Hot Sooners Host Baylor Saturday

GAME INFORMATION
Ranked No. 20 in this week's AP and ESPN/USA Today polls, Oklahoma (15-5, 6-3) plays host to Baylor (2-7, 2-7) on Saturday at 12:45 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 regionally by ESPN Plus (KOCB 34/Cox 11 in OKC and KWBT 19/Cox 12 in Tulsa) with Dave Armstrong (play-by-play) and Reid Gettys (analyst) announcing.

TICKET INFORMATION
A limited number of reserved seat tickets for Saturday's game are available for $20 and $25 and can be purchased online here at SoonerSports.com and from the OU Athletics Ticket Office (800-456-4668 or 405-325-2424). If reserved tickets sell out, $20 restricted admission tickets will be available Saturday at Lloyd Noble Center's north and east windows beginning at 11 a.m.

A limited number of $20 and $25 tickets are also available for OU's home games against Iowa State (Feb. 18) and Kansas State (Feb. 25). A very limited number of $20 tickets remain for the regular season home finale against Oklahoma State (Feb. 27).

Tickets | Notes PDF | Season Stats | Gameday Central

NOTEWORTHY
OU has won 23 straight against Baylor and is 21-0 under Kelvin Sampson ... Michael Neal is 21 for his last 38 (.553) from 3-point range ... Terrell Everett is averaging 19.3 points over the last four games ... OU leads the nation in rebounding margin (+11.7 rpg) ... The Sooners have won 75 of their last 81 (93 percent) home games.

OKLAHOMA PROJECTED STARTERS
F 21 Taj Gray (6-9, 238, Sr., 14.5 ppg, 7.9 rpg, 1.3 bpg)
F 34 Kevin Bookout (6-8, 270, Sr., 11.7 ppg, 7.3 rpg, 0.7 spg)
G 3 Terrell Everett (6-4, 188, Sr., 12.8 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 6.0 apg)
G 15 David Godbold (6-5, 217, Jr., 6.0 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 1.5 apg)
G 20 Austin Johnson (6-3, 168, Fr., 3.4 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 1.9 apg)

BAYLOR PROJECTED STARTERS
F 20 Tim Bush (6-6, 235, Jr., 4.3 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 1.3 apg)
F 32 Tommy Swanson (6-10, 225, Sr., 4.2 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 0.6 apg)
C 15 Mamadou Diene (7-0, 240, Fr., 3.2 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 2.0 bpg)
G 0 Curtis Jerrells (6-1, 200, Fr., 11.7 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 3.7 apg)
G 14 Aaron Bruce (6-3, 195, So., 11.8 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 3.1 apg)

OU UPDATE
The Sooners rebounded nicely from a tough one-point loss at Kansas by pocketing a 73-65 win at rival Oklahoma State on Wednesday. Oklahoma shot .522 from the field (.700 in the second half) while holding the Cowboys to a .408 figure (.222 in the first half). OU's lead ballooned to as many as 18 points before a late barrage of 3-pointers drew OSU to within single-digits. Senior guard Terrell Everett continued his stellar play during the Big 12 portion of the Sooners' schedule by registering 23 points, five rebounds, five assists and two steals. He was 7-for-10 from the field and 9-for-10 from the free throw line. Kevin Bookout added 13 points while Michael Neal and Taylor Griffin supplied 12 and 10, respectively, off the bench.

Taj Gray, who encountered early foul trouble and was held to five points and four rebounds at OSU, leads Oklahoma in both scoring and rebounding this year with his 14.5 and 7.9 averages. The senior forward is shooting .571 from the field to rank third in the Big 12 and has shot .500 or better from the field in 16 of the team's 20 games this year. Bookout, another senior forward, has played the last five games with a fractured navicular bone in his left wrist (he sustained the injury Jan. 21 against Texas Tech) and has averaged 10.2 points and 5.8 boards against Baylor, Texas, Texas A&M, Kansas and Oklahoma State. Bookout ranks third on the squad in scoring and second in rebounding with his 11.7 and 7.3 season averages. OU's second best career field goal shooter (.578), he is shooting .577 this year. He was also named an ESPN The Magazine First-Team Academic All-District selection on Thursday and is eligible for Academic All-America acclaim.

