OU Hosts Texas-Pan American Sunday

GAME INFORMATION
Playing its first game of the 2005 portion of its schedule, Oklahoma (9-2) will try for its fourth straight win when it hosts Texas-Pan American (7-5) on Sunday at 3 p.m. CST at Lloyd Noble Center. The game will air on the Sooner Radio Network (flagship KOKC 1520 AM in Oklahoma City) with Chuck Cooperstein (play-by-play) and Mike Houck (analyst) calling the action. It will not be televised.

TICKET AVAILABILITY
Upper-level reserved seats for Sunday's game are still available for $15 and $20 online at SoonerSports.com. Lloyd Noble Center's north and east ticket windows will open at 1 p.m. on Sunday.

Game Notes in PDF

PROJECTED TEXAS-PAN AMERICAN STARTERS (Stats averages)
F 11 Matt Berry (6-5, 212, Sr., 9.8 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 2.3 apg)
F 20 Chris Fagan (6-5, 230, Sr., 10.1 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 1.3 apg)
C 52 Alvaidas Gedminas (7-0, 245, Sr., 8.8 ppg, 7.5 rpg, 1.1 apg)
G 2 Eric Montalvo (6-1, 175, Sr., 7.0 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 3.7 apg)
G 24 Ray Castillo (6-5, 196, Sr., 8.5 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 1.0 apg)

PROJECTED OKLAHOMA STARTERS (Stats averages)
F 21 Taj Gray (6-9, 235, Jr., 13.7 ppg, 7.8 rpg, 1.6 apg)
F 34 Kevin Bookout (6-8, 259, Jr., 12.2 ppg, 6.1 rpg, 0.8 apg)
G 2 Jaison Williams (6-3, 181, Sr., 10.6 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 2.4 apg)
G 3 Drew Lavender (5-7, 153, So., 8.8 ppg, 1.9 rpg, 3.8 apg)
G 20 Terrell Everett (6-4, 185, Jr., 13.0 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 4.4 apg)

OKLAHOMA UPDATE
The Sooners played without junior forward Kevin Bookout Thursday, but it didn't matter as they handled Florida A&M, 104-45. The 59-point win was OU's largest since beating Arkansas-Pine Bluff by 70 on Dec. 2, 2003 (a span of 38 games). Bookout, who sat out with an ulnar nerve contusion in his right elbow, was replaced by freshman Longar Longar. The 6-11 Longar was 10-for-13 from the field in 32 minutes and finished with 27 points, seven rebounds and three steals all career highs. Five of his rebounds were offensive and he was 7-for-8 from the free throw line. Longar had scored 19 points all season entering the game. Juniors Taj Gray and Terrell Everett scored 18 points as OU topped the 100-point mark for the 15th time under head coach Kelvin Sampson. Gray added a game-high-tying eight rebounds while Everett had four assists and four steals. Playing with a broken right index finger, sophomore point guard Drew Lavender had nine points and four assists. Freshman guard David Godbold came off the bench to supply nine points, eight boards, two assists, two blocks and four steals in 24 minutes. Oklahoma shot .613 from the field, its third best figure in the 11-year Sampson era and best since shooting .655 against North Texas on Dec. 22, 1998 (a span of 234 games). The game was Florida A&M's ninth of the year (all on the road) and the 59-point defeat was its worst of the year. It lost to Florida by 37, Michigan State by 32, Illinois by 31 and Mississippi State by 24.

FLORIDA A&M LEFTOVERS
The 59-point win tied as the second largest of the 11-year Kelvin Sampson era.
The game marked the seventh this year that Oklahoma shot better than .500 from the field (.613). The Sooners shot .500 or better just three times all of last season.
Lawrence McKenzie was 2-for-4 from 3-point range and is 14-for-27 (.519) from beyond the arc over the last six games. He ranks second in the Big 12 with his .500 season mark.
Jaison Williams made two of his three 3-point attempts and is 7-for-11 over the past two games (.636).
Terrell Everett's 18 points were one shy of his career high. He has reached double figures the last 10 games.
Despite going 10-for-13 from the field, freshman center Longar Longar's season field goal percentage dropped from .875 to .810.
OU registered a season-high 16 steals and has hit double digits in the category in six straight games.
Oklahoma has now won 56 of its last 60 home games (.933).

