OU Goes for Bedlam Sweep Monday

GAME INFORMATION
Ranked No. 22 in last week's AP poll and No. 20 in the ESPN/USA Today version, Oklahoma (19-6, 10-4) plays host to Oklahoma State (15-13, 5-9) on Monday at 8 p.m. CST inside Lloyd Noble Center. The game, part of the Bedlam Series presented by Bank of Oklahoma and Oklahoma Ford Dealers, 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 nationally by ESPN with Ron Franklin (play-by-play), Fran Fraschilla (analyst) and Holly Rowe (sidelines) announcing.

TICKET INFORMATION
Reserved seats for the Oklahoma State game are sold out, but $20 restricted admission tickets will be available at Lloyd Noble Center's north and east windows beginning at 6:30 p.m. Monday.

REPLICA JERSEY PROMOTION
The first 200 OU students to the CrimZone student section areas on Monday will receive a free OU replica jersey of Kevin Bookout, Terrell Everett or Taj Gray. Doors open at 6 p.m. for OU students.

Notes PDF | Season Stats | Gameday Central

SENIOR NIGHT PLANS
Monday's home finale against Oklahoma State will mark the last home game for seniors Kevin Bookout, Terrell Everett and Taj Gray. The three will be honored prior to the game (at approximately 7:45 p.m.) and will also address the crowd following the game.

See how the Sooners stack up against OSU in the Bedlam Series presented by the Bank of Oklahoma and Your Oklahoma Ford Dealers!

NOTEWORTHY
Kevin Bookout is averaging 14.0 points and 8.8 rebounds in six career games versus OSU (he is shooting .696 from the field) ... Michael Neal has made 29 3-pointers over the last five games (5.8 average) ... Terrell Everett is averaging 10.2 assists over the last five games ... The Sooners have won 30 of their last 32 home games and 78 of their last 84.

OKLAHOMA PROJECTED STARTERS
F 21 Taj Gray (6-9, 238, Sr., 14.4 ppg, 7.9 rpg, 1.5 bpg)
F 34 Kevin Bookout (6-8, 270, Sr., 11.1 ppg, 7.0 rpg, 0.6 spg)
G 2 Michael Neal (6-3, 191, Jr., 13.5 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 1.8 apg)
G 3 Terrell Everett (6-4, 188, Sr., 12.6 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 6.8 apg)
G 15 David Godbold (6-5, 217, Jr., 5.6 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 1.5 apg)

OKLAHOMA STATE PROJECTED STARTERS
F 4 Mario Boggan (6-7, 240, Jr., 14.0 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 0.9 apg)
C 40 Kenny Cooper (6-10, 260, Fr., 2.1 ppg, 1.9 rpg, 0.3 apg)
G 00 Byron Eaton (5-11, 215, Fr., 7.4 ppg, 2.1 rpg, 3.2 apg)
G 10 Jamaal Brown (5-10, 200, Jr., 5.3 ppg, 1.5 rpg, 1.1 apg)
G 24 JamesOn Curry (6-3, 190, So., 13.8 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 4.1 apg)

OU UPDATE
The Sooners, who have showcased a flair for the dramatic during Big 12 play, won their third straight one-point game when they held off Kansas State 71-70 on Saturday in Norman. OU trailed by seven (63-56) with 8:20 remaining but outscored the Wildcats 15-7 the rest of the way. It was the sixth one-point decision for the Sooners this year, all in conference play. Taj Gray scored a team-high 23 points, his second most of the year, and blocked three shots while Michael Neal knocked down three 3-pointers en route to 15 points. Terrell Everett recorded his second double-double in the last three games with 12 points and 10 assists. It was the third time in the last five outings he reached double digits in assists. Everett added three steals. Kevin Bookout finished with seven points and six boards and came up with several clutch defensive plays down the stretch.

