OU Plays West Virginia in OKC Wednesday

GAME INFORMATION
Ranked No. 7 in the AP poll and No. 8 in the ESPN/USA Today version, Oklahoma (6-1) faces unranked West Virginia (6-3) on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. CST at the Ford Center in Oklahoma City. Played as part of the O'Reilly All-College Classic, the game will follow the 5 p.m. Oklahoma State-Tennessee matchup. The OU-West Virginia contest 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. The game will be televised by ESPN2 (Cox 28 in OKC and Cox 26 in Tulsa) with Brad Nessler (play-by-play) and Fran Fraschilla (analyst) announcing.

OKLAHOMA UPDATE
The Sooners have won two straight since an 85-74 defeat at then-No. 4 Villanova on Dec. 3. In its last game, Oklahoma overcame poor shooting with solid defense and strong rebounding in a 68-54 win over Southern on Saturday. OU shot a season-low .381 from the field and .577 from the free throw line while turning in its second worst performance from 3-point range (.208). But Southern managed to shoot just .353 against the stingy OU defense and the Sooners controlled the boards 47-34. Oklahoma's 27 offensive rebounds were its third most of the 12-year Kelvin Sampson era. OU also committed a season-low 10 turnovers.

Game Notes PDF | Season Stats

Preseason Big 12 Player of the Year Taj Gray tied season highs with 22 points and 14 rebounds against Southern and is averaging 20.7 points and 8.7 rebounds over the last three outings while shooting .710 from the field. Kevin Bookout added 16 points and seven boards on Saturday and, like Gray, has turned in solid numbers the last three games (averaging 16.7 points and shooting .741 during the span). Dating back to the Nov. 30 Tulsa game, Bookout has made 22 of his last 29 field goal attempts.

Terrell Everett rebounded from his first scoreless game as a Sooner to record 10 points and six assists against Southern. He ranks second in the Big 12 with his 6.3 assists per game and has led OU in the category in 30 of his 40 career games. Michael Neal made his first career start on Saturday and contributed nine points on three 3-pointers. He ranks second in the league by averaging 3.0 treys per contest.

WEST VIRGINIA PROJECTED STARTERS
F 20 Mike Gansey (6-4, 205, Sr., 19.8 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 1.9 apg)
F 21 Frank Young (6-5, 220, Jr., 7.7 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 2.1 apg)
C 34 Kevin Pittsnogle (6-11, 250, Sr., 18.1 ppg, 6.1 rpg, 1.3 apg)
G 1 J.D. Collins (5-10, 180, Sr., 4.7 ppg, 1.0 rpg, 3.4 apg)
G 5 Joe Herber (6-6, 215, Sr., 8.2 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 6.4 apg)

OKLAHOMA PROJECTED STARTERS
F 21 Taj Gray (6-9, 238, Sr., 14.7 ppg, 7.7 rpg, 0.4 apg)
F 34 Kevin Bookout (6-8, 270, Sr., 12.7 ppg, 6.9 rpg, 0.0 apg)
G 2 Michael Neal (6-3, 191, Jr., 11.4 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 2.4 apg)
G 3 Terrell Everett (6-4, 188, Sr., 11.4 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 6.3 apg)
G 15 David Godbold (6-5, 217, So., 5.9 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 1.6 apg)

SATURDAY'S LEFTOVERS
Southern's .353 field goal percentage was an OU opponent low for the season.
Taj Gray and Kevin Bookout were a combined 14-for-21 from the field (.667) while the rest of the team was 10-for-42 (.238).
Guard Michael Neal struggled from the field in his first career start (he was 3-for-16), but contributed four rebounds, two assists and two steals with no turnovers in 33 minutes of action.
OU's 27 offensive rebounds were its most since securing 27 against Prairie View A&M on Nov. 30, 2002 (a span of 100 games).

ABOUT WEST VIRGINIA
Big East Conference member West Virginia returns four starters from a 2004-05 team that finished 24-11, advanced to the Big East Tournament title game and lost in overtime in the NCAA Tournament Elite Eight to Louisville. The Mountaineers, who were ranked No. 14 in this year's initial AP Top 25 poll, enter Thursday's game with a 6-3 record. Two of their losses came by a combined four points (76-75 versus Texas and 71-68 versus LSU in overtime). Another defeat came at the hands of Kentucky, 80-66. West Virginia has made 101 3-pointers on the year (average of 11.2 per game to rank No. 2 nationally) and commits just 9.7 turnovers (No. 2 nationally) and 11.4 fouls per game (No. 1 nationally).

