Sooners Try For Sweep of Red Raiders

GAME INFORMATION
Ranked No. 19 in last week's AP and ESPN/USA Today polls, Oklahoma (17-6, 8-4) plays at Texas Tech (14-12, 6-6) on Monday at 8 p.m. CST inside United Spirit Arena. 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 ESPN with Ron Franklin (play-by-play), Fran Fraschilla (analyst) and Holly Rowe (sidelines) announcing.

NOTEWORTHY
OU is 6-3 at Texas Tech under Kelvin Sampson ... Michael Neal is averaging 17.3 points and 4.7 treys over the last nine games ... Neal has made 21 3-pointers over the last three contests (shooting .568) ... Terrell Everett averages 14.9 points, 4.7 rebounds and 7.0 assists in Big 12 action ... Everett is averaging a double-double over the last three games (12.7 points and 11.0 assists).

Notes PDF | Season Stats | Gameday Central

OKLAHOMA PROJECTED STARTERS
F 21 Taj Gray (6-9, 238, Sr., 14.1 ppg, 7.9 rpg, 1.4 bpg)
F 34 Kevin Bookout (6-8, 270, Sr., 11.3 ppg, 7.2 rpg, 0.6 spg)
G 2 Michael Neal (6-3, 191, Jr., 13.2 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 1.9 apg)
G 3 Terrell Everett (6-4, 188, Sr., 12.7 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 6.7 apg)
G 15 David Godbold (6-5, 217, Jr., 5.7 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 1.5 apg)

TEXAS TECH PROJECTED STARTERS
F 32 Jon Plefka (6-8, 245, Jr., 6.2 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 0.7 apg)
F 44 Darryl Dora (6-9, 250, Jr., 7.4 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 3.1 apg)
G 3 Martin Zeno (6-5, 202, So., 14.8 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 3.0 apg)
G 20 Alan Voskuil (6-3, 170, Fr., 2.8 ppg, 1.5 rpg, 0.8 apg)
G 22 Jarrius Jackson (6-1, 185, Jr., 19.8 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 3.0 apg)

OU UPDATE
Michael Neal was the hero in the Sooners' 83-82 come-from-behind victory over visiting Iowa State on Saturday as the junior made a career-high eight 3-pointers and scored a career-high 29 points. His three free throws with 8.4 seconds left were the game's final points and capped an 11-point second-half comeback (OU trailed by seven with a minute remaining). Neal scored all of his 17 second-half points in the final 7:02. Oklahoma shot .538 from the field and a season-high .565 from the 3-point line as it improved to 12-1 at home. OU was 8-for-12 from beyond the arc in the second half and its 13 treys on the afternoon were its most since Feb. 25, 2004.

Neal is averaging 17.3 points over the last nine games on 42-for-78 (.538) 3-point shooting. He has made at least four treys in seven of those nine outings and has netted 21 over the past three games (15 in the last two). Usually OU's sixth man, Neal has started the last two games in place of injured Austin Johnson (right ankle) and is averaging 27.5 points and 7.5 treys in the two outings. He was 7-for-14 from 3-point range at Colorado on Wednesday and scored a then-career-high 26 points. Neal, who missed OU's first two league games with a strained groin (the Sooners lost both by a combined three points), is averaging 13.2 points on the year and leads the team with 73 treys and a .435 3-point percentage.

Senior guard Terrell Everett, who registered 18 points, 11 assists and three steals against Iowa State, has scored in double figures in 11 of OU's 12 conference games. He ranks third on the team in scoring (12.7 ppg), third in rebounds (4.2 rpg) and first in the conference in assists (6.7 apg). In league play, Everett is averaging 14.9 points, 4.7 boards, a league-best 7.0 assists and 1.8 steals. He has led OU in assists in 20 of 23 games this season and ranks in the top 10 nationally in handouts per contest.

Taj Gray netted 13 points and pulled down eight rebounds Saturday. The senior forward leads Oklahoma in both scoring and rebounding this year with his 14.1 and 7.9 averages. Gray is shooting .573 from the field to rank third in the Big 12 and has shot .500 or better from the field in 19 of the team's 23 games this year. Kevin Bookout, another senior forward, has played the last eight games with a fractured navicular bone in his left wrist (he sustained the injury Jan. 21 in OU's first game against Texas Tech) and has averaged 9.6 points and 6.3 boards during the stretch. Bookout ranks fourth on the squad in scoring and second in rebounding with his 11.3 and 7.2 season averages. Owner of OU's second-best career field goal percentage (.575), he is shooting .566 this year. Bookout was also recently named an ESPN The Magazine First-Team Academic All-District selection, making him eligible for Academic All-America acclaim.

