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
OU at Resurgent A&M Saturday
February 01, 2008 | Men's Basketball
| OU (15-5, 3-2) at No. 23 Texas A&M (17-4, 3-3) | |
| Date & Tip Time | Saturday, Feb. 2 at 3 p.m. CST |
| Location | College Station, Texas | Reed Arena |
| Tickets | OU Athletics Ticket Office |
| TV | ESPN Plus (KOCB 34/Cox 11 in OKC; KJRH 2/Cox 9 in Tulsa); ESPN Full Court |
| Radio | Sooner Radio Network KOKC AM-1520 in Oklahoma City KTBZ AM-1430 in Tulsa Sirius 123 |
| Webcast | None |
| Live Stats | SoonerSports.com / GameTracker |
| Game Info | Gameday Central | Game Notes (PDF) |
GAME PREVIEW
Trying for a fourth consecutive victory and its fourth road win of the season, Oklahoma (15-5, 3-2) travels to face No. 23/23 Texas A&M (17-4, 3-3) on Saturday at 3 p.m. CST inside Reed Arena. The Sooners, who stand at No. 27 in the www.CollegeRPI.com ratings, are 3-2 in road games this year with two of those victories (West Virginia and Baylor) coming against ranked teams. After losing three straight, Texas A&M has won two in a row and is coming off an 80-63 home win over No. 10/10 Texas on Wednesday. The Aggies are 14-1 at home this year.
Saturday's game will air on the Sooner Radio Network (KOKC 1520-AM in Oklahoma City; KTBZ 1430-AM in Tulsa) with Bob Barry Sr. and Mike Houck announcing, and on Sirius channel 123 (Texas A&M's announcers). The contest will be televised regionally by ESPN Plus (KOCB 34/Cox 11 in Oklahoma City; KJRH 2/Cox 9 in Tulsa) and ESPN Full Court with Brad Sham and Reid Gettys calling the action.
"NOTE" WORTHY
• Oklahoma is 25-3 all-time against Texas A&M and 10-2 in College Station. OU had won 14 straight in the series before A&M's two-game regular season sweep last year.
• OU is going for its third road win over a ranked opponent this year. Prior to this season, the last time the Sooners won a true road game over a ranked foe was in 2001.
• OU is 88-33 (.727) against Big 12 South opponents since the league was formed.
• Griffin has recorded double-doubles in OU's last three games against ranked opponents (not including the Kansas game when he played only five minutes due to injury). He is averaging 16.7 points and 15.0 rebounds in those games (wins against Gonzaga, West Virginia and Baylor).
• Longar Longar has scored in double figures in 10 of the last 12 games (averaging 15.3 points over those 12 contests). He is averaging a team-high 15.4 points in Big 12 games.
• The Sooners are holding opponents to a .398 season field goal mark. The last time opponents shot worse for an entire campaign was 47 years ago (.377 in 1960-61).
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MONDAY'S OKLAHOMA STATE RECAP
• The Sooners overcame a 32-27 halftime deficit and outscored Oklahoma State 37-29 in the second half to win their third straight game.
• Oklahoma gave up just two points over the first six minutes of the second half and opened the stanza on a 13-2 run to go ahead 40-34.
• OU squandered a 56-49 lead and watched OSU tie the score at 57 with 1:37 remaining. Blake Griffin's offensive rebound and three-point play with 52 seconds left put OU back up for good.
• The Sooners began the game 17-for-30 (.567) from the free throw line but made their final six attempts. Griffin made his last five charity attempts after starting 4-for-10.
• Taylor Griffin scored a career-high 20 points on 7-for-8 field goal shooting and 6-for-8 free throw shooting, and pulled down a game-high six rebounds in 28 minutes of action. Blake Griffin finished with 15 points, four boards and three assists (all to Taylor in the first half).
• All six of Oklahoma's offensive rebounds came in the second half. The Sooners converted on every second-chance opportunity (15 points).
• Both teams committed 12 turnovers. However, OU outscored the Cowboys 17-3 in the points-off-turnovers category.
• The win was OU's fifth in its last seven games against OSU. OU has won seven of the last eight in the series at home.