Neal is averaging 17.2 points over the last 11 games on 50-for-95 (.526) 3-point shooting. He has made at least four treys in eight of those 11 outings and has netted 29 triples over the past five games. Usually OU's sixth man, Neal has started the last four games in place of Austin Johnson (injured right ankle) and is averaging 22.0 points and 5.8 treys over those four outings. Included in those four games were a 26-point performance at Colorado (seven treys) and a career-high 29-point effort against Iowa State (eight treys). Neal, who missed OU's first two league games with a strained groin (the Sooners lost both by a combined three points), is averaging 13.5 points on the year and leads the Big 12 with 3.5 treys per game and a .438 3-point percentage.

Everett, who ranks third in the nation with his 6.8 assists average, has scored in double figures in 13 of OU's 14 conference games. In league play, the senior guard is averaging 14.4 points, 4.2 boards, a Big 12-best 7.3 assists and 1.9 steals. He has led OU in assists in 22 of 25 games this season.

Gray, a senior forward, leads Oklahoma in both scoring and rebounding this year with his 14.4 and 7.9 averages. He is shooting .571 from the field to rank third in the Big 12 and has shot .500 or better from the field in 20 of the team's 25 games this year. Bookout, another senior forward, has played the last 10 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 6.0 boards during the stretch. Bookout ranks fourth on the squad in scoring and second in rebounding with his 11.1 and 7.0 season averages. Owner of OU's second-best career field goal percentage (.575), he is shooting .565 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
OU was 6-for-14 from 3-point range, marking the ninth time in the last 10 games it shot at least .400 from deep.
Michael Neal's three 3-pointers gave him at least three treys in each of the last five games.
Oklahoma was outboarded for just the fourth time in 25 games this year (31-27) and for the second time at home.
Terrell Everett's 10 assists gave him his third double-digit assists game in the last five (averaging 10.2).
Nate Carter supplied nine points (4-for-4 from the field) and six rebounds in 24 minutes off the bench.
The win was OU's eighth straight against Kansas State and fifth straight versus the Wildcats in Norman.

ABOUT OKLAHOMA STATE
Oklahoma State has won two of its last three games to improve to 15-13 on the season and 5-9 in the Big 12. The Cowboys knocked off then-No. 6 Texas on Feb. 19, 81-60, followed with a 68-52 loss at Iowa State and then beat Texas Tech on Saturday, 74-63. OSU, which leads the Big 12 with its .483 field field goal percentage and its .744 free throw figure, is 10-5 at home this year and 3-6 on the road. Its three road victories came at Pepperdine, Baylor and Kansas State.

Junior forward Mario Boggan leads the Cowboys with his 14.0 and 5.8 scoring and rebounding averages. He is shooting .575 from the field to rank second in the conference and owns a .807 free throw mark to rank third. Sophomore guard JamesOn Curry averages 13.8 points and 4.1 assists per outing, and has made a team-high 54 treys (shooting .378 from behind the arc). Torre Johnson, a junior forward, supplies 10.7 points and 4.4 boards a game while shooting .559 from the field. David Monds is another junior forward who averages 8.2 points and 5.2 rebounds a game. He is shooting .523 from the floor. Freshman point guard Byron Eaton, who has started 24 of 28 games, averages 7.4 points, 3.2 assists and 1.8 steals.

Head coach Eddie Sutton is 366-148 (.712) in his 16th year at Oklahoma State and is 796-312 (.718) overall in his 36th season.

SERIES WITH THE COWBOYS
Oklahoma owns a 120-87 all-time record against Oklahoma State and is 73-26 in Norman. Under Kelvin Sampson, the Sooners are 11-14 against the Cowboys and hold an 8-3 record at Lloyd Noble Center. OU has won four of the series' last five games in Norman, including a 67-57 outcome last year in which the Sooners jumped to a 19-2 advantage and led by as many as 20 in the second half. Kevin Bookout (23) and Taj Gray (22) combined for 45 points on 21-for-29 field goal shooting in the contest.

