Sooners Draw Huskers in Big 12 Quarters

CHAMPIONSHIP INFORMATION
The recipient of a first-round bye for the eighth time in 10 Phillips 66 Big 12 Championships, Oklahoma (20-7 overall, 11-5 Big 12) is the No. 3 seed in this year's event, to be played at American Airlines Center in Dallas. The Sooners are ranked No. 22 in this week's AP poll and No. 19 in the ESPN/USA Today version.

Texas, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas A&M are the top four seeds, respectively, and did not play Thursday. OU will begin its quest for a fourth Big 12 Tournament title in the last six years on Friday at 8:20 p.m. CST against No. 6 seed Nebraska, which beat No. 11 seed Missouri on Thursday night, 71-64.

If OU wins on Friday, it will play a semifinal contest Saturday at 3:20 p.m. Sunday's championship game will start at 2 p.m. CST.

All of OU's Big 12 Championship games will air live on the Sooner Basketball Radio Network (flagship KOKC 1520 AM in Oklahoma City) with Bob Barry, Sr. (play-by-play) and Mike Houck (analyst) calling the action. The Sooners' Friday contest will be televised by ESPN Plus (KOCB channel 34 in Oklahoma City and KJRH Channel 2 in Tulsa) and ESPNU (DirecTV channel 609).

Saturday's semifinal contests will be televised by ESPN Plus in Big 12 markets and by ESPN2 outside of the region. Sunday's championship game will be shown nationally by ESPN.

Big 12 Championship Central

OKLAHOMA AND THE BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIP
Oklahoma has claimed three Big 12 Championship titles, tying Kansas for the most in league history. OU won in 2001, '02 and '03.
OU has made five Big 12 Championship title game appearances in the nine previous events. Kansas has made four, Oklahoma State has made three while Missouri and Texas have made two each. Iowa State has made one.
OU's 17-6 (.739) Big 12 Championship record stands as the league's best. Kansas is 16-6 (.727), Oklahoma State is 12-7 (.632), Missouri is 12-9 (.571) and Texas is 9-9 (.500).
Oklahoma is 11-2 over the last five Big 12 Championships. It won a record-tying 10 straight games before losing to Texas in 2004.

OKLAHOMA PROJECTED STARTERS
F 21 Taj Gray (6-9, 238, Sr., 14.4 ppg, 7.7 rpg, 1.5 bpg)
F 34 Kevin Bookout (6-8, 270, Sr., 11.1 ppg, 6.8 rpg, 0.6 spg)
G 2 Michael Neal (6-3, 191, Jr., 13.0 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 2.0 apg)
G 3 Terrell Everett (6-4, 188, Sr., 12.3 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 6.6 apg)
G 15 David Godbold (6-5, 217, Jr., 5.3 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 1.6 apg)

TOP RESERVES
F 24 Nate Carter (6-6, 220, Jr., 6.4 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 0.6 apg)
F 34 Taylor Griffin (6-7, 232, Fr., 3.2 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 0.5 apg)
G 20 Austin Johnson (6-3, 168, Fr., 2.9 ppg, 2.1 rpg, 1.8 apg)
C 30 Longar Longar (6-11, 225, So., 2.1 ppg, 2.0 rpg, *0.5 bpg)
G 1 Chris Walker (6-3, 188, Jr., 1.2 ppg, 0.8 rpg, 1.2 apg)

OU UPDATE
The Sooners, who entered Sunday's game at Texas riding a four-game winning streak (all four by one point), sustained their first double-digit conference loss of the season, 72-48. OU shot .420 from the field and .267 (4-for-15) from 3-point range while the Longhorns posted .482 and .375 (9-for-24) figures. Oklahoma outrebounded Texas 28-27, but committed twice as many turnovers (14-7).

Junior guard Michael Neal, OUs leading scorer in Big 12 games (14.8 ppg), is averaging 15.7 points over the last 13 games on 53-for-105 (.505) 3-point shooting and was named the Big 12 Newcomer of the Year on Monday. He has made at least four treys in eight of those 13 outings and has netted 32 triples over the past seven games. Usually OU's sixth man, Neal has started the last six games in place of Austin Johnson (injured right ankle) and is averaging 17.2 points and 4.3 treys over those six outings. Included in those six 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), led the Big 12 in conference play with his .495 3-point percentage and 3.9 treys per game.

