Completed Event: Men's Basketball versus Auburn on February 24, 2026 , Win , 91, to, 79
Final
Men's Basketball
91
vs Auburn
79
University of Oklahoma Athletics
Sooners Back at Home Wednesday
November 20, 2007 | Men's Basketball
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GAME PREVIEW
Oklahoma (4-1) will attempt to give head coach Jeff Capel his 100th career win when it hosts Morehead State (1-2) on Wednesday at 7 p.m. CST at Lloyd Noble Center. The Sooners are 3-0 at home this year while the Eagles are 0-2 in road contests.
Wednesday's game will air on the Sooner Radio Network (KOKC-AM 1520 in Oklahoma City; KTBZ-AM-1430 in Tulsa; Sirius channel 143) with Bob Barry Sr. and Mike Houck announcing. The game will be televised by the Sooner Sports Network (KAUT channel 43/Cox 16 in OKC; Cox 3 in Tulsa; ESPN Full Court) with Bob Carpenter and Charlie Spoonhour announcing. Additionally, an Internet webcast on SoonerSports.com will be available (an "All-Access" subscription is required).
TICKET INFORMATION
• Tickets for Wednesday's game are available for $10 and $20. The $10 seats are located in the upper north and south sections of Lloyd Noble Center. The $20 seats are located in the upper east and west, and lower north and south sections.
• Family packs are available for Wednesday's game. For $10, fans get a game ticket, a hot dog, a soft drink and a coupon for a free T-shirt (a minimum purchase of four tickets is required).
• Tickets for OU students are $5 at the door (west entrance).
• Tickets may be purchased online at SoonerSports.com or on Wednesday at the OU Athletics Ticket Office (800-456-4668). Lloyd Noble Center ticket windows will open Wednesday at 5:30 p.m.
"NOTE" WORTHY
• OU's top five scorers are all shooting at least .500 from the field. They are shooting a combined .544.
• Oklahoma held opponents to 59.6 points a game last year, the lowest figure since the 1977-78 season (a span of 29 years). Through five games this year, OU is surrendering 56.4 points a contest.
• The Sooners have used four different starting lineups in the last four games.
• Junior forward Taylor Griffin has made four 3-pointers this year (on eight attempts), twice as many as he made all of last year when he was 2-for-21.
• Senior center Longar Longar entered the year as a .542 career free throw shooter, but owns a .720 mark this season (18-for-25).
• The Sooners have won 101 of their last 112 games inside Lloyd Noble Center and 56 of their last 57 home non-conference games.
• OU has recorded 26 consecutive winning seasons, more than any other Big 12 program. Kansas ranks second (24) and Oklahoma State ranks third (19).
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OKLAHOMA UPDATE
The Sooners rebounded from a 63-53 loss to No. 3 Memphis last Thursday in the 2K Sports College Hoops Classic semifinals in New York to post a 69-55 victory over Gardner-Webb in Friday's consolation game. The result was a third-place finish in the 16-team tournament (Memphis beat Connecticut in the championship game).
Oklahoma's starting frontcourt of freshman forward Blake Griffin and senior center Longar Longar combined for 33 points and 17 rebounds in the win over Gardner-Webb. Griffin registered a team-high 17 points and grabbed eight boards while Longar finished with 16 points and a game-high nine rebounds in his first start of the season. The pair leads OU in both scoring and rebounding on the year, with Griffin averaging 14.8 and 8.6, respectively, and Longar averaging 12.4 and 7.0. Griffin has led the Sooners in scoring in three of OU's five games this year while Longar has done it the other two.
Sophomore guard Tony Crocker, who has scored in double figures in four games this year, ranks third on the team by averaging 10.8 points per contest. He adds 3.8 rebounds and 2.0 assists. Crocker is shooting .559 from the field, .429 from 3-point range (6-for-14) and .833 from the foul line (10-for-12). In his only non-start, he scored 11 points against Gardner-Webb with the help of 4-for-4 free throw shooting. Junior forward Taylor Griffin is averaging 8.0 points and 3.4 rebounds a game while shooting .500 from the field and .500 from behind the arc (4-for-8). Junior guard Omar Leary leads the team in both field goal percentage (.619) and 3-point field goal percentage (.615). He is 8-for-13 from long range and averages 7.2 points and a team-high-tying 1.6 steals per outing.
The Sooners' defenses has been stingy, holding opponents to just 56.4 points per game and to .354 field goal and .295 3-point shooting. OU's five foes have also averaged 17.4 turnovers.
