No. 6 Sooners Play at No. 1 UConn Sunday

GAME INFORMATION
Ranked No. 6 and No. 7 in the latest AP and ESPN/USA Today polls, respectively, Oklahoma (10-0) plays at Connecticut (12-1) on Sunday at 3:30 p.m. CST inside Harry A. Gampel Pavilion. Connecticut is ranked No. 1 in both polls. 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. The game will be televised nationally by CBS with Verne Lundquist (play-by-play) and Billy Packer (analyst) handling the call.

OKLAHOMA'S PROJECTED STARTERS
F 34 Kevin Bookout (6-8, 265, So., 9.1, 5.6, 0.7 apg)
C 21 Jabahri Brown (6-10, 220, Sr., 7.9, 6.1, 1.7 apg)
G 3 Drew Lavender (5-7, 155, Fr., 11.5, 2.8, 4.3 apg)
G 5 Jason Detrick (6-6, 215, Sr., 10.3, 3.4, 1.3 apg)
G 15 De'Angelo Alexander (6-5, 215, So., 13.0 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 1.8 apg)

CONNECTICUT'S PROJECTED STARTERS
F 33 Denham Brown (6-5, 219, So., 13.8 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 2.1 apg)
F 21 Josh Boone (6-10, 230, Fr., 5.8 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 0.5 apg)
C 50 Emeka Okafor (6-10, 252, Jr., 18.2 ppg, 11.8 rpg, 4.7 bpg)
G 4 Ben Gordon (6-3, 200, Jr., 20.1 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 4.3 apg)
G 12 Taliek Brown (6-1, 195, Sr., 4.5 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 6.1 apg)

OKLAHOMA UPDATE
The Big 12's lone unbeaten team and one of just nine undefeated squads nationally through Wednesday, Oklahoma is off to its best start since the 1991-92 Sooners also began 10-0. Sunday's game is the second of three straight away from home for OU. Kelvin Sampson's team beat Princeton (58-55) in Oklahoma City last Saturday to earn the head coach his 400th career victory, and will open Big 12 play at Oklahoma State next Wednesday. Oklahoma has held its last seven opponents to an average of 51.4 points and 21.1 turnovers per game, and a combined .336 field goal mark.

De'Angelo Alexander has had the hot hand of late for the Sooners and averages a team-high 13.0 points to go along with 5.4 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game. The sophomore guard scored a career-high 22 points against Princeton last weekend and registered his first career double-double the previous game against Texas-Pan American with 16 points and 10 boards. Alexander has reached double figures in points six times and has led OU in scoring on three occasions. He is shooting .577 (15-for-26) from the field over the last two contests. Point guard Drew Lavender has improved his offensive output over the last five games and has led the Sooners in scoring in three of those contests (he is averaging 14.0 during the span). The 5-7, 155-pounder scored a career-high 23 points against Jackson State Dec. 20 and averages 11.5 points, 4.3 assists and 1.5 steals per game on the season. On Dec. 16, Lavender became the first freshman to ever earn Big 12 Player of the Week honors. He is on pace to challenge the school's freshman record for assists per contest (Terry Evans holds the freshman mark with 4.4 per game).

Senior wing Jason Detrick, who earned Big 12 Player of the Week acclaim the week before Lavender, ranks third on the team with his 10.3 points per game and first with his 2.1 steals. Over the past five games, however, Detrick has averaged only 6.4 points per game and reached double figures just once. Junior Jaison Williams, has been extremely valuable. Coming off the bench in each game, Williams is averaging 8.5 points, 4.8 rebounds, 2.7 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 9.1 points and 5.6 rebounds per game. Bookout has battled a shoulder injury all season and has shown signs of improvement recently. Against Texas-Pan American, he produced 18 points and 12 rebounds for his third career double-double. Senior center Jabahri Brown averages 7.9 points, a team-high 6.1 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 1.2 steals and 1.2 blocked shots per game. Brown is shooting .526 from the field. He had his jaw wired shut for a couple of days after getting kicked in the Texas-Pan American contest. Brown performed well against Princeton, scoring six points (on 3-for-4 shooting) and recording seven rebounds, four assists and three blocks. Junior forward Johnnie Gilbert has been solid off the bench. The lefty averages 5.4 points, 3.8 rebounds and a team-high 1.5 blocks per game.

ABOUT CONNECTICUT
Connecticut enters Sunday's battle of top-10 teams with a 12-1 record and No. 1 national ranking in both polls. The Huskies have won nine straight and lost only to Georgia Tech (77-61) in the Preseason NIT semifinals. In its nine home games, UConn has outscored its opponents by an average count of 90-60. In its last two games, its only true road games of the season, Connecticut beat Rice (92-83 on Jan. 2) and Rutgers (75-74 on Jan. 6).

