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
Men's Hoops Hosts Rice on Saturday
January 04, 2008 | Men's Basketball
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GAME PREVIEW
With consecutive wins over Arkansas, Gonzaga and West Virginia to close out 2007, Oklahoma (10-3) plays its first game of 2008 on Saturday when it hosts Rice (3-9) at 2 p.m. inside Lloyd Noble Center. The Sooners are 6-1 at home this year while the Owls are 1-4 in road contests. The game will mark the third road outing this week for Rice (it lost 68-41 at No. 12 Texas A&M on Monday and 76-58 at No. 15 Vanderbilt on Thursday). OU hasn't played at home since Dec. 15.
Saturday's contest will air on the Sooner Radio Network (KOKC-AM 1520 in Oklahoma City; KTBZ-AM 1430 in Tulsa; Sirius channel 119) 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; KQCW Channel 19/Cox 12 in Tulsa; ESPN Full Court) with Bob Carpenter and Kenny Mossman calling the action.
TICKET INFORMATION
• Tickets for Saturday'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 Saturday'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 at the OU Athletics Ticket Office (800-456-4668). Lloyd Noble Center ticket windows will open Saturday at 12:30 p.m.
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OKLAHOMA UPDATE
• Mike DeCourcy of The Sporting News named Oklahoma his national team of the week after the Sooners' 88-82 double-overtime win at West Virginia last Saturday. It was OU's third consecutive "quality" win after also beating Arkansas and Gonzaga.
• The Sooners are slotted 28th in this week's AP poll, their highest ranking under second-year head coach Jeff Capel.
• OU has surpassed the 70-point mark nine times in its 13 games, the same number of times it did all of last season in 31 contests.
• Oklahoma's 10 wins are its most before Jan. 1 since its Final Four season of 2001-02 when it also won 10 games.
• OU's win at West Virginia was its first against a ranked team (the Mountaineers were No. 23) in a road game since the 2000-01 season.
• Freshman Blake Griffin was named Big 12 Player of the Week (and Dick Vitale's "Diaper Dandy of the Week") after registering 18 points and a career-high 16 rebounds against West Virginia. The forward is assembling one of the best freshman campaigns in school history and leads the Sooners in scoring (13.5 ppg), rebounding (8.9 rpg), steals (1.5 spg) and field goal percentage (.570). Griffin has scored in double figures in 11 of 13 games, including each of the last six. He ranks third in the league with five double-doubles.
• Griffin is averaging 16.5 points and 15.0 boards over the last two contests. He has 10 offensive rebounds combined in the two outings.
• Senior center Longar Longar scored a game-high 22 points against West Virginia (all after halftime) to continue his streak of hot play. The 6-11, 234-pounder has led OU in scoring in each of the last four games and is averaging 18.0 points, 5.4 rebounds and 1.4 blocked shots over the last five outings. Longar is now averaging 13.4 points and 6.5 rebounds a contest on the year. He is 27-for-39 (.692) from the field over the last four games and is shooting .555 on the year to rank fifth in the Big 12.
• In each of the last five games, Longar has scored more points after halftime than in the first 20 minutes. He is averaging 4.2 points in the first half of those five contests and 13.8 after the break. Over the last four games, Longar is shooting .808 from the field after halftime (21-for-26). He has amassed double-digit point totals after intermission in each of those four outings (17 against Stephen F. Austin, 10 against Arkansas, 11 versus Gonzaga and 22 at West Virginia).
• Sophomore guard Tony Crocker, the Big 12's second-best 3-point shooter at .519 (28-for-54), canned two more treys against West Virginia and finished with nine points and eight rebounds. His trey with 6.6 seconds left in overtime forced a second OT.
• Crocker now averages 12.1 points, 4.8 rebounds and a team-high 2.8 assists per game on the year while shooting .500 overall and .806 from the free throw line. He has started all but one game.
• Junior guard Austin Johnson netted 13 points against West Virginia and tied a career high with nine assists. He is averaging 12.1 points over the last seven outings (he has scored at least nine points in all seven) while shooting .469 (15-for-32) from 3-point distance. Johnson is now averaging 9.2 points a game on the year while sporting a 2.6 assist-to-turnover ratio.