The Mountaineers' top four scorers are seniors. Forward Mike Gansey leads the squad in scoring (19.8), field goal percentage (.612), 3-point percentage (.490), rebounding (6.3), steals (2.7) and 3-pointers (2.7). Center Kevin Pittsnogle, who stands 6-11, averages 18.1 points and 6.1 rebounds while shooting .426 from 3-point range and .844 from the foul line. Pittsnogle (21) and Gansey (20) combined for 41 points in West Virginia's last game against Duquesne on Dec. 10. Guard Patrick Beilein, who has come off the bench in all nine games, contributes 8.9 points and 2.3 treys per outing. Another guard, Joe Herber averages 8.2 points, 4.1 rebounds and 6.4 assists per contest.

John Beilein is in his fourth year as West Virginia's head coach and owns a 61-43 (.587) record. He is in his 28th year as a collegiate head coach and holds a 508-301 (.628) career mark.

SERIES WITH WEST VIRGINIA
Oklahoma and West Virginia have never met in men's basketball.

OU IN THE ALL-COLLEGE
This year's All-College Classic marks the 30th such event for Oklahoma and the 23rd straight. The Sooners own a 49-11 all-time record in All-College events and have claimed 18 championships. OU is 16-2 with five titles under head coach Kelvin Sampson and has won its last 12 games in the event. This marks the fifth year that the All-College features a “classic” or non-tournament format. OU beat Tulsa 70-64 last year, Princeton 58-55 two years ago, Michigan State 60-58 in 2002-03 and Texas Southern 97-55 in 2001-02.

QUICK TIPS
Oklahoma and West Virginia have never met in men's basketball.
The Sooners rank second in the nation in rebounding margin (+15.6 per game) while West Virginia is getting outboarded by 7.3 per outing.
Taj Gray is shooting .840 from the field (21-for-25) over the last two-and-a-half games. He was 8-for-8 in the second half against Villanova, 5-for-6 versus Coppin State and 8-for-11 against Southern.
Kevin Bookout is shooting .759 from the field over the past four games and owns the OU career record in field goal percentage with a .586 mark.
Prior to his 4-for-11 free throw performance Saturday against Southern, Bookout had made 13 of his previous 15 attempts.
Michael Neal ranks second the Big 12 in 3-pointers made per game (3.0) and ranks sixth in 3-point field goal percentage (.362). He has made at least two treys in all seven games.
OU ranks second in the Big 12 and 19th nationally in scoring defense, allowing just 57.0 points a game.
Oklahoma has outrebounded its opponents in all seven games this year.
Gray is averaging 20.7 points while shooting .710 from the field over the last three games.
Opponents are shooting .412 from 3-point range through seven games. Last year, OU set a school record by allowing foes to shoot just .292 from beyond the arc.
In 33 games last year, OU logged 20 or more offensive rebounds twice. It has at least 20 offensive boards three times already in seven games this year, and 19 in another.
The Sooners have won 70 of their last 75 games at Lloyd Noble Center (.933).
Taj Gray is on preseason watch lists for both the John R. Wooden Award and the Naismith Trophy player-of-the-year awards.

AS DIFFERENT AS NIGHT AND GRAY
After a somewhat slow start in which he averaged 10.3 points over OU's first four games, Preseason Big 12 Player of the Year Taj Gray has more than come to life since. The 6-9, 238-pounder is averaging 20.7 points and shooting .710 from the field over the last three contests against Villanova, Coppin State and Southern. He has 58 points over the last two-and-a-half games. Gray, who also averages 7.7 rebounds and 1.4 blocked shots, averages just 25.3 minutes per game and has played more than 30 minutes just once in seven outings (32 at Villanova).

First 4 games: 15-28 FGs (.536), 11-15 FTs (.733), 10.3 ppg, 7.0 rpg
Last 3 games: 22-31 FGs (.710), 18-25 FTs (.720), 20.7 ppg, 8.7 rpg

WINDOW WIPERS
Oklahoma ranks second in the nation in rebounding margin, according to the NCAA's stats. The Sooners are outrebounding their opponents 282-173 on the year for a per-game margin of +15.6. Only LSU (+20.1) averages a larger rebounding margin. Here are some more rebounding notes.

OU has outrebounded each of its seven opponents. Included were margins of 28 against Samford, 22 against Belmont, 18 against Binghamton, 16 versus Tulsa and 13 against Southern.
Oklahoma has grabbed 125 offensive boards (17.9 per game) while its foes have 55 (7.9).
Last year, OU registered 20 or more offensive rebounds twice in 33 games. This year's squad has already accomplished the feat three times with another game of 19 offensive boards.
Each of OU's seven leading scorers are averaging at least 3.0 rebounds (led by Taj Gray's 7.7 boards and Kevin Bookout's 6.9).
Pro-rated to 40 minutes, Taylor Griffin, a freshman, is averaging a team-high 13.2 boards per outing. He has averaged 13.4 minutes per game.

