Men's Basketball at Colorado Game Preview

GAME INFORMATION
After losing a pair of home games to Oklahoma State and Texas last week, Oklahoma (16-7 overall, 6-6 Big 12) is on the road again when it faces the Colorado Buffaloes (15-8, 7-5) in a pivotal contest on Wednesday at 8 p.m. CST inside Boulder's Coors Events Center (capacity 11,064). 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. Wednesday's affair will also be televised in Oklahoma by the Sooner Sports Network (KSBI/Cox Cable Channel 9 in OKC) with Bob Carpenter (play-by-play) and Mark Rodgers (analyst) announcing.

OKLAHOMA PROJECTED STARTERS
F 32 Johnnie Gilbert (6-8, 265, Jr., 4.8 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 0.6 apg)
C 21 Jabahri Brown (6-10, 220, Sr., 7.5 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 1.5 apg)
G 1   Lawrence McKenzie (6-2, 170, Fr., 8.0 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 1.4 apg)
G 3   Drew Lavender (5-7, 155, Fr., 11.4 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 3.8 apg)
G 5   Jason Detrick (6-6, 215, Sr., 10.7 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 1.5 apg)

COLORADO PROJECTED STARTERS
F 43 Blair Wilson (6-6, 220, Sr., 12.2 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 1.7 apg)
F 44 Lamar Harris (6-7, 205, Sr., 7.6 ppg, 8.6 rpg, 1.7 apg)
C 13 David Harrison (7-0, 250, Jr., 16.6 ppg, 8.6 rpg, 0.9 apg)
G 5 Jayson Obazuaye (6-2, 190, So., 5.7 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 1.6 apg)
G 30 Michel Morandais (6-5, 200, Sr., 16.4 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 3.1 apg)

OKLAHOMA UPDATE
After winning six games during a seven-game stretch, Oklahoma lost 65-52 to then-No. 7 Oklahoma State and 68-63 against then-No. 11 Texas last week in Norman to drop from fourth place to seventh in the Big 12 standings. At 6-6 in league play, the Sooners are one game behind Colorado, Missouri and Texas Tech with four contests remaining on the schedule. Prior to last week, OU had won 48 of its previous 50 home games. Back on the road for two games this week (it will play at Kansas on Sunday), Oklahoma will try to improve on its 3-3 conference away mark. It is 4-4 on the road overall this season.

Drew Lavender continues to pace the Sooners offensively. After earning Big 12 Rookie of the Week honors for scoring 31 points in a win at Texas A&M on Feb. 14, the freshman point guard scored a team-high 18 on Saturday against Texas. Lavender, whose 31 points against the Aggies were the most by an OU true freshman in 20 years (Tim McCalister scored 31 twice in 1983-84), leads the team in scoring (11.4 ppg), assists (3.8 apg), steals (1.5 spg), three-pointers (39) and minutes played (30.6 mpg). The Big 12 Preseason Freshman of the Year has made at least one trey in 21 of 23 games and has 10 three-point makes over the last three games.

Senior guard Jason Detrick has picked up his offense over the last three outings after going scoreless in a home win over Texas Tech on Feb. 11. Detrick is averaging 13.0 points and has made four of his 11 three-pointers of the season over the last three games. He now averages 10.7 points per game on the year to rank second on the squad and also contributes 1.5 assists and 1.5 steals per contest. Freshman guard Lawrence McKenzie has provided needed scoring punch recently, with the exception of a scoreless effort against Oklahoma State last Monday. Thanks largely to solid three-point shooting, McKenzie has scored in double figures in six of the last eight games. He is averaging 14.0 points and 3.0 three-pointers in the team's last five wins (he's 15-for-30 from beyond the arc in those five victories). McKenzie now averages 8.0 points per game on the year, 9.4 in Big 12 games.

Sophomore guard De'Angelo Alexander, who has battled a sprained ankle the last several games, has scored in double figures in five of the last six outings. Alexander averages 10.3 points and 4.8 rebounds per game to rank third on the team in both categories. He is also shooting a team-high .381 from beyond the arc and is 15-for-32 (.469) from long range over the last eight games. Another guard, junior Jaison Williams has seen his numbers fall of late following a productive first 13 games of the year. Coming off the bench in every game this season, the high-energy Williams has failed to score in the last three games and has not reached double figures in the last 10 outings since doing it six times in the first 13. He has played a total of 20 minutes over the last three games. Williams is now averaging 5.7 points, 2.9 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.5 steals. He is shooting a team-high .920 from the foul line and has made 27 three-pointers.

