OU Meets No. 7 Duke Saturday in NYC

GAME INFORMATION
Winner of four straight, Oklahoma (6-1) travels to New York's Madison Square Garden to face Duke (7-0) on Saturday at 5 p.m. EST. Duke is ranked No. 7 in the Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today polls while OU is 29th and 27th, respectively. The game 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) calling the action. It will be televised nationally by CBS (KWTV Channel 9 in OKC) with Verne Lundquist (play-by-play) and Billy Packer (analyst) announcing.

Game Notes in PDF

OKLAHOMA UPDATE
The Sooners followed their 66-48 road win over Purdue on Dec. 8 with an 80-44 victory over Northern Colorado on Saturday. Forward Taj Gray registered his second double-double of the year with a 22-point, 11-rebound performance in which he was 10-for-12 from the field. Five of his baskets were dunks. The 6-9, 235-pound unanimous Big 12 Preseason Newcomer of the Year picked up league co-rookie of the week honors for his effort against the Boilermakers and Northern Colorado. It was his second rookie of the week award this year. Senior guard Jaison Williams netted a season-high 14 points against the Bears with the help of 4-for-9 3-point shooting while junior guard Terrell Everett added 13 points and a season-high seven assists without a turnover. Junior forward Kevin Bookout, who leads the Big 12 with his .677 field goal percentage, added 11 points and six boards. Bookout has scored in double figures in all seven games this year. Lawrence McKenzie came off the bench to net three first-half 3-pointers. The sophomore guard finished with nine points. OU shot .517 from the field, marking the sixth time in seven games this season it has shot better than .500 from the floor.

Oklahoma is shooting .514 from the field on the year (ranks 13th nationally) and has outrebounded its opponent in all six victories. It is also forcing its foes into 18.9 turnovers per game.

PROJECTED OKLAHOMA STARTERS (Stats averages)
F 21 Taj Gray (6-9, 235, Jr., 14.0 ppg, 7.0 rpg, 1.7 apg)
F 34 Kevin Bookout (6-8, 259, Jr., 13.7 ppg, 6.1 rpg, 0.7 apg)
G 2 Jaison Williams (6-3, 181, Sr., 9.9 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 2.9 apg)
G 3 Drew Lavender (5-7, 153, So., 9.8 ppg, 1.5 rpg, 4.3 apg)
G 20 Terrell Everett (6-4, 185, Jr., 12.4 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 4.7 apg)

PROJECTED DUKE STARTERS (Stats averages)
F 42 Shavlik Randolph (6-10, 240, Jr., 7.3 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 1.7 apg)
F 23 Shelden Williams (6-9, 250, Jr., 15.9 ppg, 11.4 rpg, 0.7 apg)
G 4 J.J. Redick (6-4, 190, Jr., 20.6 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 3.7 apg)
G 5 Daniel Ewing (6-3, 185, Sr., 17.9 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 4.4 apg)
G 15 Sean Dockery (6-2, 185, Jr., 6.4 ppg, 2.1 rpg, 2.9 apg)

NORTHERN COLORADO LEFTOVERS
OU starting guards Terrell Everett, Drew Lavender and Jaison Williams committed just three combined turnovers in a collective 76 minutes of action.
Taj Gray, who finished the game with five dunks, had three slams within a span of 1:11 in the first half.
The Sooners improved to 117-12 (.907) under Kelvin Sampson when scoring at least 80 points.
OU held its opponent to sub-.400 field goal shooting for the fourth consecutive game. The Bears shot .373.

ABOUT DUKE
Undefeated Duke (7-0) is ranked in both major polls this week and is coming off an 88-55 home win over Illinois-Chicago on Tuesday. The Blue Devils have also beaten Tennessee-Martin, Davidson, UNC Greensboro, Michigan State, Valparaiso and Toledo. Duke entered the week ranked third nationally in scoring margin (now +29.9 ppg) and second in blocked shots (now 9.7 bpg). It is shooting .483 from the field, .391 from beyond the arc and .706 from the free throw line. Duke is holding its opponents to .369 field goal and .333 3-point shooting.

Three Blue Devils average double figures in scoring. Junior guard J.J. Redick paces the squad with his 20.6 points a game and averages a team-high 3.1 treys per contest. Redick is shooting .386 from long range and .938 from the foul line (30-for-32). Senior guard Daniel Ewing scores 17.9 points a game and averages a team highs in assists (4.4 apg) and steals (3.3 spg). He averages 3.0 3-pointers per outing and is shooting .457 from beyond the arc. Shelden Williams, a junior forward who attended Midwest City High School in Midwest City, Okla., (about 25 miles from Norman) is averaging 15.9 points, 11.4 rebounds and 3.6 blocked shots a game. Williams had 23 points, 14 rebounds and seven rejections against Illinois-Chicago on Tuesday. He entered the week ranked eighth nationally in rebounding.

