Big Hoops Saturday Pits OU vs. Texas

GAME INFORMATION
Ranked No. 24 in this week's AP poll and No. 22 in the ESPN/USA Today version, Oklahoma (12-4, 3-2) hosts Texas (17-2, 5-0) on Saturday at 8 p.m. CST inside Lloyd Noble Center. The game 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 contest will be televised by ESPN2 with Brad Nessler (play-by-play), Dick Vitale (analyst) and Erin Andrews (reporter) announcing.

ESPN COLLEGE GAMEDAY IN NORMAN
Although it is no stranger to Norman, ESPN College GameDay will make its first ever visit to Lloyd Noble Center this weekend in advance of Saturday's game. On hand for Saturday's 10-11 a.m. CST show will be Rece Davis, Jay Bilas, Digger Phelps and Andy Katz. Dick Vitale will join the crew for the 7-8 p.m. show. Lloyd Noble Center's west doors will open Saturday at 8:30 a.m. (admission is free) and fans will be allowed onto the court, serving as the background for the College GameDay set. A Lloyd Noble Center segment will begin the 9 a.m. SportsCenter.

Notes PDF | Season Stats | Gameday Central | White OUt

In conjunction with College GameDay's visit, a Dick Vitale sound-alike contest will be held Friday from noon to 1 at the Oklahoma Memorial Union food court. Students may call 405-325-7811 for more information. Also, OU athletics officials are planning a “WhiteOUt the Lloyd Noble Center” promotion whereby each reserved seat ticketholder will be given a “Cheer Like a Champion” T-shirt at Saturday's game. The T-shirts will be provided by Carl's Jr., Hudiburg Auto Group and USA Screen Printing.

College GameDay has visited Norman and the OU campus four previous times, all for football events.

TICKET INFORMATION
Reserved seats for Saturday's game are sold out. Restricted admission tickets will go on sale for $20 at Lloyd Noble Center's north and east windows beginning at 6:30 p.m.

OKLAHOMA PROJECTED STARTERS
F 21 Taj Gray (6-9, 238, Sr., 14.8 ppg, 8.0 rpg, 1.3 bpg)
F 34 Kevin Bookout (6-8, 270, Sr., 12.1 ppg, 7.5 rpg, 0.1 apg)
G 3 Terrell Everett (6-4, 188, Sr., 11.1 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 6.3 apg)
G 15 David Godbold (6-5, 217, Jr., 5.3 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 1.3 apg)
G 20 Austin Johnson (6-3, 168, Fr., 4.1 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 1.8 apg)

TEXAS PROJECTED STARTERS
F 2 P.J. Tucker (6-5, 225, Jr., 16.3 ppg, 8.9 rpg, 2.8 apg)
F 22 Brad Buckman (6-8, 235, Sr., 11.6 ppg, 7.1 rpg, 1.8 bpg)
C 23 LaMarcus Aldridge (6-10, 237, So., 16.4 ppg, 9.4 rpg, 2.1 bpg)
G 1 Daniel Gibson (6-2, 190, So., 14.9 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 3.1 apg)
G 12 Kenton Paulino (6-1, 185, Sr., 8.7 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 3.5 apg)

OU UPDATE
The Sooners won their third straight game Wednesday and posted their largest victory margin of the year in the process as they downed Baylor 82-52 on the road. Five Sooners scored in double figures as Oklahoma posted its most points since the second game of the year. OU shot .509 from the field (just its third .500-or-better effort of the season) while holding the Bears to a .292 figure. The Sooners outrebounded their 14th opponent in 16 games (41-32) and forced 17 Bears turnovers while committing just nine.