ABOUT TEXAS-PAN AMERICAN
A Division I independent, Texas-Pan American enters Sunday's game with a 7-5 record. It had won four straight before losing its last two games at UNLV (74-54 on Wednesday) and Northwestern (56-48 on Friday). Sunday's contest against OU is the Broncs' third of a six-game road trip. UTPA is outscoring its foes by five points a game (71-8-66.8) and is outrebounding its opponents by nearly eight a contest (41.4-33.6). The Broncs are shooting .419 from the field, .366 from 3-point range and .668 from the free throw line. They are averaging 8.5 3-point makes per game.

Senior point guard Sergio Sanchez has missed the last five games due to a hand injury and will not play Sunday. He is averaging 21.6 points and 4.6 assists in his seven outings, as well as 4.4 3-pointers per contest. Senior forward Chris Fagan is averaging 10.1 points, 5.1 rebounds and 1.7 steals a game while fellow senior forward Matt Berry, who hails from Tulsa, is averaging 9.8 points, 3.6 boards and 2.3 assists. Berry is shooting .396 from beyond the arc and has made 21 treys. He scored a team-high 11 points Friday at Northwestern. Senior center Alvaidas Gedminas averages 8.8 points and a team-high 7.5 rebounds, and is shooting .508 from the field. Senior guard Ray Castillo scores 8.5 points a game and has drained 25 3-pointers. Another senior guard, Eric Montalvo is averaging 7.0 points, 4.6 rebounds and 3.7 assists.

Robert Davenport is in his first season as a Division I head coach. He spent the last five seasons as an assistant coach at UTPA under current OU assistant coach Bob Hoffman. He graduated from Oklahoma Baptist (Shawnee) in 1988 and earned a master's from East Central University (Ada., Okla.) in 1996.

SERIES WITH TEXAS-PAN AMERICAN
Oklahoma leads the series with Texas-Pan American 2-0. The Sooners posted a 72-57 win on Dec. 29, 2003, in Norman and also won by an 86-80 score on Dec. 28, 1981, in the All-College Tournament in Oklahoma City. Last year, Kevin Bookout had 18 points and 12 rebounds, both season highs, and Jaison Williams netted a then-career-high 17 points as he went 5-for-9 from 3-point range. OU outrebounded the Broncs 45-34. Coached by current OU assistant Bob Hoffman, Texas-Pan American was led in scoring by Chris Fagan (13 points) and Sergio Sanchez (11 points).

OU'S FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE MUCH IMPROVED
After shooting better than .500 from the field in six of its first seven games, Oklahoma failed to reach the mark in its next three contests. But OU responded with a .613 effort against Florida A&M on Thursday, its third best mark under 11th-year head coach Kelvin Sampson and its best in 234 games. The Sooners now own a .483 season mark and Kevin Bookout leads the Big 12 with his .650 figure. OU shot .408 from the field last year its worst mark in 40 seasons and shot .500 or better just three times all season.

3-POINT DISPARITY
The Sooners have made 74 3-pointers this season (an average of 6.7 a game) and are shooting .402 from beyond the arc. Opponents, by comparison, have canned just 30 treys (2.7 a game) and are shooting .250 from long range. Lawrence McKenzie is averaging 2.2 3-point makes a game and ranks second in the Big 12 Conference with his .500 season percentage. Jaison Williams had a five 3-point field goal performance against Tulsa on Tuesday and also averages 2.2 treys per outing. He is shooting .381 from beyond the arc.