Mike Krzyzewski is in his 25th season as Duke's head coach and is 628-181 (.801) there. He is in his 30th season overall and owns a 701-240 (.745) career mark. A member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame (inducted in 2001), Krzyzewski has coached Duke to 10 Final Four appearances and three national championships (1991, 1992 and 2001).

SERIES WITH DUKE
Duke leads the series against Oklahoma, 3-0, with all three games decided by single digits. OU was coached in all three games by Billy Tubbs while Mike Krzyzewski piloted the Blue Devils to all three victories. In the first meeting, No. 2 Duke won 93-84 over No. 10 OU on Feb. 22, 1986, in Durham. No. 9 Duke snapped No. 11 OU's 51-game home winning streak on Dec. 22, 1990, by a 90-85 score. And the No. 1 Blue Devils pulled out an 88-84 overtime win against the No. 11 Sooners on Jan. 4, 1993, in Durham.

OKLAHOMA AT THE GARDEN
Oklahoma has traveled to New York City 14 previous times and sports a 4-11 record inside famed Madison Square Garden. The Sooners are 0-1 in the building under Kelvin Sampson, losing their 2002-03 season opener to Alabama (68-62) in the AT&T Wireless Classic. OU also played at the Garden in the 1992 postseason NIT when Billy Tubbs' crew knocked off Colorado in the semifinals before falling to Stanford in the title game. Tubbs' 1981-82 team lost to Bradley inside MSG in the 1982 NIT semifinals. Prior to that, all of OU's Garden appearances took place between the 1939-40 and the 1950-51 seasons. The Sooners lost the 1947 national championship game to Holy Cross there, 58-47.

SOONERS SPORTING MORE SCORING BALANCE IN 2004-05
Oklahoma's guards accounted for 68 percent of the team's points last season. That figure is down this year, however, as the Sooners have showcased a potent inside attack. OU's guards have scored 308 of the squad's 546 points, or 56 percent this season. Junior forwards Taj Gray (14.0 ppg) and Kevin Bookout (13.7 ppg) are the main reasons OU's frontcourt production has increased from 32 percent of the team's points last year to 44 percent this year. Gray and Bookout are Oklahoma's top two scorers.

TIGHTENING THE DEFENSIVE SCREWS
Over its last four games, OU has held Minnesota, Coppin State, Purdue and Northern Colorado to an average of 47.5 points and a combined .373 field goal mark. Those four opponents have also averaged just 2.5 3-point makes per contest and have shot .233 from beyond the arc.

SOONERS DISPLAY MUCH IMPROVED SHOOTING
After posting a .408 field goal mark last year its worst in 40 seasons Oklahoma is off to a tremendous shooting start in 2004-05. The Sooners have shot better than .500 from the field in six of their seven games and own a .514 season figure to rank 13th nationally. OU shot .509 against Cal State Northridge in the season opener, .532 versus High Point, .550 against Washington, .529 versus Minnesota, .549 at Purdue and .517 against Northern Colorado. The 2003-04 Sooners shot .500 or better from the field just three times all season. OU also shot a combined .500 from the field in its two exhibition games this year.

MORE SHOOTING NOTES
Oklahoma's leader in field goal percentage his first two seasons, junior forward Kevin Bookout is shooting a stout .677 from the field this season (42-for-62) to lead the Big 12 and rank ninth nationally. The 6-8, 259-pounder has showcased a reliable mid-range jumper and made nine of his 10 field goal attempts against then-No. 22 Washington on Nov. 26. He was also 5-for-5 against Cal State Northridge in the season opener and was 6-for-6 in the second half at Purdue on Dec. 8. Bookout shot .587 as a freshman to lead the Big 12 Conference and posted a .516 mark last year in 13 games.

Five Sooners are shooting .500 or better through seven games. Last year, Bookout (.516) and Johnnie Gilbert (.512) were the only Sooners who finished above .500.

BETTER TO GIVE THAN RECEIVE
The Sooners have registered 124 assists through seven contests for an average of 17.7 a game (ranks fourth in Big 12). An assist has been credited on 62 percent of OU's field goals. Last year's team averaged 12.1 assists a contest and 53 percent of its baskets were assisted.