EARLIER THIS YEAR AGAINST OSU
The Sooners won in Stillwater for the first time since 2000 when they notched a 73-65 victory three weeks ago (Feb. 8). Terrell Everett scored 23 points (the third most of his career) and added five rebounds and five assists while Kevin Bookout registered 13 points, Michael Neal 12 and Taylor Griffin 10. Taj Gray was held to five points and four rebounds after getting into early foul trouble. OU shot .522 from the field and .710 from the free throw line (22-for-31) while outboarding the Cowboys 33-28. The Sooners led by nine at halftime (26-17) and by as many as 18 in the second half (52-34) before OSU went 5-for-7 from 3-point range in the final 3:09 to draw within single digits. Oklahoma State entered the game as the Big 12's best field goal shooting team (.498) but was held to a .222 mark in the first half and a .408 figure for the game. JamesOn Curry led OSU with 20 points while Mario Boggan scored 18. See page 29 of these game notes for the box score.

IF OKLAHOMA WINS
An OU win Monday over Oklahoma State would...

Give the Sooners their second regular season sweep of the Cowboys under Kelvin Sampson (they did it in 1999).
Give the Sooners 20 wins for the ninth consecutive season.
Give the Sooners an 11-4 league record, marking the eighth time in 10 Big 12 seasons that they reached 11 victories.
Give the Sooners a final 14-1 home record this season. OU would improve to 28-2 over the last two seasons at Lloyd Noble Center.
Give it 11 victories in the last 13 games.

QUICK TIPS
Dating back to last year, Oklahoma has outboarded 28 of its last 33 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 13-0 this year when committing the same number of or fewer turnovers than its opponents.
Taj Gray has shot .500 or better from the field in 20 of 25 games this year while Kevin Bookout has done it 19 times. Gray is shooting .571 on the season and Bookout owns a .565 mark.
Gray (7.9) and Bookout (7.0) rank fourth and eighth in the Big 12 in rebounding.
Bookout has played in 104 career games and has started 103 of them. As a freshman in 2003, he yielded to Jozsef Szendrei on Senior Day.
Terrell Everett ranks No. 3 nationally in assists (6.8 apg). He has led OU in assists in 22 of 25 outings this year and in 46 of his 58 career games.
Michael Neal has made at least two treys in 20 of his 23 games. In Big 12 play, he leads the league with his 4.3 treys per game and his .515 3-point percentage.
Neal is averaging 4.5 3-point makes over the last 11 games.
Over the last five outings, Neal is averaging 21.2 points and 5.8 treys.
Opponents are shooting .394 from 3-point range (OU ranks 12th 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, 17, 15 and 15.
OU has registered double-digit offensive boards in 24 of 25 games while foes have done it 11 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 30 of their last 32 home games and 78 of their last 84.

HEART-STOPPERS
Six of Oklahoma's games this year (all in Big 12 play) have been decided by one point and the Sooners are 4-2 in those contests. Each of OU's last three games have been one-point victories. The six one-point decisions are the most in single-season school history, as are the four victories. Oklahoma played five one-point games in 1955-56 and won three one-point decisions in three different seasons (1944-45, 1997-98 and 1998-99). The Sooners are 15-4 under Kelvin Sampson in one-point games. OU has also lost a two-point game to Missouri this season and won a three-point contest against SMU.

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 12 games, 10 of them wins. In his 12 league outings, Neal is averaging a team-high 16.0 points and is shooting .515 from beyond the 3-point arc (51-for-99). He is averaging 17.2 points and 4.5 treys over the last 11 contests. Here are more notes on OU's sharpshooter...

Neal's 29 treys over the last five games represent the most by a Sooner over a five-game span in school history. Calvin Curry canned 22 treys over five straight games in 1993-94.
Neal is averaging 22.0 points and 5.8 treys over the last four games (all starts). He had 26 points and seven treys at Colorado Feb. 15, a career-high 29 points and a career-high eight triples Feb. 18 against Iowa State, 18 points and five 3-pointers Feb. 20 at Texas Tech and 15 points and three treys Saturday versus Kansas State.
Neal has scored in double figures in each of the last 11 games and has led OU in scoring in four of the last five.
Neal has made at least one 3-pointer in all 23 of his games, at least two in 20 contests, at least four in 11 outings and at least five in six games.
Neal leads the Big 12 in 3-point percentage (.438) and ranks second in 3-pointers per game (3.5). In Big 12 games, he leads the league with his .515 3-point mark and his 4.3 treys per outing.
Neal has made at least four 3-pointers in eight of the last 11 games (he made two treys in two of the other games and three in the other).
Neal is averaging 18.8 points and 5.0 treys in his six 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.

