No. 5 Sooners at Tulsa Wednesday

GAME INFORMATION
Ranked No. 5 in both the AP and ESPN/USA Today polls, Oklahoma plays its first road game of the year at Tulsa (1-2) Wednesday at 7 p.m. CST. The contest will air on the Sooner Radio Network (flagship KRXO107.7 FM in Oklahoma City) with Bob Barry Sr. (play-by-play) and Mike Houck (analyst) announcing. The game will be televised by the Sooner Sports Network (KWTV 9/Cox Cable 10 in OKC and KWBT 19/Cox Cable 12 in Tulsa) with Bob Carpenter (play-by-play) and Charlie Spoonhour (analyst) calling the action.

OKLAHOMA UPDATE
The Sooners' 81-59 defeat of Belmont Saturday marked their 42nd straight non-conference home victory. OU held the Bruins, who were shooting .606 from the field and .619 from 3-point range entering the contest, to .390 field goal and .375 3-point marks. Belmont was averaging 13.0 made treys per game but was held to 6-for-16 from beyond the arc in Norman. Oklahoma dominated the glass for the third time in three games, 52-30. It was the most rebounds for the Sooners since March 8, 2002 (a span of 108 games). On the season, OU is more than doubling its opponents on the boards (44.7 per game to 22.0).

Game Notes PDF | Schedule | Stats | Gameday Central

Saturday's game featured a balanced Oklahoma scoring attack with Terrell Everett's 17 points leading the way. The senior guard also contributed a career-high-tying nine assists and four steals. Senior forward Taj Gray netted 15 points while pulling down 14 rebounds and rejecting three shots. Michael Neal came off the bench to record his third double-digit scoring game with 14 points. The junior guard was 3-for-8 from the 3-point line and 3-for-3 at the free throw line. Sophomore guard David Godbold scored 12 points while senior forward Kevin Bookout added 11 points and six boards.

OU's free throw performance (23-for-30) was its third straight above .750.

SATURDAY'S LEFTOVERS
OU outrebounded Belmont 30-9 in the second half.
The Sooners used a 14-0 run to take a 26-point lead (61-35) with 12:07 remaining.
Taj Gray's double-double was his first of the year. He ranked second in the Big 12 last year with 12.
Freshman Taylor Griffin pulled down eight rebounds in only 16 minutes of action off the bench.
Justin Hare, who averaged 24.0 points entering the game for Belmont, was held to just seven.

SOONER TIP INS
Michael Neal leads the Big 12 in 3-point field goals made per game (4.0) and ranks fifth in 3-point field goal percentage (.444).
Through three games, four Sooners have led OU in scoring (15 points by Michael Neal vs. Samford, 14 by Neal, David Godbold and Taj Gray vs. Binghamton and 17 by Terrell Everett vs. Belmont).
OU has outrebounded its opponents by no fewer than 18 in each game this year.
Terrell Everett is averaging 13.0 points, 8.5 assists and 2.5 steals over the last two games while Taj Gray is averaging 14.5 points, 11.0 boards and 3.5 blocks.
Freshman Taylor Griffin is averaging 6.3 rebounds in 13.0 minutes per game. Pro-rated to 40-minute games, his rebounding average is 19.5.
Longar Longar, who shot .806 (29-for-36) from the field last year as a freshman, is 5-for-5 this season.
OU ranks first in the Big 12 with a +22.7 rebounding margin (Texas ranks second at +14.8).
Taj Gray leads the league in blocks per game (2.7), Terrell Everett ranks second in assists (7.3) and Nate Carter ranks second in free throw percentage (.867).
The Sooners have won 68 of their last 73 games at Lloyd Noble Center.
Taj Gray is on preseason watch lists for both the John R. Wooden Award and the Naismith Trophy player-of-the-year awards.

ABOUT TULSA
In its first year under rookie head coach Doug Wojcik and its first season as a member of Conference USA, Tulsa enters Wednesday's game with a 1-2 record. The Golden Hurricane notched its first win of the year Saturday (73-67 at home over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi) after losing at home to Stephen F. Austin (82-72) and on the road to Cal State Northridge (77-71). Tulsa, which returns just five letterwinners from last season's 9-20 squad, is averaging 72.0 points per game (opponents average 75.3) and 37.0 rebounds (opponents average 30.3). TU is shooting .483 from the field, .321 from 3-point territory and .633 from the free throw line.

