Men's Basketball Gears Up for No. 11 Texas on Sunday

GAME INFORMATION
Ranked No. 22 in this week's AP and ESPN/USA Today polls, Oklahoma (14-4 overall, 4-3 Big 12) goes for its fifth straight league win when it plays at No. 11/14 Texas (15-3, 6-1) on Sunday at noon CST inside Austin's Frank Erwin Center. 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. It will be televised nationally (split to 67 percent of the country) by CBS (KWTV Ch. 9/Cox Cable 10 in OKC) with Dick Enberg (play-by-play) and Clark Kellogg (analyst) announcing.

OKLAHOMA PROJECTED STARTERS
F 32 Johnnie Gilbert (6-8, 265, Jr., 4.6 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 0.4 apg)
C 21 Jabahri Brown (6-10, 220, Sr., 8.1 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 1.6 apg)
G 1   Lawrence McKenzie (6-2, 170, Fr., 8.3 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 1.4 apg)
G 3   Drew Lavender (5-7, 155, Fr., 10.6 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 3.8 apg)
G 5   Jason Detrick (6-6, 215, Sr., 11.0 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 1.6 apg)

TEXAS PROJECTED STARTERS
F 22 Brad Buckman (6-8, 235, So., 7.3 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 0.7 apg)
C 0 James Thomas (6-8, 235, Sr., 6.3 ppg, 6.1 rpg, 0.3 apg)
G 3 Brandon Mouton (6-4, 205, Sr., 12.1 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 1.3 apg)
G 12 Kenton Paulino (6-1, 170, So., 5.7 ppg, 1.4 rpg, 1.6 apg)
G 24 Royal Ivey (6-3, 200, Sr., 10.4 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 4.1 apg)

OKLAHOMA UPDATE
Following a four-game losing streak that saw Oklahoma flirt with dropping out of the AP poll for the first time in 44 weeks, the Sooners have bounced back with four straight victories the most recent a dominating 75-48 home win over Iowa State on Wednesday. OU has also beaten Kansas State (61-49) at home and Baylor (78-67) and Nebraska (52-50) on the road during the four-game streak. Three-point shooting and defense have been consistents for the Sooners lately as they are averaging 9.0 three-point makes and holding foes to an average of 53.5 points per game over the last four outings. All four wins have come after sophomore forward Kevin Bookout announced his election to undergo season-ending shoulder surgery, which was successfully completed on Thursday.

The production of freshman guard Lawrence McKenzie has been a huge boost for an Oklahoma team that struggled offensively during its four-game January swoon. Over the last three games McKenzie is averaging 15.0 points and is 11-for-20 (.550) from beyond the arc. At Nebraska on Sunday, he scored 18 points, grabbed a career-high 10 rebounds and made treys on OU's first three possessions of the game. McKenzie, who now averages 8.3 points and 2.5 rebounds per game on the season, followed with a 16-point effort Wednesday in the win over Iowa State. Senior guard Jason Detrick has also been key to OU's resurgence with a 14.5 scoring average during the current winning streak. Included were games of 24 (Kansas State) and 15 (Baylor and Iowa State) points. He now averages 11.0 points, 3.1 rebounds and 1.6 steals per game. Point guard Drew Lavender ranks second on the team with his 10.6 points per game and 26 treys, and leads with 3.8 assists per outing. The Preseason Big 12 Freshman of the Year has made at least one trey in 16 of 18 games but did not score in 15 minutes of action against Iowa State (he was ill Tuesday and did not practice).

Sophomore wing De'Angelo Alexander had a breakout performance against the Cyclones with a game-high 17 points on 5-for-7 three-point shooting. The five treys were a career high. Alexander, who has come off the bench the last four games after starting the first 14, had gone seven straight games without scoring in double figures prior to Wednesday. He has battled shoulder problems all year but still ranks third in scoring and rebounding with his 10.4 and 4.8 season averages. Another guard, junior Jaison Williams has been extremely valuable this season. Coming off the bench in each game, the high-energy Williams is averaging 6.9 points, 3.5 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.6 steals. He is shooting a team-high .920 from the foul line and has made 26 three-pointers. Williams had a career-high seven assists and three steals against Iowa State.