SATURDAY'S LEFTOVERS
Michael Neal's eight 3-pointers were the most by a Sooner in more than three years (Hollis Price drained nine at Iowa State on Jan. 18, 2003).
Neal's 29 points were the second most by a Sooner this season (Taj Gray scored 31 against West Virginia on Dec. 22).
Oklahoma's six-point halftime deficit was its second largest of the season (West Virginia led by seven).
The Sooners posted a 31-24 rebounding advantage and have outboarded 20 of their 23 opponents this year.
David Godbold scored nine points (all on 3-pointers) and matched a season high with seven rebounds.
The game marked OU's fourth one-point decision in conference play (it is 2-2).
ISU guards Curtis Stinson (24 and nine) and Will Blalock (22 and seven) combined for 46 points and 16 assists.

ABOUT TEXAS TECH
Texas Tech, which is 12-2 at home this year (5-1 in league play), is coming off a pair of victories last week. The Red Raiders beat Kansas State in Lubbock on Wednesday (70-56) before posting their first Big 12 road win of the season against Nebraska on Saturday (70-64). The team's lone home loss in conference play came against Texas (65-44) on Feb. 6. It also lost a non-conference home game to Louisiana Tech (68-53) on Dec. 7.

All-Big 12 candidate Jarrius Jackson leads the Big 12 in scoring, both overall (19.8 ppg) and in league action (21.3 ppg). The junior guard is coming off a career-high 41-point effort against the Huskers in which he was 15-for-23 from the field, 5-for-7 from 3-point range and 6-for-7 at the free throw line. Jackson has made a team-high 55 3-pointers and averages 4.2 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.8 steals. Sophomore guard Martin Zeno supplies 14.8 points, a team-high 5.6 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.3 steals a game. Freshman forward Dior Lowhorn contributes 7.8 points and 4.0 rebounds a game and had a double-double Saturday with 11 points and 10 boards off the bench. Junior forward Darryl Dora averages 7.4 points and 4.3 rebounds.

Head coach Bob Knight is 104-56 (.650) in his fifth year at Texas Tech and is 868-345 (.716) in his 40th year overall.

SERIES WITH THE RED RAIDERS
Oklahoma owns a 23-15 all-time record against Texas Tech and is 7-9 in Lubbock. Under Kelvin Sampson, the Sooners are 14-8 against the Red Raiders and boast a 6-3 record in Lubbock. OU has won two of the last three games at United Spirit Arena, including last year's 74-54 victory on March 5. Kevin Bookout had 15 points and nine rebounds while Terrell Everett approached a triple-double with 14 points, 10 boards and eight assists.

EARLIER THIS YEAR AGAINST TECH
The Sooners raced to a 16-2 lead against the Red Raiders a month ago before withstanding a Texas Tech rally to post a 60-48 win in Norman. Michael Neal scored a team-high 15 points in 21 minutes off the bench for OU and hit four 3-pointers in the game's final four minutes. Oklahoma led 32-12 at halftime but saw Tech draw to within two, 40-38, behind Jarrius Jackson, who finished with 15 points. Neal and the Sooners used a 20-10 run to end the game, however. OU outrebounded the Red Raiders 38-23 and held an 18-6 advantage on the offensive glass. Both teams committed 21 turnovers. Terrell Everett had 11 points and eight assists for the Sooners while Austin Johnson scored 10 points. Taj Gray (11) and Kevin Bookout (10) both registered double-digit rebounds for the first time of the year. Tech's 12 first-half points were the fewest by an OU conference opponent in a half under 12th-year head coach Kelvin Sampson.

QUICK TIPS
Dating back to last year, Oklahoma has outboarded 27 of its last 31 opponents.
Three of OU's four conference losses have come by a combined four points.
The Sooners have held leads of at least seven points in all six losses (10 points at Villanova, nine vs. West Virginia, 10 at Nebraska, seven against Missouri, 16 at Kansas and eight at Colorado).
OU is 12-0 this year when committing the same or fewer turnovers than its opponents.
Taj Gray has shot .500 or better from the field in 19 of 23 games this year while Kevin Bookout has done it 17 times. Gray is shooting .573 on the season and Bookout owns a .566 mark.
Gray (7.9) and Bookout (7.2) rank fourth and sixth in the Big 12 in rebounding.
Bookout has played in 102 career games and has started 101 of them. As a freshman in 2003, he yielded to Jozsef Szendrei on Senior Day.
Terrell Everett ranks in the top 10 nationally in assists (6.7 apg). He has led OU in assists in 20 of 23 outings this year and in 44 of his 56 career games.
Michael Neal has made at least two treys in 18 of his 21 games. In Big 12 play, he leads the league with his 4.3 treys per game and ranks second with his .524 3-point percentage.
Neal is averaging 4.7 3-point makes over the last nine games.
Over the last three outings, Neal is averaging 24.3 points and 7.0 treys.
Opponents are shooting .388 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 four times already this year, with other games of 19, 18, 17, 17, 15 and 15.
OU has registered double-digit offensive boards in 22 of 23 games while foes have done it 10 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.

TEXAS STATE CHAMPS
OU is 7-0 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), versus Texas A&M (71-63) and versus Baylor (80-52). Since Kelvin Sampson became OU's head coach in 1994, the Sooners are 93-17 (.845) against teams from the Lone Star State. Against Big 12 foes Baylor (22-0), Texas (18-8), Texas A&M (20-1) and Texas Tech (14-8), OU is 74-17 (.813) under Sampson.