Taj Gray, who scored 16 points and pulled down seven rebounds Wednesday, leads Oklahoma in both categories for the season. The senior forward is averaging 14.8 points and 8.0 boards per outing. He is shooting .591 from the field and owns a .750 season free throw percentage (ranks eighth in the Big 12). Fellow senior forward Kevin Bookout played 30 minutes at Baylor with a fractured navicular bone in his left wrist (he sustained the injury last Saturday against Texas Tech) and contributed 11 points and four boards. Bookout ranks second on the squad in scoring and rebounding with his 12.1 and 7.5 averages. Bookout, OU's career leader in field goal percentage (.582), is shooting .597 from the field this year. He had grabbed at least seven boards in each of the last seven games prior to Wednesday when he played with his wrist and thumb heavily taped.

Senior guard Terrell Everett ranks third on the team in scoring with his 11.1 points per game and also averages 4.1 rebounds and a team-high 6.3 assists. In five league games, Everett is averaging a team-high 12.8 points, 5.0 boards, 6.2 assists and 2.0 steals. He has led OU in assists in 14 of 16 contests this season.

Michael Neal, who was named Big 12 Co-Rookie of the Week on Monday, has posted back-to-back 15-point performances. The junior guard was 5-for-7 from 3-point range at Baylor and is 9-for-11 from long range over his last 31 minutes of court time. Neal, who missed OU's first two league games with a strained groin, is averaging 10.8 points a contest and leads the team with his 40 3-pointers (2.9 per game) and .385 season 3-point percentage.

WEDNESDAY'S LEFTOVERS
OU's 30-point win marked its largest victory margin on the road since a 33-point triumph at Texas Tech (89-56) on Feb. 28, 1998.
Terrell Everett had a game-high five assists and has led Oklahoma in the category in 14 of 16 games this year.
Oklahoma's 9-for-19 (.474) 3-point effort was its second best of the year (11-for-20 vs. Binghamton on Nov. 23).
The Sooners grabbed double-digit offensive rebounds (13) for the 16th time in 16 games.
Oklahoma's nine turnovers came on the heels of a 21-turnover performance against Texas Tech.
OU won its 23rd straight game against Baylor and improved to 21-0 against the Bears under Kelvin Sampson.
Longar Longar scored a season-high five points while Kellen Sampson scored his first two points of the year.
Nate Carter did not play due to a foot injury.

ABOUT TEXAS
Texas enters weekend play on a nine-game winning streak and is 5-0 in Big 12 play (it has outscored its league opponents by 26.4 points a contest). On the season, the Longhorns are shooting .481 from the field, .387 from 3-point range and .697 from the foul line. Opponents are shooting just .358 from the field and .307 from the charity stripe. One of the nation's better rebounding squads, Texas is outboarding its foes by 11.1 a game.

Four Longhorns average double figures in points. Sophomore center LaMarcus Aldridge averages team highs in points (16.4), rebounds (9.4) and blocks (2.1) per contest and leads the Big 12 with his .618 field goal percentage and nine double-doubles. Forward P.J. Tucker is on Aldridge's heels with his 16.3 scoring and 8.9 rebounding averages. The junior shoots .541 from the field and adds 2.8 assists and 2.0 steals per outing. Sophomore guard Daniel Gibson contributes 14.9 points and 3.1 assists per contest and has 59 3-point makes (3.1 per game). Gibson, who averaged 12.8 points during non-conference play, is averaging a team-high 20.8 points per league game. He is averaging 27.5 points and is 14-for-22 (.636) from 3-point range over the last two contests. Brad Buckman, a senior forward, supplies 11.6 points, 7.1 rebounds and 1.8 rejections per game. Senior guard Kenton Paulino has started all 19 games and is averaging 8.7 points and a team-high 3.5 assists while making 34 treys.

Head coach Rick Barnes is 178-71 (.386) in his eighth year at Texas and is 380-205 (.650) in his 19th year overall.

SERIES WITH THE LONGHORNS
Oklahoma holds a 44-21 series lead against Texas, including a 20-7 advantage in Norman. OU swept the season series last year and has won 26 of the series' last 35 games dating back to 1979. Kelvin Sampson owns a 17-8 record against the Longhorns as OU's head coach and is 7-3 versus UT at Lloyd Noble Center.