On the inside, the Sooners have had to stomach the loss of Kevin Bookout's 7.6 points and 5.5 boards per outing (he underwent shoulder surgery Feb. 5). Senior center Jabahri Brown tied a career high with 16 points against Oklahoma State last week but followed with no points versus Texas. He now averages 7.5 points, 5.3 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 1.2 steals and 1.0 block per game on the year. Junior forward Johnnie Gilbert has started the last nine games in place of Bookout and has averaged 5.2 points, 4.8 rebounds, 1.8 blocks and 1.2 steals in those contests. On the season, Gilbert is averaging 4.8 points, 4.0 boards and 1.5 rejections per game. Redshirt freshman center Larry Turner is also seeing more playing time and is averaging 4.5 points and 3.2 rebounds over the last 10 contests. Turner has also rejected 11 shots over the last five games.

ABOUT COLORADO
Picked to finish sixth in the preseason Big 12 media and coaches polls, Colorado is tied for fourth place with Missouri and Texas Tech at 7-5. The Buffaloes have won three of their last four games and five of their last seven after posting a 72-62 victory at Kansas State on Saturday. CU is 10-3 at home this season with losses to Utah (77-57), Richmond (75-62) and Kansas (77-62). The Buffs' average margin of victory in their home triumphs is 17.9 points.

All-Big 12 candidate David Harrison leads Colorado in scoring, rebounding and blocked shots with his 16.6, 8.6 and 2.7 respective averages. Harrison, a junior center, also leads the Big 12 in field goal percentage with a .610 mark. Senior guard/forward Michel Morandais ranks fourth in the league in scoring with a 16.4 average and also contributes 4.2 rebounds and a team-high 3.1 assists per game. He scored a team-high 21 points Saturday at Kansas State. Another senior guard/forward, Blair Wilson averages 12.2 points and a team-best 1.4 steals per game while shooting .392 from beyond the arc. Wilson ranks second in the conference with 2.6 treys per contest. Senior forward Lamar Harris averages 7.6 points, 8.6 boards and 1.3 blocks per game and shoots .545 from the field.

Colorado is shooting .461 from the field and owns .353 three-point and .639 free throw marks. Opponents have shot .407 from the field and .342 from beyond the arc. The Buffaloes outboard their foes by 3.0 per contest.

Head coach Ricardo Patton is 140-111 (.558) in his ninth year as a collegiate coach, all at Colorado.

SERIES WITH COLORADO
Oklahoma leads the overall series with Colorado, 83-45, but trails in Boulder, 28-26. The Sooners have won the series' last four games, and 41 of the last 44. Kelvin Sampson is 13-1 against the Buffaloes as OU's head coach and is 4-1 in Boulder. Sampson's only loss to CU came in the 1999-2000 season (88-80).

OU posted a 69-54 regular season win in Norman last year and followed with a 74-59 victory in Big 12 Tournament quarterfinal play in Dallas. In the first meeting, Ebi Ere scored 20 points and Hollis Price added 19 while the Sooner defense limited CU to .311 field goal and .154 three-point shooting. Jabahri Brown and Johnnie Gilbert each grabbed eight rebounds to lead OU. Michel Morandais was the only Buff in double figures with 18 points, despite 5-of-17 shooting.

In the rematch, Price and Quannas White teamed to go 8-for-11 from three-point distance and scored 19 each as Oklahoma won its seventh straight Big 12 Tournament game. Kevin Bookout had 13 points and seven rebounds in 14 minutes before fouling out. David Harrison led CU with 12 points and five rebounds.

A WIN OVER COLORADO WOULD...
Move Oklahoma into a sixth-place tie in the Big 12 standings.
Give the Sooners their 15th win against the Buffaloes in the last 16 meetings (and 42nd in the last 45).
Secure a non-losing Big 12 road record for the seventh straight season.

TEXAS RECAP
In one of Oklahoma's more entertaining games of the season, No. 11 Texas scored the final five points of the contest to walk away with a five-point 68-63 win Saturday in Norman. The Sooners led for the majority of the first half (by as many as five) and took a 33-32 halftime lead to the locker room. Texas scored the first four points of the second half before OU countered with a 13-4 run that resulted in a 46-40 lead with 12:43 remaining. A 15-2 Longhorns spurt put UT up by seven, though, 55-48, with 7:03 to go and cast a shadow on OU's chances. But conventional three-point plays by De'Angelo Alexander and Jason Detrick on consecutive possessions knotted the score at 63-63 with 51 seconds left. A foul on Oklahoma's Johnnie Gilbert with 38 seconds to go put Texas' Brandon Mouton on the line, where he converted the first attempt but missed the second. Jason Klotz corralled the offensive rebound, however, and P.J. Tucker made a layup with 26 seconds left to give the Horns a 66-63 lead they did not relinquish. Mouton finished with a game-high 25 points on 9-for-16 field goal and 4-for-9 three-point shooting for Texas while James Thomas and Tucker registered 12 and 11 rebounds, respectively. Drew Lavender led four Sooners in double figures with 18 points and was followed by Detrick's 14, Alexander's 12 and McKenzie's 10. Texas outrebounded the Sooners, 46-30.