WHY DON'T WE STEAL AWAY
OU recorded a season-high 16 steals against Florida A&M on Thursday and now lead the Big 12 with its 10.6 steals a game. The Sooners have logged 10 or more thefts in each of the last six games and are averaging 12.2 during the stretch. Junior guard Terrell Everett is averaging 2.4 steals on the year to rank third in the Big 12 and has 13 over the last three outings (4.3 average).

JUCO TRANSFERS SUPPLYING IMMEDIATE IMPACT
Junior college transfers Terrell Everett and Taj Gray have quickly become two of OU's top producers this season. Gray, a 6-9, 235-pounder, leads OU in scoring (14.1 ppg), rebounding (7.8 rpg) and blocked shots (1.5 bpg) in 26.4 minutes a contest. The unanimous Big 12 Preseason Newcomer of the Year has already won a pair of league rookie-of-the-week honors, the first one after recording 29 points, 14 rebounds, four assists and four blocks in OU's season-opening win against Cal State Northridge. Gray has registered four games of 11 or more rebounds and has registered double-doubles in three of the last five games.

Everett, a 6-4, 185-pound left-handed guard, has been steady all season at the wing and point guard spots. He is averaging 13.5 points (ranks second on team), 4.0 rebounds (ranks third) and a team-high 4.4 assists a game. Everett has scored in double figures in each of the last 10 games and is averaging 14.4 over the last nine. He was named Big 12 Rookie of the Week following his three-game performance at the Great Alaska Shootout.

BOOKOUT LEADS BIG 12 IN FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE
Oklahoma's leader in field goal percentage his first two seasons, junior forward Kevin Bookout is shooting a stout .650 from the field this season (52-for-80) to lead the Big 12 Conference (for perspective, Baylor's Aaron Bruce ranks second with a .551 mark). The 6-8, 259-pounder has showcased a reliable mid-range jumper and has shot .500 or better in all 10 of his games this year. He made nine of his 10 field goal attempts against then-No. 22 Washington on Nov. 26. Bookout 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. He shot .587 as a freshman to lead the Big 12 and posted a .516 mark last year in 13 games.

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 491 of the squad's 848 points, or 58 percent this season. Junior forwards Taj Gray (14.1 ppg) and Kevin Bookout (12.2 ppg) are the main reasons OU's frontcourt production has increased from 32 percent of the team's points last year to 42 percent this year. Gray and Bookout rank first and third on the squad in scoring.

GUARDS TIGHTEN DEFENSIVE SCREWS
Oklahoma's guards have done a solid job of defending the 3-point line this season as the team leads the Big 12 in 3-point field goal percentage defense (.250). Over the last eight games, opponents are shooting .235 from beyond the arc (20-for-85). No opponent has made more than five 3-pointers against OU this year. Conversely, the Sooners have made at least five treys in 10 of 11 games.

BETTER TO GIVE THAN RECEIVE
The Sooners have registered 179 assists through 11 contests for an average of 16.3 a game. An assist has been credited on 59 percent of OU's field goals. Last year's team averaged 12.1 assists a contest and 53 percent of its baskets were assisted.

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 on two occasions. Gray is averaging 1.5 swats an outing to rank fifth in the Big 12. Longar is averaging 1.2 blocks in 11.8 minutes a game to rank 11th in the league. The Sooners are averaging 4.3 blocks a contest as a team. Senior Johnnie Gilbert, who has five blocked shots this year, ranks fourth on OU's career list with 114.

TURNOVERS UP, BUT...
Partially because of OU's up-tempo style of play this season, the team's turnover average has increased by more than two a game from last year. The Sooners are averaging 15.7 offensive miscues a game compared to 13.1 per contest last season. However, Oklahoma has committed fewer turnovers than nine of its 11 opponents this year. OU is forcing its foes into 19.2 turnovers a game, second most in the Big 12.

ANOTHER TURNOVER NOTE
Dating back to the start of the 2003-04 season, Oklahoma has committed more turnovers than its opponent just six times in its last 42 games (14 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 118-12 (.908) when reaching 80 points. The Sooners have won 35 of their last 37 and 51 of their last 54 when scoring 80 or more.

