Bedlam Awaits Sooners, Cowboys

GAME INFORMATION
Ranked No. 20 in this week's AP and ESPN/USA Today polls, Oklahoma (14-5, 5-3) plays at Oklahoma State (13-9, 3-5) on Wednesday at 8 p.m. CST inside Gallagher-Iba Arena. The game, part of The Bedlam Series, presented by Bank of Oklahoma and Oklahoma Ford Dealers, will air on the Sooner Radio Network (flagship KRXO 107.7 FM 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 KJRH 2/Cox 9 in Tulsa) with Bob Carpenter (play-by-play) and Reid Gettys (analyst) announcing.

NOTEWORTHY
Kevin Bookout has averaged 14.2 points and 10.0 rebounds in five career games against OSU (33-for-48 from the field) ... Michael Neal is 19 for his last 34 (.559) from 3-point range ... Terrell Everett is averaging 16.0 points (11-for-23 from 3-point range) over the last six games ... OU leads the nation in rebounding margin (+12.0 rpg).

Game Notes PDF | Season Stats | Gameday Central

OKLAHOMA PROJECTED STARTERS
F 21 Taj Gray (6-9, 238, Sr., 15.0 ppg, 8.1 rpg, 1.3 bpg)
F 34 Kevin Bookout (6-8, 270, Sr., 11.6 ppg, 7.5 rpg, 0.7 spg)
G 3 Terrell Everett (6-4, 188, Sr., 12.2 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 6.1 apg)
G 15 David Godbold (6-5, 217, Jr., 5.8 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 1.4 apg)
G 20 Austin Johnson (6-3, 168, Fr., 3.6 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 1.9 apg)

OKLAHOMA STATE PROJECTED STARTERS
F 4 Mario Boggan (6-7, 240, Jr., 13.9 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 0.8 apg)
F 5 Marcus Dove (6-9, 215, So., 5.0 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 1.8 apg)
C 40 Kenny Cooper (6-10, 260, Fr., 2.2 ppg, 1.6 rpg, 3.5 apg)
G 10 Jamaal Brown (5-10, 200, Jr., 9.5 ppg, 1.7 rpg, 4.1 apg)
G 24 JamesOn Curry (6-3, 190, So., 14.6 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 2.4 apg)

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

OU UPDATE
The Sooners squandered a 16-point second-half lead at Kansas on Sunday and lost their second one-point Big 12 road game of the year, 59-58 (their three league losses have come by a combined four points). Oklahoma led 50-34 midway through the second half and was up 53-38 with 7:58 remaining before being outscored 21-5 the rest of the game. The defeat snapped OU's five-game winning streak and kept Kelvin Sampson winless in Lawrence (0-7). The Sooners, who had shot .500 or better in their previous three games, were held to a .348 figure against the Jayhawks and just a .278 mark in the second half.

Taj Gray, who had 13 points and 12 boards (10 offensive) at Kansas, leads Oklahoma in both scoring and rebounding this year with his 15.0 and 8.1 averages. The senior forward is shooting .582 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 19 games this year. Fellow senior forward Kevin Bookout has played the last four games with a fractured navicular bone in his left wrist (he sustained the injury Jan. 21 against Texas Tech) and has averaged 9.5 points and 6.5 boards against Baylor, Texas, Texas A&M and Kansas. He is coming off an eight-point, 11-rebound effort against the Jayhawks. Bookout ranks third on the squad in scoring and second in rebounding with his 11.6 and 7.5 season averages. OU's second best career field goal shooter (.576), he is shooting .568 this year.

Terrell Everett, who scored a team-high 14 points and added seven boards at KU, ranks second on the team in scoring (12.2 ppg), third in rebounds (4.5 rpg) and first in assists (6.1 apg) and steals (1.6 spg). In eight league games, the senior guard is averaging a team-high 14.8 points, 5.8 boards, 5.8 assists and 1.8 steals. He has led OU in assists in 16 of 19 games this season.