LAST YEAR AGAINST TEXAS
The Sooners posted a series sweep last year against Texas with a 64-60 win in Norman on Jan. 22 and a 74-58 triumph in Austin on Feb. 28. In the first meeting, OU trailed by five at halftime but outscored the Longhorns by nine in the second half to snap a five-game series losing streak. Kevin Bookout had 18 points and 13 rebounds (eight offensive) while Lawrence McKenzie and Taj Gray added 15 and 12 points, respectively. The Sooners won despite shooting .379 from the field, .214 from 3-point range and .571 from the free throw line. OU logged 22 offensive rebounds and outboarded Texas 42-33 overall. Daniel Gibson paced Texas with 18 points.

In the rematch on Texas' Senior Night, OU's guards paved the way for the 16-point win. McKenzie netted 16 points off the bench while David Godbold, then a freshman, produced 14 points and a career-high nine rebounds. Terrell Everett added 12 points and Gray 10. OU posted a 39-29 rebounding advantage and the victory gave the Sooners their fourth regular season sweep of Texas since 1998. Gibson led UT with 16 points.

QUICK TIPS
Saturday's game will mark the 700th in Kelvin Sampson's collegiate coaching career.
Dating back to last year, Oklahoma has outboarded 21 of its last 24 opponents.
OU has held its last three opponents to an average of 48.0 points (44 by Texas A&M, 48 by Texas Tech and 52 by Baylor). During the same period, opponents are shooting just .348 from the field.
The Sooners held leads of at least seven points in all four losses (10 points at Villanova, nine vs. West Virginia, 10 at Nebraska and seven against Missouri).
Both Kevin Bookout and Taj Gray have shot .500 or better from the field in 14 of 16 games this year. Bookout owns a .597 season mark while Gray is shooting .591.
Bookout needs 23 points to become the 34th member of the 1,000-point club at Oklahoma.
Gray owns a .750 season free throw mark after shooting .646 last year.
Bookout and Gray have accounted for 350 of OU's 780 points (45 percent) over the last 12 games.
Michael Neal ranks third in the Big 12 in 3-pointers made per game (2.9) and has made at least two treys in 11 of his 14 games. He is 9-for-11 from 3-point range over his last 31 minutes of court time.
Opponents are shooting .381 from 3-point range (OU ranks 11th in the Big 12 in the category). 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 15 games this year, with other games of 19, 18, 17, 17, 15 and 15.
OU has posted double-digit offensive boards in all 16 games while foes have done it just seven times.
OU posted a 3.14 team grade point average during the fall semester, a record for the Sooners under 12th-year head coach Kelvin Sampson. Eight team members posted at least a 3.0 GPA and all 12 registered at least a 2.5.
The Sooners have won 25 of their last 27 home games and 73 of their last 79.

GETTING DEFENSIVE
Oklahoma's current three-game winning streak coincides with some gritty defensive performances. During the streak, the Sooners have limited their foes to an average of 48.0 points and to combined .348 field goal shooting. OU has also forced an average of 18.3 turnovers per game during the stretch. OU held Texas A&M to 44 points, Texas Tech to 48 and Baylor to 52.

THE REAL DEAL
Michael Neal, nicknamed “Real Deal,” missed OU's first two Big 12 games with a strained groin (the Sooners lost both contests by a combined three points). Neal has returned to play in each of the last three games, all wins and two of them on the road. In his three league outings, Neal is averaging 11.0 points and is shooting .556 from beyond the 3-point arc (10-for-18).

WINDOW WIPERS
Oklahoma ranks second in the nation in rebounding margin. The Sooners are outboarding their opponents 609-409 on the year for a per-game margin of +12.5. Only LSU (+12.9) averages a larger rebounding margin. Here are some more rebounding notes.