RETURNED TO FORM
Over the last 12 games, senior guard Terrell Everett has looked like the player that Kelvin Sampson labeled as OU's MVP last year. Everett is averaging 14.9 points, 3.8 rebounds, 7.2 assists and 1.9 steals over the last 12 outings (OU is 10-2). 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).

WINTER WARMTH
Oklahoma endured below-average 3-point shooting over its first 13 games but has turned up the heat in its last 12 outings. In their first 13 contests, the Sooners shot .294 from beyond the arc and averaged 5.0 treys. Over the past 12 games, however, OU is shooting .429 from long range and is averaging 7.3 makes. Michael Neal has made 51 treys on 99 attempts (.515) during the stretch. The Sooners have shot .400 or better from 3-point range in nine of the last 10 contests.

WINDOW WIPERS
Oklahoma is outboarding its opponents 939-681 on the year and ranks third in the nation in rebounding margin per game (+10.3). Here are more rebounding notes...

OU has outrebounded 21 of its 25 opponents. Included were margins of 28 against Samford, 22 against Belmont and Alabama, 21 versus Texas Tech, 20 versus SMU, 18 against Binghamton, 17 versus Missouri, 16 versus Tulsa and 15 against Texas Tech.
Oklahoma has grabbed 381 offensive boards (15.2 per game) while its foes have secured just 221 (8.8).
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, 17, 15 and 15 offensive boards.
Taj Gray averages a team-high 7.9 rebounds while Kevin Bookout averages 7.0. The last time two Sooners both averaged at least 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 24 of 25 games (14 times by Gray and 10 by Bookout).

HOME IS WHERE THE “W” IS
Lloyd Noble Center has been overly kind to the Sooners, as they have won 30 of the last 32 games and 78 of the last 84 in the building. Oklahoma is 13-1 at home this year and finished 14-1 last season. It is 160-22 (.879) at Lloyd Noble in Kelvin Sampson's 12 years as head coach. OU is 397-65 (.859) 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 11.1 points and 7.0 rebounds while shooting .565 from the field and .632 from the foul line. He ranks sixth in the Big 12 (league games) in rebounding with 6.9 per game, despite playing the last 10 contests with a broken bone in his left wrist. The wrist and his thumb are heavily taped, limiting his ability to catch and handle 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 1,062 points to rank 30th all-time at OU. Bookout also ranks No. 2 all-time in field goal percentage (.575) and ranks 14th with 659 career rebounds.

DIME DROPPER
Although he was not recruited to OU as a point guard, senior Terrell Everett leads the Big 12 and ranks third in the nation with his 6.8 assists per game. The slender 6-4 lefty, a natural wing who played some point last year, has led the Sooners in assists 46 times in his 58 career games, including 22 times in 25 outings this year. He had a career-high 15 assists against Baylor on Feb. 11, 11 against Iowa State on Feb. 18 and 10 more Saturday versus Kansas State.

BIG 12 KING
Kelvin Sampson has amassed 110 regular season Big 12 victories, most in league history. He is 110-48 (.696) 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 127-54) and holds the mark for most overall wins by a conference coach since the Big 12 was formed (he is 237-83).

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 27 times in 89 games (30 percent of the time). OU finished 20-2 last year when committing fewer (or the same number of) turnovers than its foe and is 13-0 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 110-48 (.696) regular season Big 12 Conference record.
OU has recorded a 160-22 (.879) record at Lloyd Noble Center and has won 78 of its last 84 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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