OU's hot-shooting sixth man, junior Michael Neal is averaging 14.2 points over the last five games on 19-for-37 (.514) 3-point shooting. He has made at least four treys in four of the last five 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 50 treys and a .394 3-point percentage.

SUNDAY'S LEFTOVERS
Kansas entered the game outrebounding its opponents by an average of 7.5 boards a game, but the Sooners won the glass battle by a 44-34 count. OU has outrebounded 17 of its 19 opponents this year.
The Sooners grabbed double-digit offensive rebounds (22) for the 19th time in 19 games.
Kevin Bookout became the 34th Sooner in history to score 1,000 career points (he now has 1,004).
Taj Gray's double-double (13 points and 12 rebounds) was his fourth of the year.
Gray and Bookout entered the game shooting .608 and .587 from the field, respectively, but were a combined 10-for-29 (.345) on the day. Gray was 6-for-17 and Bookout was 4-for-12.
During a 19-3 Kansas run over a seven-minute span late in the game, OU shot 1-for-12 from the field.

ABOUT OKLAHOMA STATE
Oklahoma State registered a 63-61 come-from-behind win at Kansas State on Saturday to snap a four-game losing streak. The Cowboys, who enter Wednesday's game with a 13-9 overall record and a 3-5 league mark, are 8-3 at home (the losses were to Northwestern State, Colorado and Nebraska). Three of their Big 12 losses were by two points (two of them in overtime) and two of their conference victories were by two points. OSU leads the Big 12 with its .498 season field goal percentage and shoots .380 from 3-point range and .727 from the free throw line. Opponents are shooting .442 from the field and .362 from long distance.

Junior forward Mario Boggan leads the Cowboys with his 13.9 and 5.6 scoring and rebounding averages. He is shooting .592 from the field to rank second in the conference and owns a .787 free throw mark to rank fifth. Sophomore guard JamesOn Curry averages 13.2 points and 4.5 assists per outing, and has made a team-high 41 treys (shooting .376 from behind the arc). Torre Johnson, a junior forward, supplies 12.1 points and 4.8 boards a game while shooting .576 from the field. David Monds is another junior forward who averages 9.1 points and 5.5 rebounds a game. He is shooting .535 from the floor. Freshman point guard Byron Eaton, who came off the bench for the first time of the year on Saturday, averages 7.6 points, 3.5 assists and 1.9 steals.

Head coach Eddie Sutton is 364-144 (.717) in his 16th year at Oklahoma State and is 794-308 (.721) overall in his 36th season.

SERIES WITH THE COWBOYS
Oklahoma holds a 119-87 series lead against Oklahoma State but is 40-56 in games played in Stillwater. Since winning consecutive games inside Gallagher-Iba Arena in 1999 (54-43) and 2000 (59-56), OU has lost five straight there. Kelvin Sampson is 10-14 against the Cowboys as OU's head coach and is 2-9 in Stillwater.

LAST YEAR AGAINST OKLAHOMA STATE
The Sooners and Cowboys split the season series last year with both teams winning by double figures at home. Thirteenth-ranked Oklahoma posted a 67-57 win over ninth-ranked Oklahoma State on Jan. 24 before the 10th-ranked Cowboys returned the favor with a 79-67 victory over 16th-ranked OU on Feb. 7. In the first meeting, the Sooners jumped out to a 19-2 lead and led by as many as 20 (51-31). Kevin Bookout (23) and Taj Gray (22) combined for 45 points on 21-for-29 field goal shooting. They accounted for OU's first 19 points. OU shot .537 from the field and registered assists on 21 of their 29 hoops. Ivan McFarlin paced OSU with 16 points while Joey Graham scored 15.

In the rematch, OU outshot (.537 to .526) and outrebounded (30-27) the Cowboys, but was plagued by 5-for-12 (.417) free throw shooting and 15 turnovers. Bookout registered a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds while Gray added 14 and eight. The pair was 13-for-18 from the floor. OSU was aided by an 8-for-14 3-point effort as Graham and JamesOn Curry netted 22 points each.