• Oklahoma State was 17-for-17 from the free throw line. OSU guard Obi Muonelo scored a career-high 25 points.
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OKLAHOMA UPDATE
• The Sooners stand in a fourth-place tie with Texas in the Big 12 race, one game behind 4-1 Baylor. After Saturday's game at Texas A&M, OU is back at home next Wednesday against Texas.
• Oklahoma has won three true road games this year (two versus ranked opponents) after winning just one last year (Baylor). Prior to this season, the last time OU won a true road game over a ranked foe was in the 2000-01 season.
• Through games of Thursday, Oklahoma sports the Big 12's fourth best RPI according to www.CollegeRPI.com. The Sooners (No. 27) trail only Kansas (No. 4), Texas (No. 14) and Kansas State (No. 25).
• OU was 19-for-38 (.500) from the field against OSU on Monday, its 10th effort of .500 or better in 20 games this year. The Sooners are shooting .469 from the field on the year (they have shot better for an entire season just once in the last 12 years).
• Oklahoma has scored more than 70 points 12 times this season after doing it eight times all of last year.
• OU, which has outrebounded four of its five Big 12 opponents, is 12-2 on the year when outboarding its foe.
• Four Sooners are averaging at least 5.8 rebounds per Big 12 game. Blake Griffin is averaging 8.5 boards and is followed by Taylor Griffin (6.4), David Godbold (6.0) and Longar Longar (5.8).
• OU is averaging 4.0 more offensive rebounds than its opponents in Big 12 play. The Sooners average 11.6 offensive boards per league outing to their foes' 7.6. As a result, OU is averaging 13.4 second-chance points to their opponents' 7.2.
• Free throw shooting has been a weak spot the last two weeks, as the Sooners are 39-for-66 (.591) in the last three games.
• Either Blake (six times) or Taylor Griffin (four times) has led OU in rebounding in each of the last 10 contests.
FRONTCOURT UPDATE
• Freshman Blake Griffin, OU's leading scorer (14.7) and rebounder (8.7) on the year, has scored in double figures in 11 straight games (not including the Jan. 14 Kansas game when he left five minutes into the contest with a sprained MCL in his left knee). In his three full league outings against Kansas State, Baylor and Oklahoma State, Griffin is averaging 19.7 points, 11.0 rebounds and 2.3 assists in 29.0 minutes. He shot .600 from the field (21-for-35) in those three games.
• In OU's last three games against ranked opponents (not including the Kansas game), Griffin has recorded three double-doubles. He had 15 points and 14 rebounds in a win over Gonzaga, 18 points and 16 boards in a win at West Virginia and 17 points and 15 rebounds in a victory at Baylor. Those performances are good for an average of 16.7 points and 15.0 rebounds.
• Griffin is the reigning Big 12 Player of the Week (shared with Baylor's Curtis Jerrells) after making a surprise return to the court last Saturday and registering a 17-point, 15-rebound effort in a win at Baylor. Griffin was also named the Dec. 31 Big 12 Player of the Week and the Jan. 14 Big 12 Rookie of the Week.
• Despite not scoring and grabbing just one rebound in his five minutes against Kansas, Griffin ranks ninth in the Big 12 in scoring (14.7 ppg), third in rebounding (8.7 rpg) and third in double-doubles (seven). He also ranks second in the league in field goal percentage (.585) and still leads OU with his 23 steals.
• Senior center Longar Longar has scored in double figures in 10 of the last 12 games (he finished with six points off the bench Jan. 5 against Rice playing with a shoulder sprain and tallied nine on Monday against Oklahoma State). Over those 12 games, Longar is averaging 15.3 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.6 blocked shots while shooting .538 from the field.
• In Big 12 play, Longar is averaging a team-high 15.4 points, as well as 5.8 boards and 1.8 blocked shots. Twelve of his 29 rebounds (41 percent) have come on the offensive end of the floor.
• In 10 of the last 12 games, Longar has scored more points after halftime than in the first 20 minutes. Over those 12 outings, Longar is shooting .641 from the field after intermission (41-for-64).