Everett, who has scored in double figures in all nine Big 12 games, ranks second on the team in scoring (12.8 ppg), third in rebounds (4.6 rpg) and first in assists (6.0 apg) and steals (1.7 spg). In league play, the senior guard is averaging a team-high 15.7 points, 5.7 boards, 5.6 assists and 1.8 steals. He has led OU in assists in 17 of 20 games this season.

OU's hot-shooting sixth man, Neal is averaging 13.8 points over the last six games on 21-for-41 (.512) 3-point shooting. He has made at least four treys in four of the last six outings (4-for-7 against Texas Tech, 5-for-7 at Baylor, 4-for-8 against Texas and 4-for-9 against A&M). The junior, who missed OU's first two league games with a strained groin, is averaging 11.3 points on the year and leads the team with 52 treys and a .397 3-point percentage.

WEDNESDAY'S LEFTOVERS
Oklahoma's win snapped a five-game losing streak in Stillwater.
For the first time in this season's 20 games, OU was held to single-digit offensive rebounds (it had nine).
Terrell Everett's 23 points were his third most as a Sooner. He scored 26 earlier this year in a win at Tulsa and netted 25 in OU's victory over Texas.
Freshman forward Taylor Griffin played a career-high 22 minutes and contributed a career-high 10 points (all in the second half), six boards and two assists. He was 2-for-2 from the field and 6-for-7 from the free throw line.
OU attempted a season-high 31 free throws and made 22 (.710).
The Sooners shot .385 from the field in the first half but registered a .700 mark after halftime.
OU held the Cowboys to a .408 field goal performance, their second worst of the season. OSU, which shot .222 (4-for-18) in the first half, entered the game shooting a Big 12-best .498.

ABOUT BAYLOR
Wednesday's game will mark just the 10th of the season for Baylor, which did not play any non-conference contests due to NCAA sanctions. After starting 0-6, the Bears have won two of their last three contests and are coming off a 90-64 home win over Missouri on Tuesday in which they shot .623 from the field and .444 from 3-point range (8-for-18). Baylor also posted a 72-70 home overtime victory against Kansas State on Feb. 1. The Bears, whose top three scorers include a sophomore and two freshmen, are 2-3 at home and 0-4 on the road.

Sophomore guard Aaron Bruce averages a team-high 11.8 points a game to go along with 3.1 rebounds and 3.1 assists. Bruce has made 26 3-pointers on 66 attempts (.394) and plays a team-high 31.8 minutes a game. Last year, Bruce led the nation's freshmen in scoring with his 18.2 points an outing. Freshman guard Curtis Jerrells has started all nine games and averages 11.7 points, 3.1 boards and 3.7 assists. He is coming off a 26-point game against Missouri in which he went 11-for-14 from the field and 5-for-6 from beyond the arc. Fellow freshman guard Henry Dugat supplies 10.1 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.4 assists off the bench. He is 20-for-47 from long range (.426). Junior guard/forward Patrick Fields and freshman forward Kevin Rogers average 6.4 and 6.3 points a game. Fields is 8-of-17 from 3-point range (he was 5-for-6 in a home loss to Texas) while Rogers also contributes 4.3 rebounds a contest.

Head coach Scott Drew is 19-47 (.288) in his third year at Baylor and is 39-58 (.402) overall in his fourth season.

SERIES WITH THE BEARS
Oklahoma owns a 28-5 series advantage against Baylor and has won the last 23 meetings. The Sooners, who are 21-0 against the Bears under Kelvin Sampson, own a 13-2 series lead in games played in Norman and have won 10 straight inside Lloyd Noble Center. The last Baylor win against OU came on Dec. 6, 1977, in Norman (75-67). Since the Big 12 was formed, Oklahoma has won its nine home games against the Bears by an average of 24.2 points. Last year, the Sooners posted a 103-60 home win on Senior Day and shot a school-record .661 from the field in the process.