Senior forward Anthony Price, who had a team-high 19 points and six rebounds last year against OU, is averaging a squad-best 13.7 points and 5.0 boards through three games. Junior forward Charles Ramsdell averages 13.3 points and team highs in rebounds (8.7) and blocked shots (2.0) in a team-high 35.7 minutes per outing. The 6-10, 212-pounder is shooting .600 from the field and is 4-for-10 from 3-point range. Junior college transfer guard Darold Crow has contributed 10.3 points and 3.0 rebounds per game while sophomore guard Deion James averages 9.7 points, 5.7 rebounds and a team-high 4.7 assists. Freshman Ray Reese, who started Saturday after coming off the bench the first two games, adds 9.3 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists. He has made a team-high five 3-pointers on 10 attempts.

Wojcik spent the last two seasons at Michigan State as an assistant coach and the three before that at North Carolina. He also spent one season (1999-00) at Notre Dame and nine at Navy (his alma mater) as an assistant. As Navy's starting point guard from the 1983-84 through 1985-86 seasons, Navy posted an 82-17 record.

SERIES WITH TULSA
Oklahoma holds a 24-11 series lead over Tulsa and is 3-1 against the Golden Hurricane under head coach Kelvin Sampson. This marks OU's first game at Tulsa since Jan. 9, 1985 104-89 TU victory. The Sooners are 6-5 all-time against TU in Tulsa.

OU has beaten Tulsa each of the past two years. Two seasons ago in Norman, the Sooners posted an 81-73 win in Norman in their third game of the year. On Dec. 28 of last season, Oklahoma held on for a 70-64 win in the All-College Classic in Oklahoma City as Jaison Williams made five 3-pointers and finished with a career-high 21 points. Terrell Everett registered 15 points, five assists and a career-high five steals while Kevin Bookout and Taj Gray scored 10 points each. Bookout also pulled down a game-high 13 rebounds. Anthony Price paced Tulsa with 19 points and six boards.

VILLANOVA ON THE HORIZON
After Wednesday's Tulsa tilt, the Sooners will focus their sights on Villanova, the nation's fourth-ranked team in both polls, in one of the year's marquee non-conference games. It will mark the second meeting between OU and the Wildcats with the Sooners winning a 1988 NCAA Tournament Elite Eight game in Birmingham, Ala., 78-59. Current Villanova head coach Jay Wright was a Wildcats assistant coach that year. Villanova will be the Sooners' highest ranked opponent since they lost at No. 1 Connecticut, 86-59, on Jan. 11, 2004. Saturday's game will be televised by ESPN (Dan Shulman, Dick Vitale and Doris Burke will announce).

WINDOW WIPERS
Cleaning the glass has been one of OU's greatest strengths so far this season. The Sooners have outrebounded Samford, Binghamton and Belmont by 28, 18 and 22 rebounds, respectively. That's good for a 44.7-22.0 season average. OU is also averaging 18.0 offensive boards to their opponents' 6.0. Senior Taj Gray (8.7) leads six Sooners who are averaging at least 4.0 rebounds per contest. Freshman Taylor Griffin ranks second on the squad with his 6.3 rebounds per game despite averaging 13.0 minutes.

SOONERS STAY AT NO. 5 IN POLLS
Oklahoma maintained its No. 5 position in both major polls this week. It is the highest ranking for the Sooners in the AP version since the final poll of the 2002-03 season when they were No. 3. That OU team, led by seniors Ebi Ere, Hollis Price and Quannas White, finished 27-7 overall, won the Big 12 Tournament, earned a No. 1 NCAA Tournament seed and advanced to the Elite Eight where it lost to eventual national champion Syracuse.

The Sooners' highest AP ranking under Sampson is No. 3 (they've acquired the ranking four times).

BOOKOUT CHASING TISDALE
With a 4-for-8 field goal performance Saturday, Kevin Bookout fell behind OU great Wayman Tisdale in a quest to become the school's career field goal percentage record holder. Bookout, a 6-8, 270-pound senior, is 12-for-21 from the field this year and owns a career mark of .5781, barely trailing Wayman Tisdale's .5784 figure that ranks No. 1 in school annals. Bookout, who has started 81 of his 82 games at OU (he yielded as a freshman on Senior Day), shot .587 from the field as a frosh, .516 in 13 games as a sophomore and .592 last year as a junior. Tisdale, regarded as the best player in school history, played the 1982-83 through 1984-85 seasons and was an All-American all three years. He holds six OU career records, including points (2,661), points per game (25.6) and rebounds (1,048).

RECRUITING HAUL
Kelvin Sampson announced the signing of five prep players on Nov. 9, a recruiting class that ranks as the nation's fourth best by Rivals.com and fifth best by Scout.com. Joining the Sooners as freshmen in 2006-07 will be Keith Clark (Oklahoma City/Putnam City HS), Tony Crocker (San Antonio, Texas/The Patterson School [N.C.], Damion James (Nacogdoches, Texas/Nacodoches HS), Jeremy Mayfield (Irving, Texas/Gulf Shores Academy [Houston]) and Scottie Reynolds (Herndon, Va./Herndon HS).