QUICK TIPS
Dating back to last year, Oklahoma has outboarded 24 of its last 27 opponents.
OU's three conference losses have come by a combined four points.
Oklahoma shot .500 or better from the field in three straight games before its .348 effort at Kansas.
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).
Taj Gray has shot .500 or better from the field in 16 of 19 games this year while Kevin Bookout has done it in 15 games. Gray owns a .582 season mark while Bookout is shooting .568.
Gray (8.1) and Bookout (7.9) rank third and fourth in the Big 12 (league games) in rebounding.
Terrell Everett has scored in double figures in all eight Big 12 games and is averaging a team-high 14.8 points during league play.
Michael Neal ranks fourth in the Big 12 in 3-pointers made per game (2.9) and has made at least two treys in 14 of his 17 games. He is 19 for his last 34 from 3-point range.
Opponents are shooting .380 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 in 19 games this year, with other games of 19, 18, 17, 17, 15 and 15.
OU has posted double-digit offensive boards in all 19 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.

WINTER WARMTH
Oklahoma endured below-average 3-point shooting over its first 13 games but has turned up the heat in its last six outings. In their first 13 contests, the Sooners shot .294 from beyond the arc and averaged 5.0 treys. Over the past six games, however, OU is shooting .416 from long range and is averaging 7.0 makes. Michael Neal has made 20 treys on 41 attempts (.488) during the stretch while Terrell Everett is 11-for-23 (.478).

GETTING DEFENSIVE
Oklahoma's recent 5-1 performance coincides with some gritty defensive performances. Over the last six games, the Sooners have limited their foes to an average of 56.3 points and to combined .395 field goal shooting. OU has also forced an average of 15.2 turnovers per game during the stretch.

RETURNED TO FORM
Over the last six games, senior guard Terrell Everett has looked like the player that Kelvin Sampson labeled as OU's MVP last year. Everett is averaging 16.0 points, 5.5 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 1.7 steals over the last six outings (OU is 5-1) while shooting .458 from the field and .478 from 3-point territory (11-for-23). 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 six games, five of them wins. In his six league outings, Neal is averaging 12.3 points and is shooting .488 from beyond the 3-point arc (20-for-41). He is averaging 14.2 points and 3.8 treys over the last five contests.

WINDOW WIPERS
The Sooners are outboarding their opponents 728-500 on the year and lead the nation with a +12.0 rebounding margin per game. LSU ranks second with a +10.8 margin. Here are some more rebounding notes.

OU has outrebounded 17 of its 19 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 307 offensive boards (16.2 per game) while its foes have secured just 159 (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 8.1 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 19 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 12.1 boards per outing. He has averaged 11.7 minutes in his 17 games.

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 11.6 points and 7.5 rebounds while shooting .568 from the field and .647 from the foul line. He ranks fourth in the Big 12 (league games) in rebounding with 7.9 per game, despite playing the last four 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 Sunday, Kevin Bookout became the 34th player in school history to score 1,000 career points. He now has 1,004 points to his credit to rank 32nd all-time at OU. Bookout also ranks second all-time in field goal percentage (.576) behind Wayman Tisdale (.578) and ranks 15th with 625 career rebounds.

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 performed 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 15 contests while shooting .592 from the field. Gray, who averages 15.0 points, 8.1 rebounds and 1.4 blocks on the year, scored a career-high 31 points in a loss to West Virginia on Dec. 22.

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 58-for-99 (.586) from the charity stripe over the last six games. The swoon has dropped OU's season figure to .702, 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 6.1 assists per game (he trails only Iowa State's Will Blalock, who averages 6.4). 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 40 times in his 52 career games, including 16 times in 19 outings this year.

BIG 12 KING
Kelvin Sampson has amassed 104 regular season Big 12 victories, most in league history. He is 105-47 (.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 122-53) and holds the mark for most overall wins by a conference coach since the Big 12 was formed (he is 232-82).

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 23 times in 83 games (28 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 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 105-47 (.691) 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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