Junior guard Ben Gordon leads the team with his 20.1 points per game and also averages 4.1 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 1.8 steals. Gordon is 34-for-65 (.523) from three-point range and is shooting .810 from the free throw line. Junior forward/center Emeka Okafor averages 18.2 points and a team-high 11.8 boards per outing and has already rejected 56 shots on the season (averages 4.7 per game). Okafor, who stands 6-10, is shooting .599 from the field. Both Gordon and Okafor are national player-of-the-year candidates. Freshman forward Charlie Villanueva, 6-11, missed the season's first six games but is averaging 15.7 points and 8.1 rebounds in his seven appearances off the bench. He is shooting .597 from the field. Denham Brown has started all 13 games and averages 13.8 points a game and is 22-for-41 (.537) from long range. Senior point guard Taliek Brown scores just 4.5 points per game, but averages 6.1 assists.

The Huskies are shooting a remarkable .512 from the field and .430 from three-point land, but just .594 from the foul line. Opponents have shot .363 from the field and .329 from beyond the arc. UConn has outboarded its foes by an average count of 46-35.

In his 18th season at UConn, Jim Calhoun is 411-160 (.720). He is in his 32nd season overall and owns a 659-297 (.689) career mark. Calhoun has guided the Huskies to 16 straight postseason appearances, 11 of them NCAA Tournaments. They won the 1999 national title.

SERIES WITH CONNECTICUT
Oklahoma has beaten Connecticut each of the past two seasons in the only two meetings between the schools. In fact, the Sooners have never trailed the Huskies. Last season in Norman, OU led 37-24 at halftime and went up 51-31 only to see UConn close to within five with 5:03 remaining. The Sooners made 18 of their 19 free throw attempts over the final 4:43 to preserve the victory. Hollis Price scored a career-high 33 points and OU held the nation's top scoring offense to 27 points below its season average. Ebi Ere added 13 for Oklahoma while Tony Robertson came off the bench to lead the Huskies with 16 points. Emeka Okafor registered a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds.

Two years ago in Hartford, Ere's jumper with 16.4 seconds left broke a tie game and produced the contest's final points in a 69-67 Oklahoma victory. Ere finished with 24 points and nine rebounds as OU played its first game against a Big East opponent under Kelvin Sampson. Price scored 17 points and Jason Detrick added 12 for the Sooners while Caron Buttler paced the Huskies with 25 points. UConn's 13 blocked shots were the most by an OU opponent in the Sampson era and the Sooners' 28 offensive boards were the most under the head coach.

A WIN OVER UCONN WOULD...
Give OU victories in three straight seasons against the Huskies.
Give Oklahoma an 11-0 record, its best start since the 1989-90 squad began 12-0.
Improve OU's all-time record against AP No. 1 teams to 7-7 and give the Sooners six wins in their last eight against AP No. 1s.
Up the Sooners' non-conference record (including postseason games) since the start of the 1999-2000 season to 61-10 (.859).

PRINCETON RECAP
Oklahoma received a battle from Princeton last Saturday in the All-College Classic in Oklahoma City and breathed a sigh of relief when a Tigers three-point attempt at the buzzer caromed off the rim to give the Sooners a 58-55 victory. The win was Kelvin Sampson's 400th of his career. OU had trouble defending Princeton's backdoor cuts in the first half and found itself trailing at halftime for the first time since the season opener, 27-26. Kelvin Sampson's team made necessary halftime adjustments and scored the first seven points of the second half to go up 33-27 and soon went ahead by a 40-30 score. Princeton trimmed its deficit to four at the midway point of the second half before the Sooners went back up by 13, 56-43, with 7:51 remaining. OU went cold, however, and the Tigers used a 10-0 run to trail by just three with 2:33 left. With the score 58-55 in favor of Oklahoma and seven seconds left, Jason Detrick missed two free throws but Ed Persia's running three-point try from about 35 feet ricocheted off the rim at the horn. De'Angelo Alexander scored a career-high 22 points on 8-of-12 shooting and Drew Lavender added 11 points and three assists. Jabahri Brown scored only six points, but also contributed seven rebounds, four assists and three blocks. Persia led Princeton with 19 points while Scott Greenman scored 14. The Sooners held forward/center Judson Wallace, who was averaging 17.1 points per game entering the day, to just two points.