TEXAS LEFTOVERS
Texas' win was its fourth consecutive against OU after the Sooners had run off eight straight in the series.
Oklahoma lost despite committing a season-low five turnovers (nine was its previous low).
OU's guards scored 54 of the team's 63 points (86 percent).
Texas outrebounded OU by 16 after posting a 15-rebound advantage in the season's previous meeting.

RIM RATTLERS
With Kevin Bookout undergoing shoulder surgery Feb. 5, OU is down to nine available players on its roster (four are freshmen).
Oklahoma committed a season-low five turnovers against Texas on Saturday (previous low was nine) and has averaged just 8.3 turnovers over the last three games.
The Sooners lead the Big 12 in turnover margin, averaging 4.7 fewer turnovers per game than their opponents. OU has committed more turnovers than its foe just four times in 23 games.
Senior center Jabahri Brown had no career three-point attempts prior to OU's Feb. 8 game at Texas. However, he is 3-for-4 over the last five games (was 2-for-2 Feb. 16 against OSU).
The Sooners are 57-for-132 (.432) from three-point range in their six Big 12 wins.
Oklahoma fell out of the AP top-25 poll two weeks ago for the first time since December 2001 (46 weeks). OU was ranked in the top 10 in 34 of the previous 45 polls.
OU has outrebounded just one opponent (Kansas State on Jan. 24) in its last 14 games.
True freshmen have led OU in scoring in 11 of 23 games. Drew Lavender has done it seven times and Lawrence McKenzie four times.
OU has made at least one three-point basket in 248 straight games dating back to the 1996-97 season.
Eight Sooners have scored at least 10 points in a game this season while a ninth, Larry Turner, has tallied nine twice. Seven players have scored at least 15 points in a game.

GUARDS LEADING THE WAY
Despite the fact that Oklahoma lost three starting guards from last year's team, the Sooners' top four scorers this season are all members of the backcourt. Drew Lavender paces the squad with 11.4 points per game and is followed by Jason Detrick (10.7), De'Angelo Alexander (10.3) and Lawrence McKenzie (8.0). OU's guards have scored 1,035 of its 1,532 points, or 68 percent. Against Texas on Saturday, Sooner guards scored 54 of the team's 63 points (86 percent).

OU'S YOUNG GUNS
Against Eastern Washington, Drew Lavender and Lawrence McKenzie became the third and fourth freshmen to start the first game of a season under 10th-year head coach Kelvin Sampson (the others were Kevin Bookout last year and guard Prince Fowler in 1994-95, Sampson's first OU campaign). Lavender and McKenzie now rank first and third on the team in scoring in Big 12 play by averaging 10.5 and 9.4 points a game, respectively (Jason Detrick also averages 10.5). No true freshman duo has ever led OU in scoring over an entire conference season. Lavender has scored in double figures a team-high 13 times while McKenzie has done it nine times. Lavender has led the team in scoring on seven occasions while McKenzie has done it four times.

BOARDED UP
Normally considered an Oklahoma strength, rebounding has been anything but this season especially lately. The Sooners have outrebounded just one opponent (Kansas State on Jan. 24) in their last 14 games and are being outboarded by 6.2 per Big 12 contest. On the year, opponents are grabbing 35.9 rebounds per game to OU's 34.6. The last time the Sooners were outrebounded for an entire season was in 1993-94 (Billy Tubbs' final season at OU).

LOVING “LAV”
Preseason Big 12 Freshman of the Year Drew Lavender has led OU in scoring seven times this season and has tallied at least 22 points on three occasions. 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. He also garnered Big 12 Rookie of the Week honors Feb. 17. Lavender leads the team by averaging 11.4 points, 3.8 assists and 1.5 steals per game. He has also made a team-high 39 three-pointers, an average of 1.7 a game. The last Oklahoma freshman to average 11.4 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).

SERVED ON A TREY
Oklahoma's three-point shooting has been a key factor in its Big 12 victories this year. OU has made at least eight treys in each of its six league wins (it has averaged 9.5 makes and shot .432). Freshman Lawrence McKenzie has 16 treys in those six games while sophomore De'Angelo Alexander has 13 and freshman Drew Lavender has 12 (he made six treys Feb. 14 at Texas A&M). Four Sooners have made at least 27 three-pointers on the year (39 by Lavender, 33 by McKenzie, 32 by Alexander and 27 by Jaison Williams).