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2K SPORTS COLLEGE HOOPS CLASSIC LEFTOVERS
• Against Memphis, freshman Blake Griffin was held to single-digit scoring for the only time this season. He finished with eight points, eight rebounds, two assists and three steals.
• The Sooners held Memphis to .386 field goal shooting while forcing 20 Tigers' turnovers. Memphis' 63 points were 28 below their season average entering the game.
• Sophomore forward Keith Clark made his first career start in the Memphis game and finished with four points in 15 minutes.
• Gardner-Webb's .279 field goal percentage was the worst by an OU opponent since Norfolk State shot .246 in last year's opener. The Bulldogs were just 5-for-31 from inside the 3-point arc (.161) on Friday but 14-for-37 from behind it (.378).
• OU went to New York boasting a .418 3-point field goal percentage in its first three games (23-for-55), but shot just .276 during its two games at Madison Square Garden (8-for-29).
SERIES WITH MOREHEAD STATE
Oklahoma holds a 2-0 series lead against Morehead State with wins during the 1984-85 and 1990-91 seasons. Fifth-ranked OU won the first matchup 94-48 on Nov. 23, 1984, in Norman behind Wayman Tisdale's 31 points and 15 rebounds. On Dec. 27, 1991, the 14th-ranked Sooners ran to a 118-99 victory in the All-College Tournament in Oklahoma City behind six double-figures scoring efforts. Damon Patterson led the way with 36 points and 11 boards while Brent Price added 19 points and nine assists.
PREVIEWING MOREHEAD STATE
Wednesday's game will mark Morehead State's fourth of the year, as it is the owner of a 1-2 record. The Eagles opened the season with an 83-54 loss at Houston and followed with a 61-49 home win over Western Illinois before losing 86-70 at Bowling Green. MSU has been held to .379 field goal and .314 3-point field goal figures while opponents are shooting .481 and .370, respectively. The Eagles have shot well from the free throw line (.707) and are outrebounding their opponents by four a game (34.7-30.7).
Junior forward Leon Buchanan is the team's lone double-figures scorer on the year, averaging 18.0 points per outing on .615 field goal shooting and .880 (22-for-25) free throw shooting. Buchanan also averages 5.7 rebounds in 29.0 minutes a game. After scoring nine points in the opener against Houston and 10 in the win over Western Illinois, the 6-5, 200-pounder exploded for 35 in 29 minutes against Bowling Green. Buchanan was 10-for-12 from the floor and 15-for-15 at the line in the game. Two Eagles, freshman center Kenneth Faried and sophomore forward Maze Stallworth, average 9.0 points per contest each. Faried, who has averaged just 16.7 minutes a game, ranks second on the squad with his 6.3 rebounds per outing. Stallworth plays 22.0 minutes a game and is 9-for-10 at the foul line. Senior guard Jamyron Steward averages 7.0 points and a team-high 6.7 rebounds in a team-high 33.7 minutes a game.
Donnie Tyndall is in his second year as a collegiate head coach and owns a 13-20 record (.394).
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Last year, Oklahoma's strength under first-year head coach Jeff Capel was its defense. The Sooners held opponents to 59.6 points a game (the lowest average in 29 years) and to .406 field goal shooting (the second lowest figure over the past 46 seasons). Through five games in 2007-08, OU's defense has been just as good, if not better.
• OU is surrendering just 56.4 points per game and allowing opponents to shoot .354 from the field and .295 from 3-point land.
• No opponent has scored more than 63 points this season and four of OU's five foes have been held under 60 points.
• Third-ranked Memphis, which averaged 78.9 points last year and 91.0 through its first two games this season, was held to 63 points last Thursday at Madison Square Garden.
• In its five games, Oklahoma has forced each of its opponents into more turnovers than it committed. Foes are averaging 17.4 turnovers per contest on the year and 18.3 over the past three outings.
LONGAR INCREASES PRODUCTION
Since averaging 6.7 points and 6.0 rebounds over OU's first two games, senior Longar Longar has upped his production over the last three outings. In games last week versus Alcorn State (20 points, eight rebounds), Memphis (13 points, six rebounds) and Gardner-Webb (16 points, nine rebounds), the center averaged 16.3 points and 7.7 rebounds. He shot .516 from the field over the three outings and was 17-for-22 at the foul line (.773). Longar also averaged 1.7 assists and 1.0 block over the three games.
A native of Sudan, Longar is the Sooners' leading returning scorer (10.4 ppg) and rebounder (7.0 rpg) from last year. He owns a .578 career field goal percentage.