OU has outrebounded 14 of its 16 opponents. Included were margins of 28 against Samford, 22 against Belmont and Alabama, 20 versus SMU, 18 against Binghamton, 17 versus Missouri, 16 versus Tulsa and 15 against Texas Tech.
Oklahoma has grabbed 259 offensive boards (16.2 per game) while its foes have secured just 125 (7.8).
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 other games of 19, 18, 17, 17, 15 and 15 offensive boards.
Taj Gray averages a team-high 8.0 rebounds while Kevin Bookout averages 7.5. The last time two Sooners both averaged more than 7.0 rebounds a game was in 1998-99 (Eduardo Najera and Ryan Humphrey averaged 8.3 and 7.5 boards, respectively).
Bookout or Gray have led OU in rebounding in all 16 games (nine times by Gray and seven by Bookout).
Pro-rated to 40 minutes, Taylor Griffin, a freshman, is averaging a team-high 12.0 boards per outing. He has averaged 11.6 minutes in his 14 games.

BOOKOUT'S HOT HAND
Senior forward Kevin Bookout is having a more-than-solid senior season. A two-time All-American in the shot put, Bookout averaged 9.9 points and 6.1 rebounds a game while shooting .578 from the field and .556 from the free throw line over his first three years (he missed more than half of his sophomore season with a shoulder injury). This season, he is averaging 12.1 points and 7.5 rebounds while shooting .597 from the field and .661 from the foul line. Over the last eight contests, Bookout is averaging 12.5 points and 8.3 boards while shooting .692 from the free throw line (18-for-26). He ranks second in the Big 12 (league games) in rebounding with 8.2 per game.

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 peformed as one of the league's top big men since. The 6-9, 238-pounder is averaging 16.3 points and 8.3 rebounds over the last 12 contests while shooting .606 from the field. Gray, who averages 14.8 points, 8.0 rebounds and 1.3 blocks on the year, scored a career-high 31 points in a loss to West Virginia on Dec. 22. Since Big 12 play began, he has attempted 38 free throws (average of 7.6 per game).

CHARITY CASE
Despite shooting .554 (31-for-56) from the foul line over the last three games, Oklahoma ranks third in the Big 12 with its .713 team free throw percentage. Last year, OU ranked sixth in the conference with a .690 season mark and shot .675 in league games to rank 10th. The Sooners have shot better than .750 in half of their 16 games. Taj Gray ranks eighth in the Big 12 with his .750 season mark. Nate Carter is shooting .791 from the foul line (he is one make shy of the minimum needed to qualify in the category) while Terrell Everett and Michael Neal own .758 and .739 marks.

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 most of the year since. Over the last 14 games, OU has gone 68-for-229 (.297) from beyond the arc. Its season figure stands at .316 (ranks 11th in the Big 12). Junior guard Michael Neal is 40-for-104 (.385) from 3-point range on the year while the rest of the squad is only 45-for-165 (.273). Terrell Everett ranks second on the team with 17 3-pointers while David Godbold has made 15.

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 77-for-129 (.597) from the field this year and has upped his career mark to .582, bettering Wayman Tisdale's .578 figure that previously ranked No. 1 in school annals. Bookout, who has started 94 of his 95 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
Although 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 6.5) and leads the conference in league games with his 6.2 average. 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 38 times in his 49 career games, including 14 times in 16 outings this year.

BIG 12 KING
Kelvin Sampson has amassed 103 regular season Big 12 victories, most in league history. He is 103-46 (.691) 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 120-52) and holds the mark for most overall wins by a conference coach since the Big 12 was formed (he is 230-81).

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 128-13 (.908) when reaching the 80-point plateau. OU has won 45 of its last 48 and 61 of its last 65 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 21 times in 80 games (26 percent of the time). OU finished 20-2 last year when committing fewer (or the same number of) turnovers than its foe.

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).

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.

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.

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.”

2005-06 SIGNEES
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 103-46 (.691) regular season Big 12 Conference record.
OU has recorded a 155-22 (.876) record at Lloyd Noble Center and has won 73 of its last 79 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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