticket Office at (800) 456-4668. They can also be purchased online here at SoonerSports.com.

FANS ENCOURAGED TO BRING CANNED FOOD ITEMS
KOCO-5 and United Supermarkets/Kraft Foods are co-sponsors of “Pack the House” on Saturday. As part of United/Kraft Foods tie-in, they are hosting a canned food drive titled “Food for All” during the men's and women's basketball games Saturday afternoon (the OU women host Baylor at 3:30 p.m.). Fans attending the games are asked to bring one non-perishable food item to be donated to local food banks. Canned food receptacles will be at Lloyd Noble Center's north and east entrances.

NCAA'S J.J. JUMPER HERE SATURDAY
J.J. Jumper, the official basketball mascot of the NCAA, will appear at the OU men's and women's games this Saturday. J.J. Jumper will perform throughout the game as part of the NCAA's commitment to promote youth basketball participation and sportsmanship. Its purpose is to increase enthusiasm and awareness of NCAA Basketball while engaging and educating youth on healthy physical, emotional and educational values. J.J's mission is to represent both genders and all races. An attention-getting 6'5 green creature with orange hair, size 26 shoes and a big heart that motivates youth to do their best on and off the court, J.J. appears at men and women's basketball games, giving away NCAA Basketball promotional items and performing skits during timeouts and/or halftime.

KANSAS STATE PROJECTED STARTERS
F 21 Dramane Diarra (6-8, 245, Jr., 3.0 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 0.0 apg)
F 23 Marques Hayden (6-7, 235, So., 10.4 ppg, 8.0 rpg, 1.2 apg)
G 11 Tim Ellis (6-4, 175, So., 13.4 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 2.6 apg)
G 22 Frank Richards (6-2, 190, Sr., 6.8 ppg, 2.1 rpg, 4.0 apg)
G 30 Jarrett Hart (6-5, 210, Sr., 9.2 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 3.6 apg)

OKLAHOMA PROJECTED STARTERS
F 34 Kevin Bookout (6-8, 265, So., 7.6 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 0.5 apg)
C 21 Jabahri Brown (6-10, 220, Sr., 7.4 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 1.6 apg)
G 3 Drew Lavender (5-7, 155, Fr., 12.1 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 4.1 apg)
G 1 Lawrence McKenzie (6-2, 170, Fr., 6.8 ppg, 2.1 rpg, 1.5 apg)
G 15 De'Angelo Alexander (6-5, 215, So., 10.8 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 1.6 apg)

OKLAHOMA UPDATE
Playing with the Big 12's youngest squad (four freshmen and two sophomores help comprise the 10-player unit), the Sooners have fallen on hard times following a 10-0 start that saw them reach a No. 6 AP ranking. Oklahoma has lost four straight games for the first time since the 1998-99 season and is off to a 0-3 conference start for the first time since the 1980-81 team began 0-3 in the Big Eight Conference in Billy Tubbs' first year as OU head coach (ironically, the Sooners snapped that three-game league skid at home against Kansas State on Jan. 24). The Sooners are coming off a 67-47 loss at No. 18 Texas Tech on Monday. The 47 points matched a season low.

Monday's game marked just the second time since early December that freshman Drew Lavender failed to score in double digits. The point guard made two three-pointers for a total of six points but is still averaging 13.8 points over the last four games. Lavender has gone 10-for-24 (.417) from three-point range during the stretch. The Preseason Big 12 Freshman of the Year has also averaged 3.0 steals over the last four outings and ranks second in Big 12 games with 3.0 steals per contest. Lavender has led the Sooners in scoring in five of the last nine games and paces the team with his 12.1 points, 4.1 assists, 1.9 steals and 1.6 treys per outing on the year. His .373 three-point mark also leads the squad. Another freshman guard, Lawrence McKenzie has started the last two games and is averaging 12.5 points in those outings. McKenzie has been fighting a stress fracture in his foot and is limited in practice. On the season, he is averaging 7.0 points and 1.4 treys per game while shooting .882 from the foul line. Lavender (11.0 ppg) and McKenzie (9.3 ppg) rank first and second on the team in scoring in conference play.

Sophomore wing De'Angelo Alexander ranks second in scoring and third in rebounding with his 10.8 and 5.0 season averages. In four games since a career-high 22-point effort against Princeton on Jan. 3, however, Alexander has averaged 5.3 points and 4.0 boards. He has been plagued by a shoulder injury all season and did not score in 11 minutes of action against Texas Tech. Fellow wing Jason Detrick, who tallied a team-high 11 points on Monday, ranks third on the team with his 9.8 points per game and second with his 1.7 steals. The senior has struggled with his shot, going 15-for-47 (.319) over the last six games. Junior Jaison Williams has been extremely valuable most of the season. Coming off the bench in each game, Williams is averaging 7.6 points, 3.6 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.4 steals. The guard was 3-for-3 from beyond the arc against Missouri and totaled 11 points in 14 minutes. He is shooting a team-high .913 from the foul line.