• Senior guard David Godbold played all 50 minutes in Saturday's game and tallied 18 points (his second highest career total) and a season-high seven rebounds. Godbold is averaging 8.9 points over the last seven games after averaging 4.5 over the first six.
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WEST VIRGINIA LEFTOVERS
• The game marked Oklahoma's first overtime contest under second-year head coach Jeff Capel. It also marked its first win under Capel when trailing at halftime (OU had been 0-15).
• Oklahoma shot .537 from the field, marking the seventh time this year and fourth in the last six games it has shot above .500.
• Keith Clark's seven points tied for his most in the last six games. The sophomore forward's two free throws with 37 seconds left in the second overtime pushed OU's lead to 84-80.
• After committing only 13 combined turnovers against Arkansas (eight) and Gonzaga (five), OU committed a season-high-tying 20 against the Mountaineers.
• West Virginia averaged 86.1 points per contest entering the game, but had just 66 at the end of regulation. Arkansas (72) is the only OU foe to top the 70-point mark through 40 minutes of play this year.
• Oklahoma's three starting guards played 144 of a possible 150 minutes. David Godbold played all 50 minutes while Austin Johnson and Tony Crocker played 48 and 46, respectively.
PREVIEWING RICE
• After a 0-4 start, Rice is 3-9 overall. Its wins came Nov. 30 against Eastern Illinois (55-49 in Iowa City, Iowa), Dec. 5 at Texas State (88-81) and Dec. 29 at home against TCU (70-65). It trailed by as many as 17 against Texas State and 14 against TCU before rallying for victories.
• Saturday's contest will mark the final of a challenging three-game road swing for the Owls. They lost 68-41 at No. 12 Texas A&M on Monday and 76-58 at No. 15 Vanderbilt on Thursday. The Owls begin Conference USA play next Wednesday at home against Marshall.
• Rice is averaging 58.1 points per contest while shooting .369 from the field, .270 from 3-point range and .634 from the free throw line. It is averaging just 3.6 treys per game.
• The Owls are averaging 20.2 turnovers per outing.
• With renovations taking place to their home arena (Autry Court), the Owls are playing their home games at three different venues this year - Reliant Arena and the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas, and the Leonard E. Merrell Center in Katy, Texas.
• Senior forward Patrick Britton is averaging a team-high 10.6 points to go along with 5.5 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game. He gets to the free throw line for a team-high 5.0 attempts per outing and is shooting .750 at the stripe (45-for-60).
• Senior forward Paulius Packevicius is averaging 10.0 points and team-highs of 9.9 rebounds and 1.8 blocked shots a game. The 6-9, 230-pounder has registered double figures in rebounds in eight of 12 contests. He has five double-doubles.
• Junior guard Rodney Foster is averaging 9.2 points and a team-high 2.5 assists. Over the last eight games, Foster is averaging 11.0 points and 3.1 assists per contest while totaling 12 3-pointers.
• Sophomore guard Lawrence Ghoram is averaging 19.0 points and 7.3 rebounds over the last three games, after averaging 2.4 points and 2.3 boards over the first nine contests. He had 26 points and 10 rebounds in the win over TCU, 16 points and eight boards at Texas A&M and 15 points and six boards at Vanderbilt. Ghoram had never scored in double figures prior to the TCU game.
• Freshman point guard Jasen Williams averaged 10.3 points and 2.6 assists through seven games before being ruled academically ineligible for the remainder of the season.
• Willis Wilson is 219-228 (.490) in his 16th year as a collegiate head coach, all at Rice.
SERIES WITH THE OWLS
Saturday's game will mark the ninth between Oklahoma and Rice, and the first since Dec. 22, 1956. OU owns a 6-2 lead (5-0 in Norman) in a series that dates back to the 1935-36 season. The Sooners posted 36-28 and 34-26 home wins during that campaign under head coach Hugh McDermott. They followed with a 31-28 win at Rice the next season and two more home victories in 1937-38 - 51-41 and 50-10. The Owls posted a 43-28 win in the All-College Tournament in 1944-45 and a 62-47 home triumph in 1955-56. Oklahoma replied with a 64-57 win in Norman the following year.