HOME IS WHERE THE “W” IS
Lloyd Noble Center has always been extremely kind to the Sooners. Oklahoma, which has won eight straight inside LNC, has gone 138-20 (.873) inside the building during Kelvin Sampson's 10-plus years as head coach. Since the start of the 2001-02 season, OU is 50-4 (.926) at Lloyd Noble (it finished 14-3 last year, 15-1 in 2002-03 and 16-0 in 2001-02). Oklahoma is 374-63 (.856) inside Lloyd Noble since it opened for the 1975-76 campaign and has won 56 of its last 60. OU's 37-game home winning streak (started Jan. 20, 2001, and ended March 8, 2003) 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 home streak in Big 12 history.

TOUGH SLATE
Oklahoma will play four games this year against teams in the current AP poll's top six and will play eight games against teams in the top 15. OU has already faced No. 6 Duke and No. 13 Washington. It will play once against No. 2 Kansas and No. 11 Connecticut, and twice each against No. 3 Oklahoma State and No. 15 Texas.

SAMPSON HONORED BY USA BASKETBALL
On Dec. 16, OU head coach Kelvin Sampson was named the USA Basketball 2004 Developmental Coach of the Year for guiding the USA World Championship for Young Men Qualifying Team to a 5-0 record and a gold medal last summer in Halifax, Nova Scotia. As recipient of the award, which was determined by the USA Basketball Executive Committee, Sampson has been nominated by USA Basketball for the U.S. Olympic Committee's Developmental Coach of the Year award, which will be announced by the USOC at a later date. Said Sampson, “It's wonderful to receive this honor, but the real honor is just to be asked to represent your country. The fact that they asked me to be the head coach of that team I was raised to say yes' to that.” Players on Sampson's USA squad included Chris Paul and Justin Gray (Wake Forest), Hassan Adams and Mustafa Shakur (Arizona), Sean May (North Carolina), P.J. Tucker (Texas), Charlie Villanueva (Connecticut), Curtis Withers (Charlotte) and Bracey Wright (Indiana).

OKLAHOMA TIP INS
The Sooners have shot .500 from 3-point range in each of the last two games (9-for-18 versus Tulsa and 8-for-16 against Florida A&M). OU owns a .402 season 3-point mark to rank fourth in the Big 12.
OU shot .500 or better from the field three times all of last season, but has shot better than .500 in seven of its 11 games this year. The Sooners shot .408 last year but own a .483 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 has shot .500 or better from the field in all 10 of his games this year leads the Big 12 with his .650 season field goal percentage.
OU's starting frontcourt of Bookout (.650) and Taj Gray (.533) is shooting a combined .584 from the field.
Junior guard Terrell Everett has scored in double figures in the last 10 games and is averaging 14.4 points over the last nine outings.
Lawrence McKenzie has made multiple 3-point field goals in eight of his 10 games this year, including each of the last six. He is 14-for-27 over the last six contests.
Oklahoma has been outrebounded by an average of 6.0 boards in its losses to Washington and Duke. In its nine wins, OU is outrebounding its foes by 6.1 a game.
Freshman guard David Godbold has scored 23 of his 31 points, grabbed 15 of his 20 rebounds and played 60 of his 90 minutes in two games this year versus Coppin State and Florida A&M.
Freshman center Longar Longar is 17-for-21 from the field this season (.810). His first six field goals were dunks and he has nine slams on the year.
Drew Lavender, a .782 free throw shooter a year ago, is 22-for-23 (.957) this season.
A career .527 free throw shooter entering the year, Bookout is off to an 18-for-24 start this season (.750).
OU averaged 2.3 dunks a game last year. Through 11 games this season it is averaging 3.7 a contest.
Six Sooners are averaging at least 8.8 points a game.
OU has won 56 of its last 60 home games (.933).

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).

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 138-20 (.874) record at Lloyd Noble Center and has won 56 of its last 60 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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