Sooners Take On Gophers Saturday

GAME INFORMATION
Oklahoma (2-1) faces Minnesota (2-1) Saturday at 6:30 p.m. CST in the Great Alaska Shootout third-place game after both teams lost close contests in the semifinals Friday. The Sooners beat High Point on Thursday (93-65) before falling to No. 22 Washington on Friday (96-91). Similarly, Minnesota beat unranked Furman (84-69) before losing to No. 19 Alabama (78-72). Saturday's contest will air on the Sooner Radio Network (flagship KOKC 1520 AM in Oklahoma City) with Bob Barry, Sr. (play-by-play) and Mike Houck (analyst) announcing.

Game Notes in PDF

OKLAHOMA UPDATE
Oklahoma shot .550 from the field, its second-highest figure since the start of the 2003-04 season, but had trouble slowing Washington's high-powered offense as the No. 22 Huskies dealt the Sooners a 96-91 setback in the semifinals of the Great Alaska Shootout on Friday. Kevin Bookout led OU in scoring for the second straight game with a career-high-tying 22 points. The junior forward was 9-for-10 from the field and also had four rebounds. Fellow junior forward Taj Gray had 17 points, a team-high six boards and four blocked shots. Combined, Bookout and Gray were 15-for-21 (.714) from the field. Junior Terrell Everett played point guard most of the game for the Sooners and registered 19 points, four rebounds and five assists. The story of the game, however, was on the other end of the floor as Oklahoma didn't have an answer for the hot-shooting Huskies. Washington finished with a .547 field goal figure but was shooting above .600 for a good chunk of the game. UW also made 22 of its 24 (.917) free throw throw attempts. A 34-24 rebounding advantage didn't hurt the Huskies, either. Fifteen of Washington's boards were offensive and it capitalized with several second-chance hoops. Guard Nate Robinson scored a team-high 19 points for UW and had eight assists while forward Jamaal Williams had 18 points and six rebounds.

WASHINGTON LEFTOVERS
OU's 91 points were its most in a losing effort since Feb. 5, 1994, when it lost a 104-94 game to Missouri in Norman. It was Billy Tubbs' final year as head coach.
The Sooners lost despite shooting .550 from the field, .400 from 3-point range and .792 from the free throw line.
Kevin Bookout was 9-for-10 from the field and is now shooting .800 from the field this year (20-for-25).
Jaison Williams scored 10 points and had a team-high six assists

ABOUT MINNESOTA
The unranked Gophers are coming off a 12-18 season in which they finished tied for 10th place in the Big Ten with a 3-13 record. Minnesota returns four lettermen and just one starter from last year's squad. Sporting a 2-1 record entering today's game, UM beat Lipscomb (83-66) in its opener before splitting with Furman (won 84-69) and Alabama (lost 78-72) in the first two rounds of the Great Alaska Shootout.

Junior guard/forward Vincent Grier leads the team with a 19.3 scoring average and also contributes 4.0 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 2.3 steals a game. Grier is shooting .581 from the field and has made 22 of his 26 free throw attempts (.846). Freshman forward Dan Coleman, who scored a team-high 16 points against Alabama, averages 15.7 points and is shooting .556 from 3-point range (5-for-9). Jeff Hagen, a senior center, averages 10.7 points, 4.7 boards and a team-high 4.0 assists a game while senior guard Aaron Robinson averages 10.0 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.0 steals.

Dan Monson is in his sixth season as Minnesota's head coach and is 81-76 (.516). A 1985 graduate of Idaho, Monson owns a 133-93 (.588) career record as a head coach. He guided Gonzaga to a two-year 52-17 (.754) mark before taking over at Minnesota.

SERIES WITH MINNESOTA
Saturday's game will mark the eighth in the series between Oklahoma and Minnesota with the Gophers holding a 4-3 advantage. Minnesota won the last meeting, an 86-72 postseason NIT game in Minneapolis in 1993. UM also won in 1950 (49-42 at home) in 1959 (59-57 at home and 57-56 in Norman). OU won in 1950 (66-45 at home), in 1958 (52-45 in Minneapolis) and 1960 (60-56 at home).

OKLAHOMA-MINNESOTA TIES
Three Sooners hail from Minnesota. Senior co-captain Johnnie Gilbert and sophomore Lawrence McKenzie are from Minneapolis and attended Patrick Henry High School. Their head coach was McKenzie's father, Larry McKenzie. Gilbert graduated in 2000 while McKenzie earned his diploma in 2003. Freshman center Longar Longar, who was born in Sudan, attended John Marshall High School in Rochester, Minn. He graduated in 2003 before attending prep school for a year at Laurinburg (N.C.) Institute.