“This is as good a class as we've had since I've been here,” said Sampson, who is in his 12th year at OU. “Sure, all five players are rated high, but just as important is the fact that they're high-character kids. They love to play basketball and they're fun to be around. Our staff is very, very happy with this class.”

Keith Clark (F, 6-8, 220, Oklahoma City, Okla.)
Ranked No. 43 in nation by Hoopmasters

Tony Crocker (G, 6-5, 180, San Antonio, Texas)
Ranked No. 6 post grad prep by Scout.com

Damion James (F, 6-8, 225, Nacogdoches, Texas)
Ranked No. 16 in nation by Rivals.com

Jeremy Mayfield (F/C, 6-10, 234, Irving, Texas)
Ranked No. 4 post grad prep by Scout.com

Scottie Reynolds (G, 6-0, 170, Herndon, Va.)
Ranked No. 31 in nation by Scout.com

WELCOME BACK
The Sooners return their top three scorers and rebounders from last season in seniors Taj Gray (14.6 points, 8.2 rebounds), Terrell Everett (12.5, 4.8) and Kevin Bookout (11.5, 6.6). The last time OU returned its top three scorers from the previous year was in 1986-87 when Darryl Kennedy (21.0 ppg), Tim McCalister (18.2) and David Johnson (14.3) all averaged double figures as juniors in 1985-86. Everett is also the Big 12's leading returning assists man (he averaged 5.0 per game) and ranked sixth last year in steals (1.7). Gray is the league's leading returner in blocked shots (1.8).

OU BOASTS NATION'S LONGEST POSTSEASON STREAK
Oklahoma has made 24 consecutive postseason appearances (19 NCAA and five NIT), good for the longest current streak among Division I programs. The last time OU did not compete in the postseason was in 1980-81. The Sooners have competed in the NCAA Tournament 10 times in the last 11 seasons.

EIGHT STRAIGHT 20-WIN SEASONS
With a 25-8 record last year, Kelvin Sampson has now coached OU to eight consecutive 20-win seasons. Only seven other coaches have posted 20 victories each of the last eight years: Lute Olson (15 straight seasons), Tubby Smith (12), Mike Krzyzewski (9), Skip Prosser (9), Jim Boeheim (8), Jim Calhoun (8) and Eddie Sutton (8).

BACK TO BACK?
Oklahoma, co-Big 12 champs last year with Kansas, will attempt to earn back-to-back regular season conference titles for the fourth time in school history. The Sooners won the 1928 Missouri Valley Conference crown and followed by claiming the 1929 Big Six title. Under head coach Billy Tubbs, OU won Big Eight championships in 1984, '85, '88 and '89.

VETERAN STAFF
Kelvin Sampson has compiled a staff that has a wealth of collegiate head coaching experience 68 years to be exact. Sampson has been a head coach for 22 seasons, while assistants Bob Hoffman and Ray McCallum have spent 17 and 11 years, respectively, guiding college programs. Jerry Green, the program's new director of basketball operations, returned to college basketball after four years of retirement. Green has 18 years of head coaching experience at UNC Asheville, Oregon and Tennessee.

LOOKING TO JOIN THE CLUB
Kevin Bookout (817 career points) and Taj Gray (518) have an excellent chance of increasing OU's 1,000-point club to 35 members. Bookout would have to average 6.1 points from here on out over a 33-game schedule (the number of games OU played last year) to reach 1,000 points while Gray would have to average 16.1 points.

BIG 12 KING
Kelvin Sampson has amassed 100 regular season Big 12 victories, most in league history. He is 100-44 (.695) in conference play since the formation of the Big 12 in 1996-97. Sampson also holds the Big 12 record for most combined regular season and conference tournament wins (he is 117-50) and holds the mark for most overall wins by a conference coach since the Big 12 was formed (he is 221-77).

BREAKING 80
The Sooners have been tough to beat under Kelvin Sampson when they score at least 80 points. During the 12-year Sampson era, Oklahoma is 126-13 (.906) when reaching the 80-point plateau. OU has won 43 of its last 46 (.935) and 59 of its last 63 (.937) when scoring 80 or more.

UNDER KELVIN SAMPSON...
OU shared the 2005 Big 12 regular season title with Kansas (the Sooners won the only head-to-head meeting).
OU has made 11 straight postseason showings (10 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 a 100-44 (.694) regular season Big 12 Conference record.
OU has recorded a 150-21 (.877) record at Lloyd Noble Center and has won 68 of its last 73 home games.
OU has won at least 20 games each of the last eight years.
OU has averaged 26 victories over the past six seasons.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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