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FOR STARTERS
Head coach Jeff Capel has used four different starting lineups through five games, including a different starting five in each of the last four contests. Nine different Sooners have started this season, with only Blake Griffin getting the nod in all five outings.
HOT HANDS
The Sooners have displayed solid shooting through five games, posting a .482 mark from the field and a .369 figure from 3-point range (last year OU shot .435 and .326, respectively). Oklahoma's top five scorers are all shooting at least .500 from the floor. Guard Omar Leary is shooting a team-high .619 from the field and is followed by guard Tony Crocker (.559), forward Blake Griffin (.558), center Longar Longar (.512) and forward Taylor Griffin (.500). Together, the five players own a .544 field goal mark.
Three OU players are shooting at least .429 from 3-point distance. Leary owns a .615 mark (8-for-13), Taylor Griffin is shooting .500 (4-for-8) and Crocker is shooting .429 (6-for-14). Six Sooners have made at least three treys each through five games.
A BREATH OF FROSH AIR
• Forward Blake Griffin's 18 points Nov. 8 against San Francisco were the most by an OU freshman in a collegiate debut in 22 years (center Stacey King netted 22 off the bench in the first game of the 1985-86 season against UC Santa Barbara).
• Also against San Francisco, guard Cade Davis (six points in 27 minutes) and Griffin became just the second OU freshman pair to start a season opener in the last 24 years. Prior to 2003-04 when guards Drew Lavender and Lawrence McKenzie did it, a freshman tandem had not started the opening game of a season since guard Tim McCalister and forward Darryl Kennedy in 1983-84.
HIGH BENCH MARKS
• Oklahoma's bench has scored 141 of the team's 372 points this season, or 38 percent.
• OU reserves have outscored opponents' reserves in each game this season (a total of 141-73 on the year for an average of margin of 28-15).
• Three Sooners have come off the bench to record double-digit scoring efforts a total of four times. Omar Leary netted 14 points in 21 minutes of action against Denver last Friday, Longar Longar registered 20 points in 20 minutes of play last Monday versus Alcorn State and 13 points in 30 minutes Thursday against Memphis, and Tony Crocker scored 11 points in 24 minutes Friday versus Gardner-Webb. (In OU's second exhibition game, Cade Davis came off the bench to score a game-high 19 points.)
YOUNG GRIFFIN GETTING PRESEASON PUB
He has played five games as a collegian, but Blake Griffin is already attracting plenty of national publicity. The freshman forward is listed by FOXsports.com senior college basketball writer Jeff Goodman as the country's seventh-best post player and is a member of Goodman's fourth-team preseason All-America squad (five players per team). Rivals.com also recently slotted the 6-10, 243-pounder at No. 6 on its list of top 10 impact freshmen.
Wrote Goodman, "(He's) one of our favorite kids in the country and a guy who's been overlooked when the talk turns to the top frosh. He's strong and versatile -- although the brunt of his damage will be done down low."
DEPTH CHARGE
After the 2006-07 season saw only eight Sooners play regular minutes for the majority of the year, Jeff Capel appears to have the luxury of a deeper bench in 2007-08. Through five regular season games, OU's top nine scorers average between 15.2 and 26.6 minutes a contest (a 10th player, Tony Neysmith, averages 10.5 minutes). Seven players average at least 6.4 points a game, with three of them (Blake Griffin, Longar Longar and Tony Crocker) averaging double figures.
FINDING THEIR FREE THROW STROKE
After going 19-for-39 (.487) from the free throw line during OU's four-game exhibition trip to Canada in September and 4-for-7 (.429) in the team's exhibition games Oct. 31 and Nov. 2, freshman forward Blake Griffin is 13-for-18 (.711) in the regular season. Griffin shot .578 from the line as a high school senior last year.
Similarly, center Longar Longar has improved his free throw stroke this season. Longar, who entered his senior campaign with a .542 career free throw mark and shot .570 as a junior, is shooting .720 through five games this year (18-for-25).
HOME IS WHERE THE "W" IS
Lloyd Noble Center has been overly kind to the Sooners, as they have won 46 of the last 52 games and 101 of the last 112 in the building. OU is 413-69 (.857) in the building since it opened for 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 (the league's first year was in 1996-97).
HOME COURT NON-CONFERENCE RULE
The Sooners have won 56 of their last 57 non-conference home games (and 64 of their last 66). Last year, visiting Villanova posted a 67-51 win in Norman for OU's first home defeat in a non-conference game since Dec. 22, 1999 (Cincinnati).
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