Sooners Open Big 12 Tournament with Tigers

KANSAS CITY -- Oklahoma coach Kelvin Sampson has enjoyed plenty of success in the Big 12 tournament. Now he'll try to do it as a top seed.

The 17th-ranked Sooners will be shooting for a seventh straight win when they face Missouri on Friday in the Big 12 quarterfinals at Kemper Arena.

Oklahoma (23-6) finished in a tie for first place with No. 9 Kansas and earned the top seed for the first time by virtue of a 71-63 win over the Jayhawks on Feb. 21. The Sooners won a regular-season crown for the first time since capturing the Big Eight title in 1989.

``We're proud and we're honored and thrilled to be a No. 1 seed and to win a conference championship,'' Sampson said. ``It just puts a bulls-eye on your back, too. We've got to play now.''

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Oklahoma is 10-1 in the Big 12 tournament over the last four years, winning three consecutive titles from 2001-03.

The Sooners have not lost since a 68-65 overtime defeat to Missouri (16-15) on Feb. 12. They closed the regular season in strong fashion, winning road games at Texas and Texas Tech by a combined 36 points.

``The four-game winning streak was impressive,'' Sampson said. ``But with two games left, having to go to Texas and to Texas Tech, not only winning those games, but the way we won them _ you can't measure that in terms of the confidence it gives your team.''

Oklahoma led by as many as 14 points in last month's meeting with Missouri and blew a 10-point advantage with 5:39 left in regulation en route to its third straight loss.

Since that defeat, the Sooners have played their best basketball of the season.

``I think it's the game that helped us become the team we were,'' Sampson said. ``I think it helped us.''

Linas Kleiza and Thomas Gardner each scored 18 points for the Tigers, who held a 35-30 edge on the glass.

``It was such a close game when we played them the last time,'' Missouri guard Jimmy McKinney said. ``We have to rebound and make it tough on the defensive end.''

Oklahoma is hoping that Big 12 newcomer of the year Taj Gray will duplicate his 19-point, nine-rebound effort in the first meeting. Gray is averaging 14.7 points and 7.8 rebounds, and ranked second in the league with a field-goal percentage of .570.

Fellow frontcourt player Kevin Bookout struggled down the stretch, averaging only 8.3 points and 5.5 rebounds during Oklahoma's winning streak. Bookout was a non-factor in the Missouri game with eight points and three boards.

The 6-foot-9 Gray and 6-8 Bookout will try to contain the beefy 6-8 Kleiza, who averages a team-high 15.3 points.

``The thing that makes him a difficult matchup is that he draws fouls so well and he can pass,'' said Sampson of Kleiza. ``So you have to pick your poison. You play him 1-on-1 he gets to the foul line so good. If you double him, he kicks it out and those guys are good shooters.''

Missouri became eligible for an NIT berth with a 70-67 win over Nebraska in Thursday's first round. Kleiza scored 26 points despite being held scoreless for close to 17 minutes.

``My teammates started looking for me more,'' Kleiza said. ``They were able to find me before the half and I got it going. I was able to get some good points inside.''

Missouri has won three of the last four meetings with Oklahoma. The Sooners have won four straight Big 12 tournament matchups with the Tigers.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Sooners Open Big 12 Tournament with Tigers

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