Senior guard Terrell Everett, who leads the Big 12 and ranks sixth in the nation with his 6.6 assists average, scored in double figures in 14 of OU's 16 conference games. In league play, Everett averaged 13.7 points, 3.9 boards, a Big 12-best 6.9 assists and 1.9 steals. He has led OU in assists in 22 of 27 games this season and was named a second-team All-Big 12 selection on Monday.

Taj Gray, a senior forward who also earned second-team All-Big 12 honors and was named to the league's all-defensive team, leads Oklahoma in both scoring and rebounding this year with his 14.4 and 7.7 averages. He is shooting .572 from the field to rank third in the Big 12 and has shot .500 or better from the field in 22 of the team's 27 games this year. Kevin Bookout, another senior forward, has played the last 12 games with a fractured navicular bone in his left wrist (he sustained the injury Jan. 21 against Texas Tech) and has averaged 9.8 points and 5.6 boards during the stretch. An honorable mention All-Big 12 pick, Bookout ranks fourth on the squad in scoring and second in rebounding with his 11.1 and 6.8 season averages. Owner of OU's second-best career field goal percentage (.574), he is shooting .561 this year. Bookout was also named an ESPN The Magazine third-team Academic All-American on March 1. He became the fourth men's basketball Academic All-American in OU history.

SUNDAY'S LEFTOVERS
The loss at Texas was Oklahoma's first against a Big 12 South opponent this season (OU finished 9-1). The defeat was also the first this season against a team from the Lone Star State (the Sooners are now 8-1).
Longar Longar scored a season-high eight points in a season-high 15 minutes. He was 4-for-6 from the field.
Michael Neal was 2-for-5 from 3-point range, giving him 54 treys in his 14 conference games. His 3.9 treys per Big 12 game set a league record.
Oklahoma outrebounded its 23rd opponent in 27 games this season.

OU'S CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY
The Sooners are 40-22 (.645) in conference postseason action (17-6 in nine seasons of the Big 12 format). Oklahoma has participated in 12 tournament championship games, including five of the last eight, and has won seven crowns. OU's 2003 title was its third in a row. The Sooners also earned titles in 1979, 1985, 1988 and 1990. Head coach Kelvin Sampson is 18-8 in 11 previous tournament appearances (he was 1-2 in the Big Eight Tourney) and has guided five squads to championship games (1998, 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2003). For more information on Oklahoma's Big Eight/Big 12 Championship history, consult pages 132-134 of the media guide.

A WIN ON FRIDAY WOULD...
Give Oklahoma 12 victories in its last 14 conference tournament games and 14 in its last 17.
Mark the eighth straight season that OU has won its opening Big 12 Championship contest.
Improve OU to 5-0 in Big 12 Championship quarterfinals play as the No. 3 seed.
Give the Sooners their seventh straight win in the Big 12 Championship as the No. 3 seed.
Improve OU's all-time record at American Airlines Center to 7-1 (the Sooners went 2-0 in the 2002 NCAA Tournament, 3-0 in the 2003 Big 12 Championship and 1-1 in the 2004 Big 12 Championship).
Give Oklahoma eight wins in its last nine games against Nebraska.

SERIES WITH NEBRASKA
Oklahoma holds a 102-79 series lead against Nebraska and is 3-3 in conference tournament play. Kelvin Sampson is 11-4 against the Huskers as OU's head coach. The Sooners won the only meeting in Big 12 Championship play, a 63-59 decision in the 2004 quarterfinals in Dallas. OU has won seven of the last eight overall meetings, with the lone loss coming earlier this season in Lincoln, 59-58, on Jan. 7. Oklahoma led by 10 early in the second half and went up by five with 40 seconds left on a pair of David Godbold free throws. Nebraska hit a pair of 3-pointers in the final 23 seconds, the second by Joe McCray with 5.6 seconds remaining, for the victory. Terrell Everett's length-of-the-court drive and five-footer at the buzzer was off the mark. Kevin Bookout led the Sooners with 14 points and was followed by Godbold (13) and Everett (12). Michael Neal missed the game with a strained groin. Jason Dourisseau paced the Huskers with 17 points and was followed by Charles Richardson (15) and McCray (12).