PRINCETON LEFTOVERS
Kelvin Sampson notched his 400th career victory in the 58-55 triumph.
Princeton's .488 field goal mark was the highest by an Oklahoma opponent in seven games.
The Sooners' .800 free throw mark snapped a four-game streak of sub-.600 foul shooting.
The game marked the second straight that Drew Lavender did not lead the team in assists. He paced the squad in the category in the season's first eight games.

RIM RATTLERS
Oklahoma has posted an impressive 39-22 (.639) record in its last 61 road games.
The Sooners are 121-26 (.823) since the start of the 1999-2000 season. Only Duke (.863) has a better winning percentage during the span.
Five of OU's 11 players are freshmen (four true and one redshirt) while seven are freshmen or sophomores.
Eight Sooners have scored at least 10 points in a game this season while a ninth, Larry Turner, has tallied nine. Seven players have scored at least 15 points in a game.
Six different Sooners (five of them guards) have led the team in scoring in their 10 games. De'Angelo Alexander (three times), Drew Lavender (three times), Kevin Bookout, Jason Detrick, Lawrence McKenzie and Jaison Williams have each done it.
OU is giving up 56.0 points per game. Last year it surrendered 60.0 points per contest, its lowest mark in 25 years.

OU vs. NO. 1s
Oklahoma is 2-1 against AP No. 1 teams under Kelvin Sampson (all three games were against Kansas) and the loss came by just two points (70-68) in 1997. The Sooners have won five of their last seven against AP No. 1 teams and are 6-7 all-time against AP No. 1s.

1950-51 Oklahoma A&M (W, 44-40)
1951-52 at Kansas (L, 48-71)
1956-57 vs. Kansas (L, 56-74)
1956-57 Kansas (L, 51-59)
1957-58 at Kansas State (L, 51-68)
1978-79 vs. Indiana State (L, 72-93)
1988-89 Arizona (W, 82-80)
1989-90 Missouri (W, 107-90
1989-90 Kansas (W, 100-78)
1992-93 at Duke (L, 84-88 in OT)
1994-95 Kansas (W, 76-73)
1996-97 Kansas (L, 68-70)
2001-02 vs. Kansas (W, 64-55)

A TOUGH ROW TO HOE
The first three weeks of January present a difficult challenge for OU. The Sooners, who beat Princeton 58-55 last Saturday in the All-College Classic, play at No. 1 Connecticut on Jan. 11, at 10-1 Oklahoma State on Jan. 14, host preseason Big 12 No. 1 Missouri on Jan. 17 and then travel to 12-2 Texas Tech on Jan. 19.

STOUT SOONER “D”
Oklahoma's defense has been extremely solid the last six games after inauspicious performances in the first three. Over the last seven outings, opponents have shot a combined .336 from the field and .277 from three-point range. They have also committed a collective 148 turnovers for a 21.1 average. On the season, Oklahoma is giving up just 56.0 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 10 games, the Sooners have registered 62 blocked shots, an average of 6.2 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 10th in the Big 12 with his 1.5 blocks per game. Senior center Jabahri Brown and sophomore Kevin Bookout have 12 and 11 blocks, respectively, this year. Brown ranks sixth on the school's career list with 93 blocks while Gilbert ranks eighth with 79.

TOBIAS TRANSFERS
Kelvin Sampson announced on Wednesday 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 three of the last five games (with 14-, 13- and 23-point efforts against Purdue, Prairie View A&M and Jackson 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. The 5-7 point guard averaged 13.5 points, 3.0 rebounds and 4.5 assists while shooting .500 from the field and .500 from long distance in wins over Purdue and Prairie View A&M. He also hit the game-winning shot with 1.1 seconds left to give OU a 47-45 victory over the Boilermakers. On the year, Lavender is averaging 11.5 points, 4.3 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, the only Sooner freshman who averaged 4.3 assists for an entire campaign was Terry Evans in 1989-90 (averaged 4.4 per game).

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 10 games, the group has accounted for 291 of OU's 736 points (40 percent), 89 of its 151 assists (61 percent) and 40 of its 52 three-pointers (79 percent). Redshirt freshman center Larry Turner has also seen action in eight 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 fifth 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 five contests, the Sooners have posted a .584 mark (59-for-101). 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.

TOP 10 AGAIN
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 has appeared in the top 10 the past four weeks and stands at a season-high No. 6 this week. The Sooners have now been ranked in the last 41 AP polls and in 74 of the last 78. 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 .734 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 224-81 (.734) record and a 127-17 (.882) home 1mark. 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

No. 6 Sooners Play at No. 1 UConn Sunday

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