OU Back Home for Final Pre-Conference Game


	Andrew Fitzgerald

Oklahoma (8-5) vs. Maryland Eastern Shore (3-9)
Date & Tip Time	Monday, Jan. 4 at 7:07 p.m. CST
Location	Norman, Okla. \| Lloyd Noble Center \| Seating Views
Tickets	OU Athletics Ticket Office
TV	Sooner Sports Network KAUT Ch. 43, Cox 7 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
Webcast	SoonerSports.com All-Access
Live Stats	SoonerSports.com GameTracker
Game Info	Game Notes (PDF)

GAME PREVIEW
Oklahoma (8-5) looks to snap a two-game losing streak when it hosts Maryland Eastern Shore (3-9) Monday at 7 p.m. CST. The Sooners, who will play at Lloyd Noble Center for the first time since Dec. 19, are coming off an 83-69 loss to Gonzaga on Thursday in Spokane, Wash. The Hawks have lost four in a row and are coming off a 74-60 road loss to Nebraska on Saturday. Monday'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 Bob Carpenter and Charlie Spoonhour calling the action.

TICKET INFORMATION
Reserved seats are available for $10, $20 and $30 at the OU Athletics Ticket Office and on SoonerSports.com. Lloyd Noble Center's north and east ticket windows will open Monday at 5 p.m.

PROMOTIONS
• Monday will mark "Outdoors Night with the Sooners." One thousand OU fishing lures will be given to fans at the door and professional fisherman Jimmy Houston will be on hand for a pregame autograph session and a halftime fishing exhibition and fan contest.
• OU fans have the opportunity for discounted tickets when they attend one of the first two games of the new year(Monday vs. Maryland Eastern Shore and Jan. 11 vs. Oklahoma State). If the Sooners win, each person in attendance can redeem their tickets for the same number of discounted tickets ($7 and $17) to any future game (except Oklahoma State and Texas). Offer good for advance purchases only. Tickets are limited to the number of tickets the customer had for the eligible game and are based upon availability. Click here for more detailed information.

NOTEWORTHY
• Monday's game will mark just the second meeting between Oklahoma and Maryland Eastern Shore. OU beat the Hawks 100-64 last season in Norman.
• In its wins, Oklahoma is giving up 64.4 points a game and is holding opponents to .417 shooting from the field. In its losses, OU is surrendering 86.0 points and allowing foes to shoot .490 from the floor. Over the last two games, opponents have shot .544 from the field and .500 (21-for-42) from long distance.
• Oklahoma is averaging 8.8 3-point makes per game. The school record for average treys per contest in a season is 8.5 in 1998-99.
• OU ranks second in the Big 12 and fourth nationally with its .772 free throw mark. It has made more foul shots (217) than its foes have attempted (204).
• Senior guard Tony Crocker, who has started 79 consecutive games, is averaging 16.1 points and 9.0 rebounds over the last seven contests. He has recorded his only four career double-doubles during the stretch. The 6-6, 209-pounder has five double-digit rebounding games over the last nine outings, the only ones of his career.
• OU has had a player score at least 20 points in a half three times in the last five games. Crocker set a Big 12 record for points in a half with 29 in the first stanza against Centenary Dec. 9 (he made seven 3-pointers), Cade Davis netted 20 in the opening 20 minutes against Northern Colorado Dec. 19 (canned six treys) and Tommy Mason-Griffin scored 20 in the second half against UTEP Dec. 21 (four 3-point makes).
• Sophomore guard Willie Warren is averaging team highs of 18.8 points (ranks fourth in Big 12) and 4.5 assists (also ranks fourth), and is shooting .833 from the free throw line (ranks third).
• Warren has scored at least 24 points in six of his 12 outings.
• Freshman forward Tiny Gallon ranks fifth in the Big 12 with his 8.6 rebounds per game. Gallon, who is shooting a team-high .596 from the field, has four double-doubles to rank sixth in the conference.
• Mason-Griffin is 19-for-40 (.475) from 3-point range over the last nine games. He's made at least two treys in all but two of those outings. The point guard is averaging 13.8 points over the last four contests.

Sooner to Watch
	Tommy Mason-Griffin \| Fr. \| Guard • Averaging 13.8 points and 4.5 assists over the last four games • Had 20 points two games ago against UTEP and 10 assists last game vs. Gonzaga • Ranks third in Big 12 in assists per game (5.0) and fifth in 3-point percentage (.431) • Is 19-for-40 (.450) from 3-point range over the last nine games

PREVIEWING THE HAWKS
Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference member Maryland Eastern Shore enters Monday's game with a 3-9 record. It has lost four straight contests after a three-game winning streak (home victories over American, Delaware State and Navy) that started in late November. The Hawks, who are 0-6 in true road games, are shooting .376 from the field, .270 from 3-point range (4.4 makes per game) and .645 from the free throw line (13.0 makes) on the year. They are allowing foes to shoot .474 from the field and .359 from behind the arc (6.7 makes per game).

Sophomore guard Hillary Haley is one of just two Hawks averaging double figures in points. Haley scores a team-high 11.8 points a contest and shares the team lead with 20 makes from 3-point range (shooting .286). Junior guard Kevin White is averaging 10.0 points, 3.3 rebounds and team highs of 5.2 assists and 1.2 steals per contest. Junior guard Tim Burns supplies 9.5 points and 1.4 assists per outing, and has made a team-high 30 free throws (shooting .833 from the line).