LAST YEAR IN KANSAS CITY
Seeded No. 1 in last year's Big 12 Tournament played at Kemper Arena in Kansas City, the Sooners outlasted No. 8 seed Missouri in the quarterfinals, 83-79, before falling to No. 4 seed Texas Tech in the semis, 69-63. Against the Tigers, OU led by 17 in the first half and by as many as 15 in the second before MU took four one-point leads in the last five minutes. Missouri stayed close by making 33-of-36 free throws on the day while OU was 28-for-33. Terrell Everett led five Sooners in double figures with his 18 points while Kevin Bookout had a double-double with 10 points and 11 boards. Linas Kleiza scored a game-high 33 for the Tigers. The loss to Texas Tech snapped a seven-game winning streak. Ronald Ross (28) and Jarrius Jackson (22) combined for 50 of the Red Raiders' 69 points. OU shot just .379 for the game, its worst figure in nearly two months. Everett scored 15 points to pace the Sooners.

QUICK TIPS
The No. 3 seed in the Big 12 Championship has won four of the nine titles (tied for most with the No. 1 seed), including three of the last five.
This marks the fifth time in the 10 years of the Big 12 Championship that Oklahoma is the No. 3 seed. OU is 10-2 in the tournament as the No. 3 seed and has advanced to the title game each of the four previous occasions. The Sooners won the 2001 and 2003 titles from the third spot.
Dating back to last year, Oklahoma has outboarded 29 of its last 34 opponents.
Three of OU's five conference losses came by a combined four points.
The Sooners have held leads of at least seven points in six of their seven losses (10 points at Villanova, nine vs. West Virginia, 10 at Nebraska, seven against Missouri, 16 at Kansas and eight at Colorado).
OU is 14-0 this year when committing the same number of or fewer turnovers than its opponents. It is 6-7 when it commits more turnovers.
Taj Gray has shot .500 or better from the field in 22 of 27 games this year while Kevin Bookout has done it 21 times. Gray is shooting .572 on the season and Bookout owns a .561 mark.
Bookout has played in 106 career games and has started 105 of them. As a freshman in 2003, he yielded to Jozsef Szendrei on Senior Day.
Terrell Everett ranked No. 3 nationally in assists (6.8 apg) in last week's NCAA statistics report. He has led OU in assists in 22 of 27 outings this year and in 46 of his 60 career games.
Michael Neal has made at least two treys in 21 of his 25 games. In Big 12 play, he led the conference with his 3.9 treys per game and his .495 3-point percentage.
Over the last seven outings, Neal is averaging 17.3 points and 4.6 treys.
Opponents are shooting .395 from 3-point range (OU ranks last 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.
OU has registered double-digit offensive boards in 25 of 27 games while foes have done it 12 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.

GOOD POINT
Seven of Oklahoma's games this year (all in Big 12 play) have been decided by one point and the Sooners are 5-2 in those contests. Prior to Sunday's game at Texas, OU played four straight one-point games and won each of them. Based on polling of the nation's men's basketball media relations directors, it is believed to be the first time that any Division I school ever won four consecutive games by one point each. Here are more notes about OU's one-point games this season...

OU participated in seven of the nine Big 12 league contests that were decided by one point.
The seven one-point decisions are the most in single-season school history, as are the five victories. Oklahoma played five one-point games in 1955-56 and 1979-80 and won three one-point decisions in five different seasons (1944-45, 1961-62, 1969-70, 1997-98 and 1998-99).
This is just the second time a current Big 12 program has had four straight games decided by one point. In 1925-26, Oklahoma State played four consecutive one-point games (it won the first three and lost the fourth).
The record for one-point games in a season by a current Big 12 school is eight by Texas A&M in 1968-69 (it finished with a 6-2 record).
Kelvin Sampson is 16-4 at Oklahoma in one-point games.

