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
TCU Next Up for Men's Hoops Team
December 01, 2007 | Men's Basketball
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GAME PREVIEW
Oklahoma (5-2) plays its second road game in four days when it faces TCU (4-1) on Sunday at 7 p.m. CST at Daniel-Meyer Coliseum in Fort Worth, Texas. Both teams are coming off losses, with OU falling 66-55 at No. 22/24 USC on Thursday and TCU dropping a 71-58 decision at Texas Tech on Wednesday.
Sunday's game will air on the Sooner Radio Network (KOKC-AM 1520 in Oklahoma City; KTBZ-AM 1430 in Tulsa; Sirius Channel 107) with Bob Barry Sr. and Mike Houck announcing. The contest will be televised by CSTV (DirecTV Channel 610; Dish Network Channel 152) with Carter Blackburn and Pete Gillen announcing. A pay-per-view video webcast of the game will also be available on CSTV.com for $9.95.
UP NEXT
The Sooners return home to host Tulsa on Wednesday, Dec. 5, at 7 p.m. CST. The game will be televised by the Sooner Sports Network.
"NOTE" WORTHY
• Oklahoma owns a 10-1 series advantage against TCU (4-0 in Forth Worth).
• OU's top four scorers (Blake Griffin, Longar Longar, Tony Crocker and Omar Leary) are all shooting at least .500 from the field. They are shooting a combined .536.
• 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 seven games this year, OU is surrendering 55.7 points a contest. Only two opponents have scored more than 59 points (third-ranked Memphis scored 63 and 22nd-ranked USC scored 66).
• The Sooners have used six different starting lineups in the last six games.
• Point guard Omar Leary has made at least one 3-pointer in each game and is 10-for-23 (.435) from behind the arc on the year.
• Tony Crocker is shooting a team-high .458 from 3-point range (11-for-24).
• Freshman forward Blake Griffin ranks second in the Big 12 with three double-doubles.
• Crocker averages a team-high 27.0 minutes per game. No other Big 12 team leader in minutes averages a figure that low.
• OU has recorded 26 consecutive winning seasons, more than any other Big 12 program.
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OKLAHOMA UPDATE
The Sooners, who received 13 votes in this week's ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll (good for the 38th spot), endured their worst shooting performance of the season in a 66-55 loss to No. 22/24 USC on Thursday in Los Angeles in a Big 12/Pac-10 Hardwood Series game. Oklahoma shot .356 from the field on the night and posted .296 (8-for-27) 3-point and .455 (5-for-11) free throw marks. Jeff Capel's squad trailed 29-18 at halftime despite holding the Trojans to .333 field goal shooting and a 1-for-5 effort from behind the arc. That's because OU shot .250 from the floor and .143 (2-for-14) from long distance in the opening 20 minutes. After USC scored the first four points of the second half to go up by 15, the Sooners went on an 18-6 run over a four-and-a-half-minute span to draw within three at 39-36. OU never got closer, though, as the Trojans rode the hot shooting of O.J. Mayo over the last eight minutes to win their sixth straight.
Oklahoma's starting frontcourt of freshman forward Blake Griffin and senior center Longar Longar entered the USC game averaging 27.0 points per contest, but was held to seven total points on Thursday. Griffin finished with four points and a game-high nine rebounds while Longar had three points and just two boards. They were a combined 3-for-10 from the field. The pair still leads OU in both scoring and rebounding on the year, with Griffin averaging 13.4 and 9.1, respectively, and Longar averaging 10.7 and 6.7. Griffin has led the Sooners in scoring in four of OU's seven games this year while Longar has done it twice.
Sophomore guard Tony Crocker, who has scored in double figures in five games this year, ranks third on the team by averaging 10.1 points and 3.9 rebounds per contest. He adds a team-high 2.7 assists and handed out a career-high seven against Morehead State two games ago. Crocker is shooting .500 from the field, .458 from 3-point range (11-for-24) and .800 from the foul line (12-for-15). Twice this year he has made four 3-pointers in a game. Junior guard Omar Leary, a first-team junior college All-American last year who has started OU's last five games after coming off the bench the first two, has shot the ball well. He owns a .553 field goal percentage and a .435 3-point field goal percentage (10-for-23). He has made at least one trey in all seven outings and averages 8.3 points a game.