MORE FROM THE LAND OF THREE
Sophomore De'Angelo Alexander became the fourth Sooner to make five three-pointers in a game this year when he went 5-for-7 against Iowa State on Feb. 4 (Drew Lavender since made six at Texas A&M). Jaison Williams was 5-for-9 against Texas-Pan American (Dec. 29), Drew Lavender was 5-for-8 at Connecticut (Jan. 11) and Lawrence McKenzie was 5-for-8 at Nebraska (Feb. 1). The last time four Sooners made at least five treys in a game in a season was in 1998-99 (Tim Heskett, Michael Johnson, Eric Martin and Eduardo Najera).

NOT AFRAID OF REJECTION
Through 23 games, the Sooners have registered 123 blocked shots, an average of 5.3 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 seventh in the Big 12 with his 1.5 blocks per game (total of 34) and has recorded two rejections in each of the last six outings. Freshman center Larry Turner has 23 blocked shots on the year while senior center Jabahri Brown has 22 (sophomore forward Kevin Bookout recorded 13 in his 13 games). Brown ranks sixth on the school's career list with 101 blocks while Gilbert ranks seventh with 98.

COMPARING WINS AND LOSSES
The Sooners' biggest downfalls in their seven losses have been shooting and rebounding. Below is a statistical comparison between OU's 16 wins and its seven defeats.

FG Percentage -- .437 in wins, .339 in losses
Opp. FG Percentage -- .386 in wins, .488 in losses
3FG Percentage -- .355 in wins, .279 in losses
Opp. 3FG Percentage -- .338 in wins, .405 in losses
Rebounding Margin -- +2.8 in wins, -10.9 in losses

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 367-63 (.853) inside the building since it opened for the 1975-76 campaign. The Sooners are 130-20 (.867) at home under 10th-year head coach Kelvin Sampson and have won 48 of their last 52. 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).

BOOKOUT'S SURGERY A SUCCESS
Kevin Bookout underwent successful right shoulder surgery Feb. 5 in Oklahoma City. Team physicians Brock Schnebel and Don McGinnis performed the two-hour shoulder reconstruction that corrected instability in the joint. Bookout, a 6-8, 265-pound sophomore forward who earned Big 12 All-Freshman Team honors last year when he led the league in field goal percentage (.587), was in a sling until this week. According to team medical personnel, standard recovery time for surgery of this nature is three to five months. Bookout played in 13 games this season and averaged 7.6 points, 5.5 rebounds and shot .516 from the field (his final game was at Texas Tech on Jan. 19). Last year he averaged 9.4 points and 5.9 rebounds per game. The Stroud native also earned All-America honors in the shot put last June. Bookout, who will redshirt in track and field this year, will have two seasons of basketball eligibility remaining and three in track. He hurt the shoulder the first week of basketball practice (on Oct. 21).

OU'S SCHEDULE NO PICNIC
By the time the regular season is over, Oklahoma will have played eight games against teams in this week's AP top 25 (two vs. No. 6 Oklahoma State, one vs. No. 8 Connecticut, two vs. No. 10 Texas, one vs. No. 20 Kansas and two vs. No. 25 Texas Tech). The Sooners also beat preseason AP No. 3 Michigan State and Purdue, and lost in overtime to preseason AP No. 5 Missouri.

LOW LEADER
Drew Lavender leads the team with his 11.4 points per game. The last time a Sooner averaged as few points as the team's season scoring leader was in 1960-61 when Warren Fouts averaged 11.1.

LIFT THE LID
The Sooners have struggled making shots this year and own a .407 overall season mark to rank last in the Big 12. The last OU team to shoot less than .407 for an entire season was the 1963-64 squad (it shot .398). Larry Turner (.519), Kevin Bookout (.516) and Johnnie Gilbert (.500) are the only Sooners with a field goal percentage at or above .500 this year. The Missouri and Baylor games marked the only times this season OU shot .500 or better.

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 23 games, the group has accounted for 606 of OU's 1,532 points (40 percent), 167 of its 298 assists (56 percent) and 101 of its 148 three-pointers (68 percent). Redshirt freshman center Larry Turner has also seen action in 22 games and scored a career-high nine points against both Prairie View A&M and Texas Tech (Jan. 19). Five of OU's 11 roster players are freshmen (walk-on Kellen Sampson is the fifth) while seven are freshmen or sophomores.

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 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. Opponents are scoring 61.0 points per game this season.
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 .723 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.

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).

UNDER KELVIN SAMPSON...
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 posted an 86-38 (.694) regular season Big 12 Conference record.
OU has recorded a 130-20 (.867) record at Lloyd Noble Center and has won 48 of its last 52 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.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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