• Seeing a major increase in minutes the last few games, junior forward Taylor Griffin is averaging 12.3 points and 8.0 boards while shooting .773 (17-for-22) from the free throw line over the last four contests. Prior to those four outings, he was averaging 5.4 points and 3.2 boards while shooting .667 (20-for-30) from the foul line on th year.
• Taylor Griffin tied a then-career high with 16 points Jan. 19 against Texas Tech and grabbed a season-high 12 rebounds. On Monday against Oklahoma State, he was 7-for-8 from the field and scored a career-high 20 points and pulled down six boards.
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BACKCOURT UPDATE
• Sophomore guard Tony Crocker, OU's best 3-point shooter at .468 (36-for-77), has made at least three treys in a game seven times and is 26-for-39 (.667) in those contests.
• Crocker, who scored a career-high 26 points at TCU on Dec. 2 (he netted 20 points in the first half with the help of 6-for-7 3-point shooting), has scored in double figures in five of the last six games. He ranks third on the team in scoring and rebounding (11.3 and 4.5 averages) and first in assists (2.6).
• Junior guard Austin Johnson ended a four-game stretch over which he averaged 3.8 points by breaking out for 15 points at Baylor last Saturday (he netted 10 more on Monday versus OSU). Johnson is 5-for-11 (.455) from 3-point range over the last two games after going 2-for-16 (.125) over the previous five contests.
• After averaging 4.5 points in OU's first six games, senior guard David Godbold is averaging 8.3 over the last 14. In five Big 12 games, Godbold is averaging a quiet 9.2 points, 6.0 rebounds and team-high 2.2 assists.
• Godbold has played at least 34 minutes in each of the last five outings. He played all 50 minutes of OU's double-overtime win at West Virginia on Dec. 29.
• Junior point guard Omar Leary has come off the bench in each of the last 10 games after starting the previous eight. The lefty is averaging 5.5 points in 18.8 minutes per contest and is shooting .431 (22-for-51) from 3-point range.
PREVIEWING TEXAS A&M
• Texas A&M enters Saturday's game with a 17-4 overall record and a 3-3 Big 12 mark (tied for sixth place with Iowa State). After getting off to a 1-3 league start, the Aggies rebounded with a 59-56 win at Oklahoma State last Saturday and an 80-63 home win over No. 10/10 Texas on Wednesday. Ranked No. 23 in both major polls, they are 14-1 at home this year with their only defeat coming in a five-overtime contest against Baylor on Jan. 23 (116-110).
• In the win over Texas, the Aggies jumped out to a 19-3 lead and were up 46-28 at halftime. They shot .563 from the field and .538 (7-for-13) from 3-point range while holding Texas to .344 field goal shooting.
• Texas A&M ranks first in the Big 12 in rebounding margin (+9.3), second in scoring margin (+14.7), field goal percentage (.495) and field goal percentage defense (.376), third in scoring defense (61.9) and last in free throw percentage (613).
• Junior guard Josh Carter is averaging a team-high 13.7 points per game (also 13.7 in Big 12 play), 4.4 rebounds and 2.0 assists. He has made a team-high 49 treys and is shooting .386 from 3-point range (last year he shot .500 to lead the nation). Carter is coming off a 19-point, career-high 10-rebound effort against Texas.
• Senior forward/center Joseph Jones, a second-team All-Big 12 pick last season, averages 11.5 points and 5.4 rebounds per contest while shooting .527 from the field. Jones has attempted a team-high 96 free throws and is shooting .656 from the line.
• Sophomore guard Donald Sloan and freshman center DeAndre Jordan both average 9.3 points per contest. Sloan also averages 4.0 rebounds and 3.1 assists while Jordan adds a team-high 6.7 rebounds per contest and shoots a team-high .686.
• Senior guard Dominique Kirk averages 8.4 points and a team-high 3.9 assists per game while shooting a team-best .500 from 3-point territory. Sophomore forward Bryan Davis also averages 8.4 points and adds 4.7 boards and 1.3 blocks per game.