Junior guard Austin Johnson and sophomore forward Keith Clark came off the bench to score 13 points each against USC to pace the Sooners. Johnson's total marked a season high while Clark's was a career best. Johnson did his damage despite playing with strep throat and vomiting multiple times on the bench during the game. A starting lineup scratch, he was forced into early action due to the team's foul situation and wound up playing 32 minutes. Johnson was the only Sooner to shoot better than .500 from the field in the game (5-for-8), and he made three of his four 3-point attempts while handing out a team-high three assists without a turnover. He is averaging 6.9 points on the season and boasts a 2.8 assist-to-turnover ratio. Clark, who played 23 minutes, was 4-for-9 from the field, 2-for-5 from 3-point range and 3-for-4 from the free throw line. His previous career high was nine points (last year). Clark now averages 6.7 points per game in 2007-08.
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USC LEFTOVERS
• Oklahoma held USC's Daniel Hackett (four) and Taj Gibson (two) to a total of six points. Hackett averaged 12.8 points entering the game while Gibson averaged 11.7. Trojans guard O.J. Mayo, who averaged 21.8 points coming in, had just four with nine minutes left before scoring 14 the rest of the way. Mayo started the game 2-for-11 from the field.
• The Sooners scored 18 points in the game's first 23 minutes. Their next 18 points came in a span of four-and-half minutes.
• OU committed 10 turnovers on the night to USC's 13. The team has yet to commit more turnovers in a game than its foes.
• OU's starting lineup of Blake Griffin, Longar Longar, Tony Crocker, Omar Leary and David Godbold was the team's sixth consecutive different look to open a game.
• After scoring in double figures in four straight games (he averaged 14.8 in those contests), Longar Longar was held to a season-lows of three points and two rebounds in 18 minutes of play.
• The Sooners were outrebounded 38-28, marking their largest rebounding deficit in 23 games. OU still owns a +4.0 rebounding advantage per contest this year.
PREVIEWING TCU
TCU enters Sunday's matchup with a 4-1 record. The Horned Frogs started the year with home wins over Angelo State (89-70), Rice (76-49), Arkansas-Pine Bluff (75-61) and Grambling State (99-67) before losing at Texas Tech (71-58) on Wednesday. In the loss to the Red Raiders, TCU led 35-29 at halftime but was outscored 42-23 after intermission. The Frogs were 8-for-32 from the field in the second half and shot .367 for the game. On the year, they are shooting .412 from the field, .339 from 3-point range and .586 from the free throw line.
Senior guard Brent Hackett, one of three TCU players averaging double figures in scoring, supplies a team-high 13.6 points a game. Hackett has made 17 3-pointers (3.4 per contest) and is shooting .386 from beyond the arc. He scored 23 points against Grambling State in just 19 minutes of action. Fellow guard Henry Salter is a junior college transfer who is averaging 12.8 points and 5.6 rebounds a game. Like Hackett, the junior netted 23 points against Grambling State in limited court time (22 minutes). Junior forward Kevin Langford, the brother of former Kansas guard Keith Langford, was an honorable mention All-Mountain West Conference selection last year. This year, Langford averages 11.8 points and gets to the line for 6.4 free throw attempts a game. He registered team highs of 14 points and eight rebounds against Texas Tech. Senior forward Alvardo Parker contributes 9.2 points an outing and is shooting a robust .700 from the field (21-for-30). Both Langford and Parker average a team-leading 6.6 rebounds a game.
Neil Dougherty is in his sixth season as a collegiate head coach, all at TCU. He owns a 65-93 (.411) record.