GENEROUS GUARDS
Starting guards Terrell Everett and Drew Lavender lead the team in assists with 4.7 and 4.3 per game, respectively. The last time OU had two players average 4.0 or more assists for an entire season was in 1993-94. John Ontjes averaged 6.5 assists while Pete Lewis averaged 4.0 in Billy Tubbs' final season as Oklahoma's head coach.

NOT AFRAID OF REJECTION
Junior forward Taj Gray (6-9) and freshman center Longar Longar (6-11) have been intimidating in the paint with their shot-blocking ability. Gray has registered two games of four rejections while Longar has blocked three shots in two games. Gray is averaging 1.9 swats an outing. Longar is averaging 1.5 blocks in 10.3 minutes a game. The Sooners are averaging 4.7 blocks a contest as a team. Senior Johnnie Gilbert, who has two blocked shots this year, ranks fifth on OU's career list with 113. His next rejection will tie him with Ryan Humphrey (1997-97 and 1998-99) for fourth place.

TURNOVERS UP, BUT...
Partially because of OU's up-tempo style of play this season, the team's turnover average has increased by nearly three a game from last year. The Sooners are averaging 15.6 offensive miscues a game compared to 13.1 per contest last season. However, Oklahoma has committed fewer turnovers than six of its seven opponents this year. Foes are averaging 18.9 turnovers a game.

ANOTHER TURNOVER NOTE
Dating back to the start of the 2003-04 season, Oklahoma has committed more turnovers than its opponent just five times in its last 38 games (13 percent of the time).

BREAKING 80
The Sooners have been tough to beat under Kelvin Sampson when they score at least 80 points in a game. Since Sampson arrived in Norman prior to the 1994-95 season, OU is 117-12 (.907) when reaching 80 points. The Sooners have won 34 of their last 36 and 50 of their last 53 when scoring 80 or more.

GRAY, EVERETT EARN EARLY BIG 12 ROOKIE OF THE WEEK HONORS
Taj Gray picked up his second Big 12 Rookie of the Week honor on Monday when he was announced as co-recipient with Kansas State's Fred Peete. Gray averaged 16.0 points, 8.0 rebounds and 2.0 steals last week while shooting .789 from the field (15-for-19) in wins at Purdue and versus Northern Colorado. The 6-9 junior forward also won the season's initial award when he had 29 points, 14 rebounds, four assists and four blocks in OU's opener against Cal State Northridge. Fellow junior college transfer Terrell Everett was announced as co-winner (with Nebraska freshman guard Joe McCray) on Nov. 29. A 6-4, 185-pound guard, Everett averaged 14.0 points, 3.7 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 2.0 steals in three games at the Great Alaska Shootout. He shot .556 from the field and .667 (6-for-9) from the experimental (nine inches deeper) 3-point line in games against High Point, Washington and Minnesota. Everett was 3-for-6 from beyond the arc against Washington and scored a career-high 19 points.

OKLAHOMA TIP INS
OU shot .500 or better from the field three times all of last season. It has shot better than .500 in six of its seven games this season. The Sooners shot .408 last year but own a .514 mark this year.
Junior forward Kevin Bookout went 5-for-5 from the field against Cal State Northridge and 9-for-10 against Washington. He also went 6-for-6 in the second half at Purdue. Bookout leads the Big 12 with his .677 season field goal percentage.
OU's starting frontcourt of Bookout (.677) and Taj Gray (.586) is shooting a combined .633 from the field. Bookout has scored in double figures all seven games this year.
Senior guard Jaison Williams has scored in double figures in five of the last six games and is averaging 10.5 points during the stretch.
Oklahoma was outrebounded by 10 in its loss to Washington. In its six wins, OU is outboarding its foes by 5.3 a game.
Freshman guard David Godbold, who played a combined eight minutes off the bench in OU's first four games, started and played 36 minutes Dec. 1 against Coppin State. He scored a game-high 14 points, pulled down seven rebounds (five offensive) and was 4-for-6 from 3-point range.
Freshman center Longar Longar is 7-for-7 from the field this season. His first six field goals were dunks.
Drew Lavender, a .782 free throw shooter a year ago, is 13-for-14 (.929) from the charity stripe this season.
A career .527 free throw shooter, Bookout is off to a 12-for-16 start this year (.750).
OU averaged 2.3 dunks a game last year. Through seven games this season it is averaging 4.3 a contest.
Six Sooners are averaging at least 8.5 points a game.
The Sooners have won 54 of their last 58 home games (.931).

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 136-20 (.872) record at Lloyd Noble Center and has won 54 of its last 58 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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