On the inside, sophomore forward Kevin Bookout averages 7.6 points and 5.5 rebounds per game. Bookout has battled a shoulder injury all season and has not reached double digits in points in five games. He grabbed 11 rebounds at Oklahoma State Jan. 14, 10 of them in the first half. Senior center Jabahri Brown averages 7.4 points and a team-high 5.6 rebounds. Brown, who was held to three points combined (all free throws) against Connecticut and OSU, registered 15 points, four rebounds, five assists, one block and two steals against Missouri last Saturday. Redshirt freshman center Larry Turner had a solid outing at Texas Tech with a career-high-tying nine points and a career-high eight rebounds in 17 minutes.

ABOUT KANSAS STATE
Picked eighth in both preseason Big 12 polls, Kansas State notched its first league win on Wednesday with a 70-61 home triumph over Texas A&M. The Wildcats, who are 9-5 overall and 1-2 in conference action, dropped their other two Big 12 games at Kansas (73-67) and at home to Oklahoma State (57-56).

Senior guard Tim Ellis leads the KSU charge with his 13.4 points per contest. Ellis plays a team-high 30.7 minutes per game and also averages 5.9 rebounds and 2.6 assists while shooting .540 from the field and .452 from three-point range. His 19 treys lead the squad. Forwards Jeremiah Massey and Marques Hayden patrol the frontcourt. Massey, a junior, averages 13.2 points and 7.6 rebounds per game while sophomore Hayden averages 10.4 points and a team-high 8.0 boards. Hayden, from Putnam City High School in Oklahoma City, also leads K-State with his .574 field goal percentage. Former Sooner (1999-00 season) Jarrett Hart and point guard Frank Richards round out the backcourt. Seniors, Hart averages 9.2 points and 3.6 assists while Richards averages 6.8 points and 4.0 assists per game. Freshman forward Cartier Martin averages 9.9 points and 3.6 boards, but hasn't played since Jan. 3 when he hurt his ankle at Saint Louis.

Kansas State is shooting .445 from the field and owns .335 three-point and .667 free throw marks. Opponents have shot .379 from the field and .279 from beyond the arc. The 'Cats outrebound their foes by 7.7 per contest.

Jim Wooldridge, a Putnam City High School grad like Hayden (he played on the 1972 Class 4A state championship team), is 46-56 (.451) in his fourth season as the Wildcats' mentor. He is in his 17th year as a college head coach and is 275-203 (.575). Wooldridge has also coached at Central Missouri, Southwest Texas and Louisiana Tech.

SERIES WITH KANSAS STATE
Oklahoma leads the overall series with Kansas State, 97-89, and holds a 56-23 advantage in Norman. Kelvin Sampson is 8-4 against KSU as OU's head coach and is 4-1 in Norman. The Sooners have won the series' last five games and posted a 91-89 overtime victory in Manhattan last year. OU led most of the contest but Tim Ellis hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to force the extra session. Sampson's team overcame major foul problems (three Sooners fouled out and two more finished with four fouls) and .508 Wildcat shooting to earn the win. Ebi Ere scored 25 points and grabbed eight rebounds for OU while fellow guards Hollis Price and Quannas White scored 22 and 19 points, respectively. Kevin Bookout added 16 points on 7-for-10 shooting. Matt Siebrandt scored 23 points for Kansas State while former Sooner Jarrett Hart scored 18. OU shot .544 from the field and .500 (8-for-16) from three-point range to record its second straight overtime victory in Manhattan.

A WIN OVER KANSAS STATE WOULD...
Improve OU's record to 46-2 in its last 48 home games (.958).
Give OU six straight victories over the Wildcats and improve Sampson's record against KSU to 9-4.
Prevent OU's first five-game losing streak since February 1990 when it lost six in a row.
Prevent the Sooners' first 0-4 conference start since the 1975-76 Big Eight season.

TEXAS TECH RECAP
One game after posting season-high .509 field goal and .524 three-point marks against Missouri, Oklahoma was extremely cold from the floor in a 67-47 loss at No. 18 Texas Tech on Monday. The Sooners shot .328 overall and just .158 (3-for-19) from beyond the arc as they lost a fourth straight game for the first time since the 1998-99 season. Texas Tech's victory, meanwhile, was its 11th consecutive. Turnovers marred the first several minutes of the game on both ends as OU managed an 11-8 lead. The Red Raiders picked up the pace, though, and outscored the Sooners 19-8 over the final 8:40 of the first half to take a 27-19 halftime lead. Tech used a 13-5 run early in the second to go up by 16 and led by as many as 14 the rest of the way. Preseason Big 12 Player of the Year Andre Emmett scored 21 points and grabbed eight rebounds to lead the Raiders while Jason Detrick was the only Sooner in double digits with 11 points. Jabahri Brown grabbed a game-high nine rebounds. Sophomores Kevin Bookout and De'Angelo Alexander failed to score a point for the second and fourth times of their respective careers.

