Men's Basketball at Texas Tech Saturday Night


	Cade Davis

Oklahoma (11-7, 2-2) at Texas Tech (13-5, 1-3)
Date & Tip Time	Saturday, Jan. 23 at 7:07 p.m. CST
Location	Lubbock, Texas \| United Spirit Arena (15,098)
Tickets	OU Athletics Ticket Office
TV	Sooner Sports Network KWTV Ch. 9 in Oklahoma City KQCW Ch. 19 in Tulsa ESPN Full Court
Radio	Sooner Radio Network KOKC AM 1520 in Oklahoma City KTBZ AM 1430 in Tulsa Sirius 127 XM 102
Webcast	ESPN360.com
Live Stats	SoonerSports.com GameTracker
Game Info	Game Notes (PDF)

GAME PREVIEW
Oklahoma (11-7 overall, 2-2 Big 12) plays its second of back-to-back road games when it takes on Texas Tech (13-5, 1-3) Saturday at 7:07 p.m. CST in Lubbock. The Sooners, who are coming off a 65-62 loss at Texas A&M on Tuesday, are 1-3 on the year in true road contests. Texas Tech, which beat Iowa State 78-71 Wednesday in Lubbock, is 11-1 at home. Saturday's contest will air on the Sooner Radio Network with Bob Barry Sr. and Mike Houck announcing. It will be televised by the Sooner Sports Network with Toby Rowland and Charlie Spoonhour calling the action.

NOTEWORTHY
• Oklahoma is 29-16 all-time against Texas Tech and 10-10 in Lubbock. OU has won five straight overall meetings and four of the last five at United Spirit Arena.
• Big 12 teams are a combined 123-6 (.953) at home this year.
• OU has held its foes to sub-.400 field goal shooting in five of the last six halves.
• Oklahoma is averaging a Big 12-high 8.3 3-point makes per game. The school record for average treys per contest in a season is 8.5 (in 1998-99).
• Oklahoma ranks second in the Big 12 with its .737 free throw mark. The Sooners have made 283 free throws while their opponents have attempted 287.
• Junior guard Cade Davis is averaging 11.0 points, 7.3 rebounds and 2.0 steals over the last three games and shot .500 from the field in each. Davis' 31 steals on the year are 13 more than his closest teammate. He ranks sixth in the Big 12 with his 1.7 steals per contest.
• Senior guard Tony Crocker, who has started 84 consecutive games, has recorded his only five career double-doubles over the last 12 games.
• Crocker needs 23 rebounds to become just the second Sooner to ever record 1,000 points, 500 boards and 150 3-pointers in a career (Ryan Minor is the other).
• Sophomore guard Willie Warren is averaging a team-high 17.6 points (ranks fifth in Big 12) as well as 4.4 assists (ranks sixth) per game.
• Over the last three games (all decided by five points or less), Warren is 8-for-8 from the foul line in the last two minutes of regulation and in overtime.
• Tommy Mason-Griffin has made at least one 3-pointer in 17 of 18 games this year, and at least two treys in 11 of the last 14 outings. The freshman ranks second in the league in 3-point field goal percentage (.442), fourth in assists (4.8 apg), 10th in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.1) and 13th in 3-pointers per game (1.9).
• No OU freshman has ever shot better from 3-point range for a season than Mason-Griffin's current .442 mark.
• In OU's four conference games, Mason-Griffin is shooting .524 (11-for-21) from 3-point distance. The rest of the team is shooting .219 (14-for-64).

Sooner to Watch
	Tommy Mason-Griffin \| Fr. \| Guard • Ranks second in Big 12 in 3-point percentage (.442) and fourth in assists (4.8) • Has made at least two treys in 11 of the last 14 games (2.8 average over last four games) • Shooting .524 from 3-point range in Big 12 play (11-for-21) • Coming off a career-high 21-point game at Texas A&M (also had five assists)

PREVIEWING TEXAS TECH
Texas Tech, which is 11-1 at home (its only loss was to Missouri Jan. 13 in overtime), owns a 13-5 overall record and a 1-3 mark in Big 12 play. It started the year 9-0 (peaked at No. 16 in the Dec. 14 AP poll) but is 4-5 since. The Red Raiders are coming off a 78-71 home win over Iowa State on Wednesday, a game in which they went 10-for-20 from 3-point range. Tech is shooting .446 from the field (ranks ninth in Big 12), .356 from 3-point range (ranks seventh) and .716 from the free throw line (ranks fourth). It is holding opponents to .415 field goal shooting (ranks ninth) and to a .342 mark from behind the arc (also ranks ninth).

Three Red Raiders average double figures in scoring, while three more average more than 7.0 points a contest. Junior forward Mike Singletary leads the way with his 14.9 points per game, and ranks second on the team with his 6.7 rebounds an outing. Singletary, who scored 43 points against Texas A&M in last year's Big 12 Championship first round (including 29 straight for Tech), is shooting .475 from the field and .727 from the free throw line (team-high 7.3 attempts per game). Junior guard John Roberson averages 14.2 points and 5.3 assists (ranks second in Big 12). Roberson is shooting .393 from 3-point range (team-high 35 makes) and .802 from the free throw line. Another junior, guard David Tairu comes off the bench to supply 10.9 points and 3.0 rebounds per game. Tairu is shooting a team-high .469 from behind the arc (15-for-32). Guard Nick Okorie averages 8.9 points per game, forward D'walyn Roberts 7.7 and forward Brad Reese 7.3.

Pat Knight is in his third season as Texas Tech's head coach and owns a 31-31 (.500) record.