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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). With the offense much improved this year, the defense has still been stout...
• OU is surrendering just 61.5 points per game (60.2 in regulation) and is allowing opponents to shoot .382 from the field and .296 from 3-point land (the school record is .292). The last time the Sooners held opponents to a worse field goal mark for an entire season was 47 years ago (.377 in 1960-61)
• Only one opponent (Arkansas scored 72) has scored more than 68 points in regulation this season, and six of OU's 13 foes have been held under 60 points.
• Second-ranked Memphis, which averaged 78.9 points last year and is averaging 80.8 points this season, was held to 63 points Nov. 15 at Madison Square Garden.
• Oklahoma has forced 10 of its 13 opponents into at least as many turnovers as it has committed. Foes are averaging 14.8 turnovers per contest (OU is averaging 13.5).
• All 13 opponents have shot under .500 from the field, 12 have shot under .460 and seven have finished with a mark less than .400. Gardner-Webb, which won at Kentucky by 16 points when it shot .531 from the field, was held to a .279 performance against OU in New York.
HOT HANDS
With the exception of the Memphis and USC games when they combined for a .362 field goal mark, the Sooners have displayed solid shooting this year. On the season, Oklahoma sports a .479 mark from the field and a .387 figure from 3-point range (last year OU shot .435 and .326, respectively). It has shot .500 or better from the floor in seven of 13 games, including four of the last six. OU's five leading scorers are all shooting at least .470 from the floor, and its top three scorers are all shooting at least .500. Forward Blake Griffin owns a team-high .570 field goal mark and is followed by center Longar Longar (.555), guard Tony Crocker (.500), guard Austin Johnson (.471) and guard Omar Leary (.470). Combined, the quintet owns a .522 field goal mark. Griffin and Longar rank third and fifth, respectively, in the Big 12 in field goal percentage.
The guard trio of Crocker, Johnson and Leary has combined to shoot .457 from 3-point range (64-for-140). Crocker is shooting .519 from behind the arc (28-for-54) to rank second in the Big 12, Leary is shooting .436 (17-for-39) and Johnson is shooting .404 (19-for-47). Taylor Griffin owns a .417 mark from long range but has attempted considerably fewer shots (he is 5-for-12). Seven Sooners have made at least five treys each.
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN WINNING AND LOSING
The following notes compare Oklahoma's stats in its 10 wins and three losses this year...
• In its 10 wins this year, OU is outrebounding its opponents by 8.1 a game. In its three losses, it is getting outboarded by 4.3.
• Oklahoma is shooting .509 from the field, .429 from 3-point range and .704 from the free throw line in its wins. In its losses, it is shooting .378, .250 and .653, respectively.
• OU's assist-to-turnover ratio in its victories is +1.3 (170 assists and 131 turnovers). The ratio in losses is -1.6 (27 and 44).
• Tony Crocker is averaging 14.5 points, 5.1 rebounds and 3.3 assists while shooting .563 in the Sooners' wins. In losses, those numbers fall to 4.0 points, 3.7 boards, 1.3 assists and .176 (3-for-17), respectively. Crocker is also shooting .600 from 3-point range in OU's victories (27-for-45), but just .111 in defeats (1-for-9).
• Blake Griffin is averaging 15.4 points and shooting .604 in OU's victories, but just 7.3 points and .409 in its losses.
JOHNSON INCREASES PRODUCTION
Junior guard Austin Johnson is just two points shy over the last four contests of owning a streak of seven consecutive double-figures scoring games (he scored nine points against both Stephen F. Austin and Gonzaga). Johnson entered the Nov. 29 USC game averaging 5.8 points, 2.2 rebounds and 2.3 assists an outing and was shooting .433 from the field and .267 (4-for-15) from long range. That all changed with OU's game against the 22nd-ranked Trojans in Los Angeles...
• Playing with strep throat, Johnson came off the bench against USC and finished with a team-high 13 points. He was 3-for-4 from 3-point range and added three assists without a turnover.