Additionally, OU head coach Kelvin Sampson and Minnesota boss Dan Monson are more than acquaintances. Monson served as an assistant coach under Sampson for the USA World Championship for Young Men Qualifying Team this past summer. The squad posted a 5-0 record and earned a gold medal in Halifax, Nova Scotia. It was the United States' first gold in the event since 1996.

OU EXHIBITS VASTLY IMPROVED SHOOTING
After posting a .408 field goal mark last year its worst in 40 seasons Oklahoma is off to a solid shooting start in 2004-05. The Sooners own a .531 figure through three games thanks to a .509 performance against Cal State Northridge in the season opener, a .532 effort versus High Point on Thursday and a .550 showing against Washington last night. The three .500 shooting efforts already matches last season's total. OU also shot a combined .500 from the field in its two exhibition games.

OKLAHOMA IN ALASKA
This marks OU's second appearance in the Great Alaska Shootout and third appearance in the state. The Sooners went 2-1 in the 1983 Great Alaska Shootout under head coach Billy Tubbs, beating Southern California (92-91), losing to Arkansas (84-78) and beating Santa Clara (91-77). OU opened the 1999-00 season by winning the Top of the World Classic in Fairbanks. Kelvin Sampson's squad defeated Montana State (91-76), George Washington (73-54) and California (75-58). Eduardo Najera earned tournament MVP honors.

Kellen Sampson is the only player on the OU roster who has been to Alaska previously. This is his third trip. He joined his father on both previous occasions when the elder Sampson was a guest instructor at a basketball clinic in Haines, Alaska. Kellen Sampson was in kindergarten and first grade when he made those Alaskan treks.

TOURNAMENT SUCCESS
With its loss to Washington on Friday, the Sooners fell to 41-9 (.820) in tournament play over the past five-plus years (both regular and postseason events). OU has won three Big 12 Tournaments (2001, 2002, 2003), the Top of the World Classic (1999-00), the Big Island Invitational (2000-01), four Sooner Invitationals and a pair of All-College Tournaments. Kelvin Sampson has also directed his teams to a 7-4 NCAA Tournament record during the span.

GRAY EARNS BIG 12 WEEKLY HONOR
Taj Gray earned the season's first Big 12 Rookie of the Week award for his effort in OU's season-opening 82-72 win over Cal State Northridge. Gray tallied 29 points and had 14 rebounds, four assists and four blocked shots. Twenty-three of his points came after halftime. Kansas' Wayne Simien was named the league's player of the week after recording 25 points, 14 boards, one assist and one block against Vermont.

OKLAHOMA TIP INS
OU shot .500 or better from the field three times all season last year. It has shot better than .500 in each of its first three games this season.
Starting post men Kevin Bookout (20-for-25) and Taj Gray (16-for-30) are shooting a combined .655 from the field. Big men Johnnie Gilbert (6-for-11), Longar Longar (2-for-2) and Larry Turner (4-for-6) have posted a combined field goal mark of .631 coming off the bench.
Bookout went 5-for-5 from the field against Cal State Northridge and 9-for-10 against Washington.
Drew Lavender, a .782 free throw shooter a year ago, is 12-for-12 from the charity stripe this season.
A career .527 free throw shooter, junior Kevin Bookout is off to a 9-for-11 start this year (.818).
Six players are averaging at least 9.0 points a game. Four average 10.7 or more.

SOONERS GOING FOR EIGHTH STRAIGHT 20-WIN SEASON
Oklahoma finished 20-11 last year to post its seventh consecutive 20-win campaign. The Sooners have won 175 games over the last seven seasons for an average of 25 per year. Over the last five seasons, OU is averaging 26 wins. The school record for consecutive 20-win seasons is 12 (1981-82 through 1992-93 under Billy Tubbs).

NATIONAL POLLS
For the first time since the 1999-2000 season, Oklahoma was not ranked in the AP poll's preseason top 25. The Sooners debuted 33rd in the preseason AP poll and 30th in the ESPN/USA Today coaches poll. They are 31st in both this week. OU finished No. 3 in the final 2001-02 and 2002-03 AP polls.

UNDER KELVIN SAMPSON...
OU has made 10 straight postseason showings (nine NCAA and one NIT).
OU has advanced to the NCAA Tournament's Sweet 16 (1999), Final Four (2002) and Elite Eight (2003).
OU has posted an 88-40 (.688) regular season Big 12 Conference record.
OU has recorded a 134-20 (.870) record at Lloyd Noble Center and has won 52 of its last 56 home games.
OU has won at least 20 games each of the last seven years.
OU has averaged 26 victories over the past five seasons.
OU has won three of the past four Big 12 Tournaments and has made five title game appearances in the last seven events.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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