Frankie Allen is in his second year at Maryland Eastern Shore and owns a 10-32 (.238) record. He's in his 20th year as a collegiate head coach and is 233-326 (.417). Allen has also served as head coach at Virginia Tech, Tennessee State and Howard. A 1971 graduate of Roanoke College, he remains the all-time leading scorer (2,780) and rebounder (1,758) at any collegiate level in the state of Virginia.

OU-MARYLAND EASTERN SHORE SERIES HISTORY
In the only previous meeting between the two schools, Oklahoma dealt Maryland Eastern Shore a 100-64 defeat last season (Jan. 5, 2009) in Norman. OU head coach Jeff Capel missed the game due to a stomach virus that resulted in his hospitalization, and assistant coach Mark Cline led the team in his absence. The Sooners shot .500 from the field while holding the Hawks to a .311 figure, and posted a 52-43 rebounding advantage. OU's 52 boards were a season high, as were its 11 blocked shots. Blake Griffin racked up 20 points and 16 rebounds in just 22 minutes of action while Tony Crocker and Willie Warren finished with 15 points each (Crocker was 10-for-10 from the free throw line). Center Orlando Allen came off the bench to record 10 points, five rebounds and five blocked shots (all career highs at the time) in 14 minutes of court time. The Sooners' 100 points were their most in four seasons. Neal Pitt led the Hawks with 18 points while Chris Conner scored 12 off the bench.

THURSDAY'S GONZAGA RECAP
• Ranked No. 22 in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches' Poll, Gonzaga shot .667 from the field and .692 from 3-point range (9-for-13) in the first half to take a 52-34 halftime lead and coasted to an 83-69 victory over the Sooners Thursday in Spokane, Wash.
• The Sooners lost by 14 despite shooting .500 from the field, .400 from behind the arc (8-for-20) and .786 from the free throw line (11-for-14). Gonzaga finished the game with respective marks of .509, .423 (11-for-26) and .824 (14-for-17).
• OU trailed 37-30 before the Bulldogs closed the first half on a 15-4 run to take their 18-point intermission lead.
• Tommy Mason-Griffin came off the bench for the second time this season but still recorded a career-high 10 assists against just one turnover. The freshman scored nine points in 32 minutes of action.
• Willie Warren scored a game-high 19 points with the help of 4-for-5 3-point shooting. He entered the game with a .259 3-point mark.
• Andrew Fitzgerald made his first career start and contributed 13 points and a team-high-tying five rebounds in 21 minutes. The freshman forward, who hadn't played in OU's two most recent games, was 5-for-8 from the field.
• Sophomore guard Ray Willis played in just his fifth game of the year (and first since Jan. 9) and scored eight points (all in the first half) in 17 minutes of play. He was 2-for-3 from 3-point range and made both of his free throw attempts.
• OU committed 13 turnovers to Gonzaga's 10, but the Bulldogs posted a 20-7 advantage in the points-off-turnovers category.
• The game was delayed for approximately 50 minutes after Tiny Gallon shattered the backboard with 15:34 left in the second half.

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN WINS AND LOSSES
• In their eight wins, the Sooners are holding opponents to .417 field goal and .333 3-point shooting. In OU's five losses, foes have shot .490 from the field and .431 from behind the arc.
• Similarly, OU is shooting .469 from the field and .416 from 3-point territory in wins, but just .437 and .310, respectively, in defeats.
• The Sooners have outrebounded their opponents by 3.5 per game in wins but have been outboarded by an average of 4.2 in losses.
• Tony Crocker is averaging 16.1 points (.487 from 3-point range) and 8.0 boards in wins compared to 9.0 points (.235 from deep) and 5.6 boards in losses. All four of his double-doubles have come in victories.
• Willie Warren is averaging 21.6points in losses and 16.7 points in victories. He is 28-for-30 (.933) from the foul line in defeats.

GUARDS SHOULDERING THE SCORING LOAD
Five of OU's top six scorers, including its top two, are guards. The Sooners' backcourt has accounted for 764 of the team's 1,007 points, or 76 percent. Three guards average double figures in scoring while two more average at least 7.7 points. Willie Warren averages 18.8 points per outing and is followed by Tony Crocker (13.4), Tommy Mason Griffin (10.8), Steven Pledger (8.2) and Cade Davis (7.7). All five of those players have surpassed the 20-point mark at least once this year (Warren has done it six times, Crocker and Pledger have done it twice each and Davis and Mason-Griffin have done it once each).

YOUTH MOVEMENT
The freshman foursome of Tiny Gallon (11.8 ppg), Tommy Mason-Griffin (10.9), Steven Pledger (8.4) and Andrew Fitzgerald (4.3) has combined to score 438 of the team's 1,007 points this year, or 43 percent. Gallon, who is shooting .596 from the field, ranks fifth in the Big 12 in rebounds per game (8.6) and sixth with four double-doubles (he missed out on another by one rebound). Mason-Griffin ranks third in the league with his 5.0 assists per game and fifth with his .431 3-point shooting percentage. Among the Big 12's leaders in 3-point makes, Pledger has knocked down a team-leading 24 treys on 64 attempts (.375) and has two games of more than 20 points. Fitzgerald is averaging 4.3 points in 11.3 minutes per game. He is shooting .500 from the field and is 13-for-18 from the free throw line (.722).

UP NEXT
Oklahoma opens Big 12 Conference play on the road Saturday at Baylor at 5 p.m. The game will be televised regionally by the Big 12 Network.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

OU Back Home for Final Pre-Conference Game

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