• At TCU on Dec. 2, Johnson scored another 13 points (he was 5-for-8 from the field and 3-for-5 from 3-point distance) while grabbing a career-high eight rebounds and handing out four assists.
• Johnson netted 11 points against Tulsa on Dec. 5 on 3-for-3 field goal shooting (made his only 3-point attempt) and 4-for-5 free throw shooting.
• After a nine-point game against Stephen F. Austin, Johnson rebounded for a season-high 17-point effort against Arkansas Dec. 15. He made two more 3-pointers and was 5-for-6 from the free throw line.
• Gonzaga held Johnson to nine points on Dec. 20, but the junior was the defensive star in the game's final minutes by shutting down Bulldogs' point guard Jeremy Pargo. Pargo had scored 28 points prior to head coach Jeff Capel's decision to have Johnson guard him.
• Johnson scored 13 points at then-No. 23 West Virginia last Saturday, went 3-for-5 from 3-point range and tied a career high with nine assists.
The 6-3, 165-pounder is averaging 12.1 points and 3.9 rebounds over the last seven games while going 28-for-57 from the floor and 15-for-32 from 3-point distance. He is now averaging 9.2 points, 3.1 boards and 2.6 assists on the season while shooting .471 from the field and .404 from deep.
HOME IS WHERE THE "W" IS
Lloyd Noble Center has been overly kind to the Sooners, as they have won 49 of the last 56 games and 104 of the last 116 in the building. OU is 416-70 (.856) at Lloyd Noble 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 59 of their last 61 non-conference home games (and 67 of their last 70). Since the 1999-2000 season, only non-conference opponents Cincinnati (Dec. 22, 1999), Villanova (Dec. 6, 2006) and Stephen F. Austin (Dec. 8) have posted wins at Lloyd Noble Center.
"SOONER HOOPS WITH JEFF CAPEL" NOW AIRING
Hosted by Bob Carpenter, the 2007-08 version of the "Sooner Hoops with Jeff Capel" television show began airing on Dec. 6. The 30-minute program, which is taped at OU's SoonerVision studio, will be seen across the state and on regional and national stations this year. In Oklahoma City, the show will air on Cox Cable Channel 7 on Thursdays at 6:30 p.m., on KWTV Channel 9 on Saturdays at 11:30 a.m. and on KAUT Channel 43 on Sundays at 8:30 p.m. In Tulsa, it will be shown on Cox Cable Channel 7 on Thursdays at 6:30 p.m. and KQCW Channel 19 on Saturdays at 3:30 p.m.
"Sooner Hoops with Jeff Capel" will also air this year in the Enid, Guymon, Lawton, Ponca City and Woodward markets inside the state of Oklahoma, as well as in Sherman, Texas, and Kansas City, Mo. It will be carried regionally by FSN Southwest and nationally by CSTV (beginning Jan. 12) and Fox College Sports. Check local listings for air dates and stations.
"NOTE" WORTHY
• Oklahoma and Rice have not met since the 1956-57 season. OU leads the series 6-2 and is 5-0 in games played in Norman.
• Through Wednesday's games, the Sooners are No. 24 in the CollegeRPI.com ratings.
• OU's three leading scorers (Blake Griffin, Longar Longar and Tony Crocker) are shooting a combined .544 from the field on the year.
• The Sooners are holding opponents to a .382 season field goal mark. The last time opponents shot worse for an entire campaign was 47 years ago (.377 in 1960-61).
• OU is averaging 75.2 points per game. Only once in the last five years has it averaged that many points per contest for a whole season (also 75.2 in 2004-05 when it shared the Big 12 regular season title).
• Tony Crocker ranks second in the Big 12 with his .519 3-point shooting (28-for-54). He has made at least three treys in a game six times (he is 23-for-35 in those contests).
• Longar Longar has scored at least 16 points in each of the last five games and is averaging 18.0 during the stretch.
• Austin Johnson is averaging 12.1 points while shooting .491 from the field and .469 from 3-point range (15-for-32) over the last seven games. He averaged 5.8 points and shot .267 from long range (4-for-15) over the season's first five contests.
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