On the inside, the Sooners have stomached the loss of Bookout's 7.6 points and 5.5 boards per outing rather well. Senior center Jabahri Brown has played consistently the last six games and has averaged 10.5 points, 5.7 rebounds and 1.8 steals during the stretch. He averages 8.1 points and a team-high 5.5 rebounds per game on the season. Junior forward Johnnie Gilbert replaced Bookout as a starter the last four games and has averaged 5.0 points, 4.8 rebounds, 1.5 blocks and 1.0 steal in those contests. Gilbert is averaging 4.6 points, 3.8 boards and 1.3 rejections per game. Redshirt freshman center Larry Turner is also seeing more playing time and is averaging 5.4 points and 3.2 rebounds over the last five contests.

ABOUT TEXAS
Picked second in the Big 12 preseason coaches poll and third in the media version, No. 11 Texas has won three straight since losing at home to Oklahoma State (72-67) on Jan. 24. The Longhorns are 11-1 on their home floor this season and have beaten Baylor (home), Nebraska (home), Missouri (road), Texas Tech (road), Texas A&M (road) and Colorado (home) in league play. Besides the OSU defeat, they have also lost to Arizona and Duke (both games at Madison Square Garden). Texas is coming off a 76-63 win over Colorado in which it made 11 three-pointers and turned the ball over just seven times.

Senior guard Brandon Mouton leads the Horns with his 12.1 points per game and also averages 3.1 rebounds. Mouton has 23 three-pointers on the year and ranks sixth on the school's all-time list with 170. Freshman forward P.J. Tucker, who has come off the bench in 10 of 18 games, ranks second with 11.7 points per outing and first with 6.6 boards per game. Tucker is also shooting a team-high .582 from the field and has attempted a team-high-tying 72 free throws. Senior guard Royal Ivey averages 10.4 points, 4.2 rebounds and team highs in assists (4.1) and steals (1.8). Like Tucker, Ivey has attempted 72 foul shots. Senior forward Brian Boddicker comes off the bench to supply 9.8 points, 5.2 rebounds and 1.5 three-pointers per contest. He is shooting .435 from beyond the arc. Another reserve, junior guard and Baylor transfer Kenny Taylor averages 7.5 points and 1.9 treys per game.

Texas is shooting .449 from the field and owns .372 three-point and .675 free throw marks. Opponents have shot .406 from the field and .330 from beyond the arc. The Horns outrebound their foes by 8.7 per contest.

Head coach Rick Barnes is 131-53 (.712) in his sixth year at Texas and 333-187 (.640) in his 17th season overall. Barnes also coached at Clemson, Providence and George Mason. Like Kelvin Sampson, he is a North Carolina native.

SERIES WITH TEXAS
Oklahoma leads the overall series with Texas, 42-18, and holds a 15-10 advantage in Austin. Kelvin Sampson is 15-5 against the Longhorns as OU's head coach and is 5-3 at the Erwin Center. The Sooners have won eight of the series' last 10 games and 24 of the last 30 despite UT's two-game sweep last year. In Austin last February, No. 6 Texas posted a 67-61 victory over No. 5 OU behind 14 points each from Royal Ivey and Brandon Mouton. Hollis Price scored 23 for the Sooners while Kevin Bookout added 12. Texas outrebounded OU 42-34. In Norman in the regular season finale, the Longhorns snapped the Sooners' Big 12-record 37-game home court winning streak, 76-71. T.J. Ford scored 18 points to help No. 4 UT overcome a 15-point second-half deficit and tally the game's final 11 points. In his last home game, Hollis Price scored 22 points for the No. 5 Sooners.

A WIN OVER TEXAS WOULD...
Improve OU's Big 12 record to 5-3 after starting 0-3.
Give OU nine wins in its last 11 games against Texas and 25 in its last 31. It would improve Kelvin Sampson's record against Texas to 16-5 and make him 6-3 in Austin.
Give OU a 44-10 record in its last 54 games against Big 12 teams (including postseason play).