SERIES WITH THE HORNED FROGS
Oklahoma owns a 10-1 record against TCU and is 4-0 in Fort Worth. The series dates back to the 1918-19 season when the Sooners notched a 91-34 home win. Eight of the series' 11 games were played prior to the 1970s. TCU's lone win came during the 1986-87 season in the All-College Tournament championship game in Oklahoma City, 95-82. The teams have met twice since, with OU posting a 78-73 triumph during the 1991-92 campaign in another All-College title game and the Sooners winning last year by a 63-35 score in Norman.
LAST YEAR VS. TCU
The Sooners posted a 63-35 win over TCU on Dec. 2, 2006, in Norman. Behind 32-23 at halftime, the Horned Frogs scored the first four points of the second stanza to close within five, but OU responded with a 17-2 run that made the score 49-29. OU held TCU to 3-for-18 (.167) second-half shooting and the Sooners' David Godbold outscored the Frogs after halftime by himself, 13-12. Godbold finished with a game-high 15 points. Alvardo Parker and Kevin Langford led TCU with 11 and 10 points, respectively.
OU-TCU CONNECTIONS
• TCU head coach Neil Dougherty earned his master's degree (education) from OU in 1987 after receiving a bachelor's degree (education) from Cameron University (Lawton, Okla.) in 1984.
• Dougherty served as an assistant coach at Kansas (1995-96 through 2001-02) under Roy Williams and helped the Jayhawks to an 8-3 record against the Sooners. His last game with KU against Oklahoma was a 64-55 Sooners' win in the 2002 Big 12 Tournament title game when OU was ranked No. 4 in the nation and the Jayhawks were No. 1. Both teams advanced to the Final Four.
• Former Oklahoma head coach Billy Tubbs preceded Dougherty as TCU's head coach. Tubbs, who went 333-132 (.716) at OU from 1980-81 through 1993-94, posted a 156-95 (.622) record at TCU from 1994-95 through 2001-02.
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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 seven games in 2007-08, OU's defense has been just as good, if not better...
• OU is surrendering just 55.7 points per game and allowing opponents to shoot .359 from the field and .275 from 3-point land. All three of those figures rank second in the Big 12 Conference.
• No opponent has scored more than 66 points this season and five of OU's seven foes have been held under 60 points.
• Third-ranked Memphis, which averaged 78.9 points last year and is averaging 85.7 points this season, was held to 63 points Nov. 15 at Madison Square Garden.
• In its seven games, Oklahoma has forced each of its opponents into at least as many turnovers as it has committed. Foes are averaging 17.1 turnovers per contest (OU is averaging 14.1).
FOR STARTERS
Head coach Jeff Capel has used six different starting lineups through seven games, including a different starting group in each of the last six contests. Nine different Sooners have started this season, with only Blake Griffin getting the nod in all seven outings.
GRIFFIN: A BREATH OF FROSH AIR
• Freshman forward Blake Griffin is averaging team highs of 13.4 points and 9.1 rebounds this season in 26.6 minutes a game. The last OU freshman to average as many points per contest for a season was Jeff Webster in 1990-91 (18.3 ppg). The last player, regardless of class, to average at least 9.1 boards per game was then-senior and now-Denver Nugget Eduardo Najera in 1999-2000 (9.2 rpg).
• Griffin has led OU in scoring four times in seven games and has paced the squad in rebounding in five contests (including four of the last five). He is shooting a team-high .576 from the field (ranks fourth in Big 12) and owns a .720 season free throw figure (ranks ninth in the league).
• 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.
FINDING HIS 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 18-for-25 (.720) in the regular season to rank ninth in the Big 12 Conference. Griffin shot .578 from the line as a high school senior last year.
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 seven regular season games, OU's top nine scorers average between 13.7 and 27.0 minutes a contest (a 10th player, Tony Neysmith, averages 9.2 minutes). Six players average more than 20.0 minutes per game. Eight players average at least 5.0 points an outing, with three of them (Blake Griffin, Longar Longar and Tony Crocker) averaging double figures. Tony Crocker averages a team-high 27.0 minutes, the lowest figure among Big 12 players who lead their team in minutes played.
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