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 10 games, eight of them wins. In his 10 league outings, Neal is averaging 15.9 points and is shooting .524 from beyond the 3-point arc (43-for-82). He is averaging 17.3 points and 4.7 treys over the last nine contests. Here are more notes on OU's sharpshooter...

Neal is averaging 27.7 points and 7.5 3-pointers over the last two contests (both starts). He had 26 points and seven treys at Colorado last Wednesday and followed with a career-high 29 points and a career-high eight triples Saturday against Iowa State.
Neal has scored in double figures in each of the last nine games.
Neal has made at least one 3-pointer in all 21 of his games, at least two in 18 contests, at least four in 10 outings and at least five in five games.
Neal leads the Big 12 in 3-pointers per game (3.5) and ranks second in 3-point percentage (.435). In Big 12 games, he leads the league with his 4.3 treys per outing and ranks second with a .524 3-point mark.
Neal's 21 treys over the last three games represent the most by a Sooner over a three-game span in school history. Calvin Curry canned 19 treys over three straight games in 1993-94.
Neal has made at least three 3-pointers in seven of the last nine games (he made two treys in each of the other two games).
Neal is averaging 20.0 points and 5.5 treys in his four starts this season.
Neal is averaging 4.3 treys per conference game. The Big 12 record is 3.8 per league outing by OU's Nate Erdmann in 1996-97.

WINTER WARMTH
Oklahoma endured below-average 3-point shooting over its first 13 games but has turned up the heat in its last 10 outings. In their first 13 contests, the Sooners shot .294 from beyond the arc and averaged 5.0 treys. Over the past 10 games, however, OU is shooting .423 from long range and is averaging 7.4 makes. Michael Neal has made 43 treys on 82 attempts (.524) during the stretch.

RETURNED TO FORM
Over the last 10 games, senior guard Terrell Everett has looked like the player that Kelvin Sampson labeled as OU's MVP last year. Everett is averaging 15.7 points, 4.3 rebounds, 6.8 assists and 1.7 steals over the last 10 outings (OU is 8-2) while shooting .461 from the field. 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).

WINDOW WIPERS
Oklahoma is outboarding its opponents 867-626 on the year and ranks third in the nation with a +10.5 rebounding margin per game (Texas and Connecticut boast a +10.9 margin). Here are more rebounding notes...

OU has outrebounded 20 of its 23 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 352 offensive boards (15.3 per game) while its foes have secured just 200 (8.7).
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 7.2. 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 22 of 23 games (13 times by Gray and nine by Bookout).

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 11.3 points and 7.2 rebounds while shooting .566 from the field and .616 from the foul line. He ranks fifth in the Big 12 (league games) in rebounding with 7.3 per game, despite playing the last eight 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 on Feb. 5, Kevin Bookout became the 34th player in school history to score 1,000 career points. He now has 1,043 points to his credit to rank 30th all-time at OU. Bookout also ranks No. 2 all-time in field goal percentage (.575) and ranks 15th with 649 career rebounds.

PROFESSOR GRIFF
Freshman forward Taylor Griffin is coming into his own of late. The 6-7, 232-pounder played a career-high-tying 22 minutes at Oklahoma State Feb. 8 and finished with a career-high 10 points, six rebounds and two assists. He followed that effort with a new career high of 12 points and four more rebounds in another 22 minutes of play against Baylor on Feb. 11. Griffin was 6-for-7 from the free throw line at OSU and 6-for-6 versus Baylor. Last Wednesday at Colorado, Griffin went 3-for-4 from the field and scored six points in 14 minutes. He added three more points on Saturday against Iowa State. On the year, Griffin, a pre-med major who earned a 3.7 GPA during the fall semester, is averaging 3.8 points and 3.4 rebounds in 12.9 minutes a contest. He has scored at least six points in four of the last six games.

DIME DROPPER
Although he was not recruited to OU as a point guard, senior Terrell Everett leads the Big 12 and ranks in the nation's top 10 with his 6.7 assists per game. The slender 6-4 lefty, a natural wing who played some point last year, has led the Sooners in assists 44 times in his 56 career games, including 20 times in 23 outings this year. He had a career-high 15 assists against Baylor on Feb. 11 and 11 more against Iowa State on Saturday.

BIG 12 KING
Kelvin Sampson has amassed 108 regular season Big 12 victories, most in league history. He is 108-48 (.692) 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 125-54) and holds the mark for most overall wins by a conference coach since the Big 12 was formed (he is 235-83).

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 131-13 (.910) when reaching the 80-point plateau. OU has won 48 of its last 51 and 64 of its last 68 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 26 times in 87 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 12-0 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).

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 108-48 (.692) regular season Big 12 Conference record.
OU has recorded a 159-22 (.878) record at Lloyd Noble Center and has won 77 of its last 83 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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