NINE STRAIGHT 20-WIN SEASONS
With its win over Oklahoma State on Feb. 27, Kelvin Sampson has now coached OU to nine consecutive 20-win seasons. Including this season, only two other coaches have posted 20 victories each of the last nine years: Mike Krzyzewski (10) and Jim Calhoun (9). As of Monday, Jim Boeheim (eight years) and Tubby Smith (12 years) need one more win to extend their streaks, while Lute Olson needs two more to extend his streak of 15 straight 20-win campaigns.

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 14 games, 11 of them wins. In Big 12 outings, Neal averaged a team-high 14.8 points and shot a league-best .495 from beyond the 3-point arc (54-for-109). He set a conference record by averaging 3.9 treys per league contest. Here are more notes on OU's sharpshooter...

Neal has made 32 treys over the last seven games.
Neal canned 26 3-pointers over a four-game span (6.5 average) from mid to late February.
Neal is averaging 17.2 points and 4.5 treys over the last six games (all starts). Included was a 26-point game at Colorado (seven treys) and a career-high 29-point effort versus Iowa State (eight triples).
Neal has scored in double figures in 11 of the last 13 outings.
Neal has made at least one 3-pointer in all 25 of his games, at least two in 21 contests, at least four in 11 outings and at least five in six games.
In Big 12 games, Neal led the league in 3-point percentage (.495) and 3-pointers per game (3.9).
Neal has made at least four 3-pointers in eight of the last 13 games (he made two treys in three of the other games and three in another).

RETURNED TO FORM
Over the second half of the season, senior guard Terrell Everett has looked like the player that Kelvin Sampson labeled as OU's MVP last year. Everett is averaging 14.1 points, 3.5 rebounds, 6.7 assists and 1.9 steals over the last 14 outings (OU is 11-3). 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 to help claim a Big 12 regular season title (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 14 outings. In their first 13 contests, the Sooners shot .294 from beyond the arc and averaged 5.0 treys. Over the past 14 games, however, OU is shooting .412 from long range and is averaging 6.6 makes. Michael Neal has made 54 treys on 109 attempts (.495) during the stretch. The Sooners have shot .400 or better from 3-point range in nine of the last 12 contests.

WINDOW WIPERS
Oklahoma is outboarding its opponents 995-735 on the year and ranks third in the nation in rebounding margin per game (+9.6). Here are more rebounding notes...

OU has outrebounded 23 of its 27 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 399 offensive boards (14.8 per game) while its foes have secured just 240 (8.9).
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 or Kevin Bookout have led OU in rebounding in 26 of 27 games (16 times by Gray and 10 by Bookout).

ROCK SOLID BOOKOUT
Senior forward Kevin Bookout has, yet again, overcome multiple injuries and has put together 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 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 6.8 rebounds while shooting .561 from the field. He ranks eighth in the Big 12 in rebounding with 6.8 per game, despite playing the last 12 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 1,084 points to rank 29th all-time at OU. Bookout also ranks No. 2 all-time in field goal percentage (.574) and ranks 14th with 666 career rebounds.

DIME DROPPER
Although he was not recruited to OU as a point guard, senior Terrell Everett leads the Big 12 and ranks sixth in the nation with his 6.6 assists per game. Over the last seven games he is averaging 8.6 assists. The slender 6-4 lefty, a natural wing who played some point last year, has led the Sooners in assists 46 times in his 60 career games, including 22 times in 27 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 Feb. 25 versus Kansas State.

BIG 12 KING
Kelvin Sampson has amassed 111 regular season Big 12 victories, most in league history. He is 111-49 (.694) 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 128-55) and holds the mark for most overall wins by a conference coach since the Big 12 was formed (he is 238-84).

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 28 times in 91 games (31 percent of the time). OU finished 20-2 last year when committing fewer (or the same number of) turnovers than its foe and is 14-0 this year under the circumstance.

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 111-49 (.694) regular season Big 12 Conference record.
OU has recorded a 161-22 (.880) record at Lloyd Noble Center and has won 79 of its last 85 home games.
OU has won at least 20 games each of the last nine years.
OU has averaged 25 victories over the past seven seasons.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Sooners Draw Huskers in Big 12 Quarters

Related News

Related Videos

Sponsors