• Mark Turgeon is in his first season as Texas A&M's head coach and owns a 170-123 (.580) record in his 10th year overall. He went 25-29 (.463) in two seasons at Jacksonville State and 128-90 (.587) in seven seasons at Wichita State.
SERIES WITH THE AGGIES
Oklahoma owns a 25-3 all-time record against Texas A&M and has won 14 of the series' last 16 meetings (the Aggies swept the regular season series last year). OU is 10-2 all-time against A&M in games played in College Station. The Sooners are 20-3 against the Aggies since the formation of the Big 12 Conference (9-2 in College Station).
MORE SERIES NOTES
• Prior to last year's pair of Texas A&M wins over OU, the Sooners had won 14 meetings in a row.
• In the 11 meetings between Oklahoma and Texas A&M that have been played in College Station since the Big 12 was formed, OU owns a +7.0 average scoring margin.
• Nine of the last 11 overall meetings have been decided by single digits.
LAST YEAR AGAINST TEXAS A&M
Texas A&M swept the Sooners for the first time in Big 12 history last year, winning 70-61 in College Station on Jan. 27 and 56-49 in Norman on Feb. 17. The Aggies were ranked No. 6 in the AP poll for both contests. In the first meeting, OU led for the majority of the first half and was up 29-28 at intermission. Texas A&M outshot the Sooners .565 to .303 after halftime, however, and also outboarded OU 23-15 in the second stanza. Oklahoma went 19-for-21 from the free throw line and outscored A&M 16-0 in second-chance points, but still lost for the first time when leading at the break. Nate Carter was 13-for-13 from the foul line and led OU with 19 points while Austin Johnson finished with 10 points and six assists. Longar Longar provided seven points and a game-high nine rebounds off the bench. Antanas Kavaliauskas led the Aggies with 20 points while Acie Law netted 19.
In the Norman rematch, OU again led at halftime (26-19) but shot just .233 (7-for-30) from the field in the second half (Texas A&M shot .522 after the break). David Godbold was the only Sooner to shoot at least .500 from the field (he was 7-for-14). Godbold finished with a career-high 20 points with the help of 5-for-7 3-point shooting and Carter added 10 points. Law and Joseph Jones tied for game-high scoring honors with 21 points apiece. They combined for 29 of A&M's 37 second-half points.
OU'S BIG 12 HISTORY
Oklahoma boasts a 120-61 (.663) record in Big 12 Conference regular season games, third best in the league (Kansas is 150-32 while Texas is 126-55). No other team has won more than 108 conference contests. The Sooners earned a regular season league title in 2005 and also won Big 12 Tournament crowns in 2001, 2002 and 2003.
DOMINATING THE LONE STAR STATE
OU has had more than its share of success against Big 12 Conference teams from Texas. The Sooners own a 128-48 (.727) all-time record against Baylor (32-5), Texas (45-24), Texas A&M (25-3) and Texas Tech (26-16). Since the inception of the Big 12, OU is 23-0 against Baylor, 16-10 versus Texas, 20-3 against Texas A&M and 17-8 versus Texas Tech for a combined 76-21 record (.784).
GETTING TO THE LINE
Freshman forward Blake Griffin has seemed to develop quite a knack for getting to the free throw line over his last five outings. Through OU's first 13 games, Griffin attempted 50 free throws (3.8 per contest) with a single-game high of six. Over the last five games, however, Griffin has attempted 62 free throws (12.4 per contest). He got to the line for 12 attempts versus Rice, 18 against Mount St. Mary's, 13 versus Kansas State, four at Baylor and 15 against Oklahoma State.
ROAD SCHOLAR
Junior Austin Johnson performed considerably better in home games than road contests during his first two years as a Sooner. That trend has reversed itself this season. In OU's five road games this year, Johnson is averaging 11.2 points, 4.0 rebounds and 3.8 assists while shooting .538 from the field and .545 from 3-point range (12-for-22). In 12 home games, the combo guard is averaging 7.6 points, 2.5 boards and 2.3 assists while shooting .345 from the floor and .233 from long range (10-for-43). Johnson has made more than one trey at home just twice season (two against Arkansas and Oklahoma State).
"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.
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