EARLIER THIS YEAR AGAINST BAYLOR
The Sooners posted an 82-52 win in Waco on Jan. 25, their largest victory margin on the road since Feb. 28, 1998 (89-56 at Texas Tech). OU shot .509 from the field and turned in its second best 3-point effort of the year (9-for-19). Taj Gray and Terrell Everett recorded game highs of 16 points and seven rebounds each while Michael Neal came off the bench to supply 15 points on 5-for-7 3-point shooting. Kevin Bookout added 11 points and David Godbold 10 for an Oklahoma team that held the Bears to .292 field goal shooting (an OU opponent season low). The Sooners committed just nine turnovers (Baylor had 17) and outboarded the Bears 41-32. Patrick Fields came off the bench to score a team-high 14 points for Baylor while Aaron Bruce added 10 on 2-for-13 field goal shooting.

QUICK TIPS
Dating back to last year, Oklahoma has outboarded 25 of its last 28 opponents.
OU's three conference losses have come by a combined four points.
Oklahoma has shot .500 or better from the field in four of its last five games.
The Sooners have held leads of at least seven points in all five losses (10 points at Villanova, nine vs. West Virginia, 10 at Nebraska, seven against Missouri and 16 at Kansas).
Kevin Bookout and Taj Gray have each shot .500 or better from the field in 16 of 20 games this year. Bookout owns a .577 season mark while Gray is shooting .571.
Gray (7.9) and Bookout (7.3) rank third and sixth in the Big 12 in rebounding.
Terrell Everett has scored in double figures in all nine Big 12 games and is averaging a team-high 15.7 points during league play.
Michael Neal ranks third in the Big 12 in 3-pointers made per game (2.9) and has made at least two treys in 15 of his 18 games. He is 21 for his last 38 from 3-point range.
Opponents are shooting .382 from 3-point range (OU ranks 10th 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 four times already in 20 games this year, with other games of 19, 18, 17, 17, 15 and 15.
OU has posted double-digit offensive boards in 19 of 20 games while foes have done it nine 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 27 of their last 29 home games and 75 of their last 81.

TEXAS STATE CHAMPS
OU is 6-0 this year against teams from Texas. The Sooners won at SMU (50-47), at Texas A&M (45-44), versus Texas Tech (60-48), at Baylor (82-52), versus Texas (82-72) and versus Texas A&M (71-63). Since Kelvin Sampson became OU's head coach in 1994, the Sooners are 92-17 (.844) against teams from the Lone Star State. Against Big 12 foes Baylor (21-0), Texas (18-8), Texas A&M (20-1) and Texas Tech (14-8), OU is 73-17 (.811) under Sampson.

WINTER WARMTH
Oklahoma endured below-average 3-point shooting over its first 13 games but has turned up the heat in its last seven outings. In their first 13 contests, the Sooners shot .294 from beyond the arc and averaged 5.0 treys. Over the past seven games, however, OU is shooting .417 from long range and is averaging 6.4 makes. Michael Neal has made 22 treys on 45 attempts (.489) during the stretch while Terrell Everett is 11-for-24 (.458).

GETTING DEFENSIVE
Oklahoma's recent 6-1 performance coincides with some gritty defensive performances. Over the last seven games, the Sooners have limited their foes to an average of 57.6 points and to combined .397 field goal shooting. OU has also forced an average of 15.0 turnovers per game during the stretch.

RETURNED TO FORM
Over the last seven games, senior guard Terrell Everett has looked like the player that Kelvin Sampson labeled as OU's MVP last year. Everett is averaging 17.0 points, 5.4 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 1.7 steals over the last seven outings (OU is 6-1) while shooting .484 from the field and .458 from 3-point territory (11-for-24). Everett's recent performances are reminiscent of his efforts late last season when he averaged 15.0 points, 6.0 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 1.7 steals over OU's final six regular season games (the Sooners were 6-0 in those contests).