TEXAS TECH LEFTOVERS
Wayman Tisdale was named to ESPN's five-man Silver Anniversary All-Big 12 Team at halftime of the game. He was joined by Rolando Blackman, T.J. Ford, Danny Manning and Steve Stipanovich.
OU was outrebounded 39-31. It marked the fifth straight game the Sooners got outboarded.
Redshirt freshman Larry Turner tied a career high with nine points and grabbed a career-high eight boards.

COMPARING WINS AND LOSSES
The Sooners' biggest downfalls the last four games have been shooting, rebounding and turnovers. Below is a statistical comparison between OU's 10-0 start and its recent 0-4 streak.

FG Percentage -- .437 in wins, .358 in losses
Opp. FG Percentage -- .379 in wins, .521 in losses
Rebounding Margin -- +5.6 in wins, -9.5 in losses
Turnovers Per Game -- 13.6 in wins, 17.5 in losses

BIG 12 DOMINANCE
Prior to this year, Oklahoma had more than its fair share of success against Big 12 opponents the last couple of seasons by winning 24 of its previous 28 games (.857) against Big 12 competition. 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.

LIFT THE LID
Despite its season-best .509 field goal percentage against Missouri last Saturday, the Sooners have struggled making shots this year. Oklahoma now owns a .414 season mark to rank last in the Big 12. The last OU team to shoot less than .414 for an entire season was the 1963-64 squad (it shot .398). Kevin Bookout (.516) is the only Sooner who is shooting better than .500 this year.

A TOUGH ROW TO HOE
The first three weeks of January have presented a difficult challenge for OU. The Sooners beat Princeton 58-55 Jan. 3 in Oklahoma City and followed with losses at then-No. 1 Connecticut Jan. 11, at rival Oklahoma State Jan. 14 and versus preseason Big 12 No. 1 Missouri last Saturday. OU wrapped up a nine-day, four-game (three on the road) stretch by losing at No. 18 Texas Tech on Monday.

STOUT SOONER “D” SOFTENS
OU's defense had been extremely solid the seven games prior to its Jan. 11 UConn affair. In those seven games, opponents averaged 51.4 points and shot a combined .336 from the field and .277 from three-point range. They also averaged 21.1 turnovers. Against UConn, Oklahoma State, Missouri and Texas Tech the last four contests, however, the Huskies, Cowboys, Tigers and Red Raiders combined to average 77.3 points and shoot .521 from the field and .370 from beyond the arc. On the season, OU is giving up 62.1 points per game (ranks fourth 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 14 games, the Sooners have registered 70 blocked shots, an average of 5.0 per contest. The school record for rejections per game is 5.8 (1988-89) and last year's squad averaged just 3.6. Junior Johnnie Gilbert leads Oklahoma and ranks 11th in the Big 12 with his 1.3 blocks per game. Sophomore forward Kevin Bookout has 13 blocks this year while senior center Jabahri Brown also has 13. Brown ranks sixth on the school's career list with 94 blocks while Gilbert ranks eighth with 82.

LOVING LAVENDER
Preseason Big 12 Freshman of the Year Drew Lavender has led OU in scoring in five of the last nine games (with 14-, 13-, 23-, 22-, and 15-point efforts against Purdue, Prairie View A&M, Jackson State, Connecticut and Oklahoma State, 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 leading the team with his 12.1 points, 4.1 assists and 1.9 steals per game, as well as his 22 treys and .373 three-point percentage. 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, Terry Evans is the only freshman to average more assists for an entire campaign (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 junior Jaison Williams. Through 14 games, the group has accounted for 392 of OU's 973 points (40 percent), 105 of its 191 assists (55 percent) and 60 of its 79 three-pointers (76 percent). Redshirt freshman center Larry Turner has also seen action in 13 games and scored a career-high nine points against both Prairie View A&M and Texas Tech. 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 represent 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 QUITE AS 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 nine contests, the Sooners have posted a .618 mark (97-for-157). OU now owns a .677 season mark to rank seventh in the Big 12. OU has traditionally been an extremely 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.

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 362-61 (.856) inside the building since it opened for the 1975-76 campaign. The Sooners are 127-18 (.876) at home under 10th-year head coach Kelvin Sampson and have won 45 of their last 47. 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).

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 last week. The Sooners have now been ranked in the last 43 AP polls and in 76 of the last 80. 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.

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, one of the nation's top-ranked preparatory schools. 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 18-9 in overtime games under Sampson and has won 12 of its last 15. OU went 3-0 in overtime affairs last season (beat Texas Tech twice and Kansas State).
Sampson's .725 winning percentage is the best in OU history (Billy Tubbs ranks second at .716).

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

UNDER KELVIN SAMPSON...
OU has a 121-30 record the last four-plus years for the NCAA's third-best winning percentage (.801).
OU has posted an 80-35 (.696) 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 127-18 (.876) record at Lloyd Noble Center and has won 45 of its last 47 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 31 games against Big 12 opponents (including Big 12 and NCAA Tournaments).

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Sooner Men Host K-State in Saturday Hoops Battle

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