IOWA STATE RECAP
In their most dominant league game of the year, Oklahoma made a season-high 12 three-pointers, committed a season-low nine turnovers and held Iowa State to .340 field goal shooting in a 75-48 triumph in Norman on Wednesday. De'Angelo Alexander led four Sooners in double figures in scoring with a game-high 17 points, his first double-digit output since scoring a career-high 22 points against Princeton on Jan. 3. Alexander made a career-high five treys on seven attempts and also registered four rebounds and two assists. Fellow guards Lawrence McKenzie and Jason Detrick scored 16 and 15 points, while center Jabahri Brown added 11 points, five boards, two blocks and three steals. Johnnie Gilbert matched a career high with 10 rebounds while Jaison Williams established a career best with seven assists. Ahead 20-17 with 6:13 left in the first half, OU held the Cyclones scoreless the rest of the period and took a 31-17 lead at the break. ISU closed to within nine with 16:24 left in the game, 36-27, but the Sooners finished the contest with a 39-21 scoring advantage. OU's largest lead was 30 points (69-39). Curtis Stinson led Iowa State with 13 points while Jackson Vroman pulled down a game-high 15 rebounds. The loss was the Cyclones' 20th straight on the road in league play.

IOWA STATE LEFTOVERS
De'Angelo Alexander became the fourth Sooner this season to make five three-pointers in a game.
Guards Alexander (17), Lawrence McKenzie (16) and Jason Detrick (15) totaled 48 points against ISU with the help of combined 10-for-18 three-point shooting (.556).
Drew Lavender was held scoreless for the first time this year. The freshman point guard missed practice on Tuesday due to illness and played just 15 minutes against the Cyclones.
The win was Oklahoma's 47th in its last 49 home games.

BOOKOUT'S SURGERY A SUCCESS
Kevin Bookout underwent successful right shoulder surgery Thursday afternoon 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), will be in a sling for three weeks. 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 during basketball practice on Oct. 21.

SAMPSON'S SUCCESS VS. STATE OF TEXAS
Oklahoma owns an impressive 74-12 (.860) record against teams from the state of Texas under Kelvin Sampson. Against Big 12 foes Baylor (17-0), Texas (15-5), Texas A&M (14-1) and Texas Tech (12-6), OU is 58-12 (.829) under Sampson.

SERVED ON A TREY
Oklahoma has shot extremely well from three-point range over the last four games and it's probably no coincidence that the Sooners have posted victories in all four. OU has made at least eight treys in each of the last four outings (averaging 9.0 makes) and is shooting .414 during the stretch (the team owned a .310 season mark prior to the three-game winning streak). Freshman Lawrence McKenzie is 12-for-24 (.500) over the last four games while sophomore De'Angelo Alexander is 9-for-17 (.529).

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 Wednesday. 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 against Nebraska (Feb. 1). The last time four Sooners made five three-pointers in a game in a season was in 1998-99 when Tim Heskett, Michael Johnson, Eric Martin and Eduardo Najera accomplished the feat.

DURING ITS FOUR-GAME WINNING STREAK...
OU has held opponents to .389 field goal shooting and an average of 53.5 points per contest.
OU has made 14 more three-pointers than its foes (36-22) and is averaging 12.0 turnovers per outing compared to its opponents 16.8 average.
OU has registered 10 more blocked shots (22-12) and 17 more steals (36-19) than its opponents.

IT'S THAT TIME OF YEAR
Kelvin Sampson's Oklahoma teams have been known to peak in the latter portion of the regular season in his previous nine campaigns. With its win over Iowa State on Wednesday, OU improved to 37-10 (.787) in February and March regular season games since 1998-99.

BALANCED ATTACK
In OU's 78-67 win at Baylor last Wednesday, eight of the nine Sooners who saw action scored. What makes the feat interesting is that all eight scored at least eight points. It marked the first time since the first game of the 1995-96 season (Kelvin Sampson's second year as OU head coach) that eight players scored at least eight points in a contest. On the season, seven Sooners average between 6.9 and 11.0 points per game. Eight players have scored at least 10 points in a game this year and seven have scored at least 15.