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 seven games, six of them wins. In his seven league outings, Neal is averaging 12.3 points and is shooting .489 from beyond the 3-point arc (22-for-45). He is averaging 13.8 points and 3.5 treys over the last six contests.

WINDOW WIPERS
The Sooners are outboarding their opponents 761-528 on the year and lead the nation with a +11.7 rebounding margin per game. Texas ranks second with a +11.3 margin. Here are some more rebounding notes.

OU has outrebounded 18 of its 20 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 316 offensive boards (15.8 per game) while its foes have secured just 167 (8.4).
Last year, OU registered 20 or more offensive rebounds twice in 33 games. This year's squad has already accomplished the feat four times with other games of 19, 18, 17, 17, 15 and 15 offensive boards.
Taj Gray averages a team-high 7.9 rebounds while Kevin Bookout averages 7.3. 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 19 of 20 games (11 times by Gray and eight by Bookout).
Freshman Taylor Griffin leads OU in rebounds per minute. Pro-rated to 40 minutes, Griffin is averaging a team-high 11.9 boards per outing. He is averaging 3.7 rebounds in 12.3 minutes a game.

HOME IS WHERE THE “W” IS
Lloyd Noble Center has been overly kind to the Sooners, as they have won 27 of the last 29 games and 72 of the last 77 in the building. Oklahoma is 10-1 at home this year and finished 14-1 last season. It is 157-22 (.877) at Lloyd Noble in Kelvin Sampson's 11-plus years as head coach. OU is 394-65 (.858) in the building since it opened prior to the 1975-76 campaign. The Sooners have posted home winning streaks of 51 games (1987-90) and 37 games (2001-03). The 37-game streak is a Big 12 Conference record.

ROCK SOLID BOOKOUT
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 11.7 points and 7.3 rebounds while shooting a team-high .577 from the field and .634 from the foul line. He ranks fifth in the Big 12 (league games) in rebounding with 7.3 per game, despite playing the last five contests with a broken bone in his left wrist. The wrist and his thumb are heavily taped, limiting his ability to catch the basketball.

MORE BOOKOUT
Against Kansas last Sunday, Kevin Bookout became the 34th player in school history to score 1,000 career points. He now has 1,017 points to his credit to rank 32nd all-time at OU. Bookout also ranks second all-time in field goal percentage (.578) behind Wayman Tisdale (a slightly better .578) and ranks 15th with 628 career rebounds.

CHARITY CASE
Since shooting .746 from the free throw line (ranked first in the Big 12) over its first 13 games, Oklahoma has gone just 80-for-130 (.615) from the charity stripe over the last seven games. The swoon has dropped OU's season figure to .703, which ranks fifth in the conference.

DIME DROPPER
Although he was not recruited to OU as a point guard, senior Terrell Everett ranks second in the Big 12 with his 6.0 assists per game (he trails only Iowa State's Will Blalock, who averages 6.3). 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 41 times in his 53 career games, including 17 times in 20 outings this year.

BIG 12 KING
Kelvin Sampson has amassed 106 regular season Big 12 victories, most in league history. He is 106-47 (.693) 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 123-53) and holds the mark for most overall wins by a conference coach since the Big 12 was formed (he is 233-82).

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 129-13 (.908) when reaching the 80-point plateau. OU has won 46 of its last 49 and 62 of its last 66 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 24 times in 84 games (29 percent of the time). OU finished 20-2 last year when committing fewer (or the same number of) turnovers than its foe and is 11-0 this year under the circumstance.

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 first-year 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 106-47 (.693) regular season Big 12 Conference record.
OU has recorded a 157-22 (.877) record at Lloyd Noble Center and has won 75 of its last 81 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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