OU-TEXAS TECH SERIES HISTORY
Oklahoma owns a 29-16 series advantage against Texas Tech and has won the last five meetings. OU is 10-10 against the Red Raiders in Lubbock and has won the last two and four of the last five at United Spirit Arena. Since the start of the Big 12 in 1996-97, OU is 20-8 against Tech (9-4 in Lubbock). Jeff Capel is 5-1 against the Red Raiders as OU's head coach (2-1 in Lubbock).

LAST YEAR AGAINST THE RED RAIDERS
The Sooners swept the regular season series with Texas Tech last year, winning 95-74 in Norman and 78-63 in Lubbock (box scores on page 13 of these notes). Blake Griffin owned the Red Raiders, averaging 30.0 points and 20.5 rebounds over the two meetings. In the first matchup, the sophomore forward was 16-for-22 from the field and finished with 40 points, 23 rebounds, two assists, a block and two steals in 31 minutes. Griffin became the first player in Big 12 history and third in OU annals to register at least 40 points and 20 rebounds in a contest. His 40 points were the most by a Sooner in 15 years and his 23 boards marked OU's most in 20 seasons. He recorded double-doubles in each half. In the rematch, Griffin returned from a concussion to record 20 points and 18 rebounds, while his brother, Taylor Griffin, netted a career-high 22 points and plucked eight boards. Nick Okorie averaged 18.5 points in the two meetings for Texas Tech (scored 24 in Norman), while John Roberson averaged 13.0 points and 8.5 assists and Mike Singletary averaged 12.0 points.

TUESDAY'S TEXAS A&M RECAP
• Oklahoma trailed 39-29 at halftime, battled back to take a 54-47 lead midway through the second half, and was outscored 9-2 in the last two minutes of a 65-62 loss at Texas A&M Tuesday. OU was 0-for-3 from the field and committed two turnovers in the final two minutes.
• Texas A&M shot .625 from the field in the first half and held the Sooners to a .348 mark. OU shot .444 in the second half and held the Aggies to a .375 figure. A&M shot .500 for the game while OU shot .400.
• Tommy Mason-Griffin scored a career-high 21 points and handed out five assists against two turnovers in 39 minutes of action. The freshman was 3-for-4 from 3-point range and 4-for-5 from the free throw line.
• Willie Warren scored 13 of his 14 points in the second half. He picked up two fouls in the game's first 3:45 and played 30 minutes. His two free throws with 46 seconds left gave the Sooners a 62-61 lead and were OU's final points.
• Tiny Gallon played just two minutes in the first half due to two early fouls, but still managed 10 points and seven boards in 22 minutes.
• One game after recording his first career double-double (15 points and 11 boards against Missouri), Cade Davis tallied nine points, seven rebounds (his second highest career total) and a game-high three steals. Davis played all 40 minutes and was 3-for-5 from 3-point range.
• After committing a season-high 20 turnovers the last game against Missouri, OU turned it over just nine times versus the Aggies.
• The Sooners were outrebounded 15-11 in the first half but held a 22-15 advantage in the second to win the board battle, 33-30.

TURNING THE DEFENSIVE CORNER?
After giving up 89 points to UTEP Dec. 22 (allowed .579 field goal shooting), 83 points to Gonzaga Dec. 31 (.509) and 91 points to Baylor Jan. 9 (.586), Oklahoma has made noticeable strides defensively over the last three games. In five-point wins over Oklahoma State and Missouri and a three-point loss at Texas A&M, OU held opponents to an average of 61.0 points and to .365 field goal and .254 3-point field goal shooting. In five of the last six halves, opponents shot under .400 from the field. In four of the last six halves, foes scored less than 30 points.

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN WINS AND LOSSES
• In their 11 wins, the Sooners are holding opponents to .386 field goal and .307 3-point shooting. In OU's six losses, foes have shot .505 from the field and .431 from behind the arc.
• The Sooners have outrebounded their opponents by 3.9 per game in wins but have been outboarded by an average of 4.3 in losses.
• Cade Davis is averaging 11.3 points (.368 from 3-point range) in wins compared to 4.4 points (.231 from behind the arc) in losses.
• Tony Crocker is averaging 14.8 points (.478 from 3-point range) and 8.0 boards in wins (not including the Missouri game when he played only five minutes due to injury) compared to 9.3 points (.280 from deep) and 5.0 boards in losses. All five of his double-doubles have come in victories.

PICK YOUR POISON
Five different Sooners have each made at least 24 treys through the team's first 18 games. Oklahoma State (four) is the only other Big 12 team that has more than three players with at least 20 3-point makes each heading into the weekend. Tommy Mason-Griffin leads OU with 34 makes (1.9 per game) and is followed by Tony Crocker with 29 (1.6 per game), Steven Pledger with 28 (1.6 per contest), Cade Davis with 27 (1.5 per outing) and Willie Warren with 24 (1.4 per contest). OU leads the Big 12 with its 8.3 treys per outing.

GUARDS SHOULDERING THE LOAD
Five of OU's top six scorers, including its top two, are guards. The Sooners' backcourt has accounted for 1,015 of the team's 1,345 points, or 75 percent. Three guards average double figures in scoring while two more average at least 7.0 points. Willie Warren averages 17.6 points per outing and is followed by Tony Crocker (11.8), Tommy Mason Griffin (10.8), Cade Davis (8.6) and Steven Pledger (7.1). All five of those players have surpassed the 20-point mark at least once this year (Warren has done it seven times, Crocker, Mason-Griffin and Pledger have done it twice each and Davis has done it once). Last year, guards accounted for 52 percent of OU's points.

UP NEXT
The Sooners return home to host Iowa State next Wednesday (Jan. 27) at 8 p.m. CST. The game will be televised by the Big 12 Network.

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Men's Basketball at Texas Tech Saturday Night

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