COMPARING WINS AND LOSSES
The Sooners' biggest downfalls in their four losses have been shooting, rebounding and turnovers. Below is a statistical comparison between OU's 14 wins and its four January losses.

FG Percentage -- .434 in wins, .358 in losses
Opp. FG Percentage -- .382 in wins, .521 in losses
Rebounding Margin -- +4.3 in wins, -9.5 in losses
Turnovers Per Game -- 13.1 in wins, 17.5 in losses

BIG 12 DOMINANCE
Oklahoma had more than its fair share of success against Big 12 opponents the last couple of seasons by winning 43 of its last 53 games (.811) against conference competition (including postseason play). Aiding that record is a 9-0 Big 12 Tournament mark over the last three years.

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 366-61 (.857) inside the building since it opened for the 1975-76 campaign. The Sooners are 129-18 (.878) at home under 10th-year head coach Kelvin Sampson and have won 47 of their last 49. 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).

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 (one vs. No. 5 Connecticut, two vs. No. 11 Texas, two vs. No. 13 Oklahoma State, two vs. No. 19 Texas Tech and one vs. No. 20 Kansas). The Sooners also beat preseason AP No. 3 Michigan State and Purdue (No. 21 last week) and lost in overtime to preseason AP No. 5 Missouri.

LOW LEADER
Jason Detrick leads the team with his 11.0 points per game. The last time a Sooner averaged fewer points per game as the team's season scoring leader was in 1959-60 when Warren Fouts averaged 10.4.

LIFT THE LID
The Sooners have struggled making shots this year and own a .417 overall season mark to rank last in the Big 12. The last OU team to shoot less than .417 for an entire season was the 1963-64 squad (it shot .398). Larry Turner (.538) and Kevin Bookout (.516) 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.

NOT AFRAID OF REJECTION
Through 18 games, the Sooners have registered 92 blocked shots, an average of 5.1 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 10th in the Big 12 with his 1.3 blocks per game (total of 24). Senior center Jabahri Brown has 18 blocks this year while sophomore forward Kevin Bookout recorded 13 in 13 games. Brown ranks sixth on the school's career list with 99 blocks while Gilbert ranks eighth with 88.

LOVING LAV
Preseason Big 12 Freshman of the Year Drew Lavender has led OU in scoring five times this season with 14-, 13-, 23-, 22-, and 15-point efforts against Purdue, Prairie View A&M, Jackson State, Connecticut and Oklahoma 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. Lavender, who hit the game-winning shot with 1.1 seconds left to give OU a 47-45 victory over Purdue, is averaging 10.6 points, 3.8 assists and 1.6 steals per game. He has also made 26 three-pointers, an average of 1.4 a game. The last Oklahoma freshman to average 10.6 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).

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 18 games, the group has accounted for 484 of OU's 1,239 points (39 percent), 131 of its 237 assists (55 percent) and 82 of its 115 three-pointers (71 percent). Redshirt freshman center Larry Turner has also seen action in 17 games and scored a career-high nine points against both Prairie View A&M and Texas Tech. 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 represent the most by a freshman during the Sampson era while McKenzie's 19 points versus Oral Roberts Nov. 22 stand as the sixth most by an OU frosh under Sampson.

AP POLL A FAMILIAR PLACE
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 reappeared in the top 10 in the season's fifth poll and stayed there for four weeks before dropping to 11 on Jan. 12. The Sooners, No. 22 this week, have now been ranked in the last 45 AP polls and in 78 of the last 82. Kelvin Sampson's teams were ranked No. 3 in the past two seasons' final AP polls.

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 60.2 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 .728 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 (26). The last time OU did not compete in the postseason was in 1980-81.

UNDER KELVIN SAMPSON...
OU has a 125-30 record the last four-plus years for the NCAA's third-best winning percentage (.806).
OU has posted an 84-35 (.706) regular season 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 129-18 (.878) record at Lloyd Noble Center and has won 47 of its last 49 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

Men's Basketball Gears Up for No. 11 Texas on Sunday

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