GRAY, BOOKOUT POSTING GAUDY NUMBERS
Senior big men Taj Gray and Kevin Bookout are showing why they're regarded as one of the nation's top frontcourt tandems. Over the last three games, the pair has scored 112 of the team's 199 points, or 56 percent (Gray is averaging 20.3 points while Bookout is averaging 16.7). During the same span, they have shot a combined .724 from the field (42-for-58).

Since halftime of the Villanova game on Dec. 3, Gray is shooting a stellar .840 from the field (21-for-25). Bookout has shot .500 or better in all seven games and has posted a .741 figure over the past three outings (20-for-27).

CHARITY CASE
After ranking sixth in the Big 12 last year in free throw percentage with a .690 season mark (and ranking 10th in league games with a .675 figure), the Sooners rank third in the conference so far this year by shooting .712 despite a .577 effort against Southern on Saturday. OU has shot better than .750 in four of its seven games. Nate Carter ranks ninth in the Big 12 with his .750 season mark while Taj Gray ranks 10th at .725. Terrell Everett is shooting .778 (14-for-18) but is 3.5 makes short of qualifying for the league-leaders list.

Gray is averaging 8.3 free throw attempts over the last three contests while Kevin Bookout is averaging 6.0 during the same span.

DECEMBER 3-POINT COLD SPELL
The Sooners went 17-for-37 (.459) from 3-point range over their first two games of the year but have struggled since. Over the last five games, OU has gone 22-for-89 (.247) from beyond the arc to drop its season figure to .310. Junior guard Michael Neal is 21-for-58 (.362) from 3-point range on the year while the rest of the squad is only 18-for-68 (.265). Terrell Everett and David Godbold rank second on the team with six 3-pointers each.

POLL VAULTING
Oklahoma has been ranked in the AP Top 25 poll 107 weeks since Kelvin Sampson became head coach in 1994. The Sooners made their top-10 debut under Sampson during their 2001-02 Final Four season and since then have been ranked in the top 10 in 41 of the polls. This marks the seventh time in seven weeks this year that OU is ranked in the top 10 (it is No. 7).

BOOKOUT PASSES TISDALE FOR FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE RECORD
For the moment, at least, Kevin Bookout holds the Oklahoma school record for career field goal percentage. The 6-8, 270-pound senior is 34-for-50 (.680) from the field this year and has upped his career mark to .586, bettering Wayman Tisdale's .578 figure that previously ranked No. 1 in school annals. Bookout, who has started 85 of his 86 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).

DIME DROPPER
Though he was not recruited to OU as a point guard, senior Terrell Everett ranks second in the Big 12 with his 6.3 assists per game (he trails only Iowa State's Will Blalock, who averages 7.3). Everett, a natural wing who played some point last year, is the Big 12's leading returning assists man from last season when he averaged 5.0. The slender 6-4 lefty has led the Sooners in assists 30 times in his 40 career games, including six times in seven games this year.

WANTED: DEFENSIVE IMPROVEMENT
The Sooners have allowed just 57.0 points per game second fewest in the Big 12 but the figure would likely be significantly lower if OU didn't rank eighth in the Big 12 in field goal percentage defense and last in 3-point field goal percentage defense. Oklahoma is allowing foes to shoot .417 from the field and .412 from beyond the arc. Last year, opponents shot a mere .292 from 3-point territory when OU set a school record for 3-point field goal percentage defense.

OU TURNOVER PRONE SO FAR
Taking care of the basketball has been one of Oklahoma's weaknesses this year as the Sooners are averaging 15.0 offensive miscues per contest. The most turnovers averaged by OU during the 12-year Kelvin Sampson era was 15.5 in 1997-98.

LOOKING TO JOIN THE CLUB
Kevin Bookout (873 career points) and Taj Gray (584) have an excellent chance of increasing OU's 1,000-point club to 35 members. Bookout would have to average 4.9 points thre rest of the season over a 33-game schedule (the number of games OU played last year) to reach 1,000 points while Gray would have to average 16.0 points.

VETERAN STAFF
Kelvin Sampson has compiled a staff that boasts 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.

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.

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).

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 224-78).

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.

PREACHING PROTECTION
Dating back to the start of the 2003-04 season, Oklahoma has committed more turnovers than its opponent just 17 times in 71 games (24 percent of the time). OU finished 20-2 last year when committing fewer (or the same number of) turnovers than its foe.

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

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 152-21 (.879) record at Lloyd Noble Center and has won 70 of its last 75 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

OU Plays West Virginia in OKC Wednesday

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