Sooners Close Homestand vs. Texas Southern Thursday


	Andrew Fitzgerald is averaging 22.0 points per game

Oklahoma (2-0) vs. Texas Southern (0-2)
Date & Tip Time	Thursday, Nov. 18 at 7:07 p.m. CT
Location	Norman, Okla. \| Lloyd Noble Center \| Seating Views
Tickets	$10, $15 and $30 OU Athletics Ticket Office
TV	Sooner Sports Network KAUT Ch. 43 in Oklahoma City Cox Cable Ch. 3 in Tulsa ESPN Full Court
Radio	Sooner Radio Network KOKC AM 1520 in Oklahoma City KTBZ AM 1430 in Tulsa
Webcast	SoonerSports.com
Live Stats	SoonerSports.com GameTracker
Game Info	Game Notes (PDF)

THURSDAY'S GAME BASICS
Oklahoma (2-0) hosts Texas Southern (0-2) Thursday at 7 p.m. CT at Lloyd Noble Center. The contest will air on the Sooner Radio Network (KOKC AM 1520 in Oklahoma City; KTBZ AM 1430 in Tulsa) with Bob Barry Sr. and Mike Houck announcing. The game will be televised by the Sooner Sports Network (KAUT Channel 43 in Oklahoma City; Cox Channel 3 in Tulsa; ESPN Full Court) with Bob Carpenter and former OU head coach Billy Tubbs calling the action.

TICKET INFORMATION
Tickets are available for $10, $15 and $30 at the OU Athletics Ticket Office and online at SoonerSports.com. Lloyd Noble Center's north and east ticket windows will open at 5 p.m. on Thursday.

SOONER UPDATE
• Oklahoma is off to a 2-0 start after home wins over Coppin State (77-57) and North Carolina Central (71-63 in overtime). The Sooners have won 79 of their last 81 home non-conference games, including 21 straight.
• After shooting .510 in the season opener against Coppin State, OU posted a .328 mark against North Carolina Central. Similarly, the Sooners shot .429 from 3-point range (9-for-21) in the opener but just .182 (4-for-22) against NCCU.
• OU is off to a great start at the free throw line with its .804 mark (18-for-24 versus Coppin State and 23-for-27 against North Carolina Central. Five of the Sooners' top six scorers are shooting at least .800 from the stripe.
• Sophomore forward Andrew Fitzgerald leads the team with his 22.0 points per game and also averages 7.5 rebounds and 3.0 steals. He leads OU's regulars with his .533 field goal mark and is shooting .857 from the foul line (12-for-14).
• Sophomore Steven Pledger, a natural shooting guard, has started at the point and is averaging 13.5 points and 3.5 assists per game with just two turnovers in a total of 71 minutes.
• Junior college transfer Nick Thompson has contributed in several areas, as evidenced by his averages of 7.0 points and team highs of 9.0 rebounds and 7.0 assists. The 6-9 forward registered seven handouts in each of OU's two games.
• Freshman guard Calvin Newell has come off the bench to average 11.5 points in 23.5 minutes per contest. Fellow frosh guard Cameron Clark is averaging 8.5 points and 8.5 rebounds in two starts (he recorded 11 points and 11 boards in his collegiate debut). Newell and Clark have made three 3-pointers each.
• OU's starters (Clark, Fitzgerald, Pledger, Thompson and Cade Davis) all average at least 32.0 minutes per outing.

Sooner to Watch
	Nick Thompson \| Jr. \| Forward • Averaging 7.0 points and team highs of 9.0 rebounds and 7.0 assists per game • Has handed out seven assists in each of OU's first two games • Pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds in Monday's win over North Carolina Central • Shot .556 from the field and .399 from 3-point range last year in junior college

MONDAY'S NORTH CAROLINA CENTRAL RECAP
• The Sooners outscored North Carolina Central 6-2 over the final 1:06 of regulation and then pulled away for a 71-63 overtime win.
• Oklahoma fell behind 18-17 with 8:38 remaining in the first half and didn't lead again until the 4:46 mark of overtime.
• OU shot .286 from the field in regulation but responded by going 4-for-4 in overtime (also went 4-for-4 from the free throw line).
• Steven Pledger missed his first six 3-point attempts before making a critical pair of treys late in regulation (1:06 and 0:15 remaining). The second 3-pointer tied the score after OU trailed the entire second half and forced overtime. Pledger finished with 14 points despite going 3-for-13 from the floor.
• After going 0-for-9 from the field in regulation, junior Nick Thompson scored the first four points of overtime (two field goals) to give OU a 62-58 lead. Thompson finished with six points and game highs of 12 rebounds and seven assists.
• Andrew Fitzgerald led OU with 22 points for the second straight game. He made all six of his free throws and added career highs of nine boards and five steals.
• Freshman Calvin Newell scored in double figures (10 points) for the second straight game. The reserve guard added four rebounds and two assists in 26 minutes.
• Cade Davis led OU with five points in overtime. He played 42 out of 45 minutes.
• The Sooners racked up 22 offensive rebounds, their most in 55 games.
• OU's .328 field goal mark was its lowest in victory since Dec. 23, 2004 (shot .298 in a 61-53 win over Southwest Missouri State).

PREVIEWING TEXAS SOUTHERN
Texas Southern enters Thursday's game with a 0-2 record following losses at Drake (60-46) and Wichita State (79-67). The Tigers, who open the year with six road games (after OU they play at Oregon State, Oregon and Kansas State), are shooting .408 from the field, .233 (7-for-30) from 3-point range and .722 (26-for-36) from the free throw line. They own a -2.0 rebounding margin and average 16.0 turnovers.

Under the direction of third-year head coach Tony Harvey (former Missouri assistant coach), Texas Southern posted a 17-16 record last year for the program's first winning mark in seven years. The Tigers advanced to the Southwestern Athletic Conference championship game. This year, TSU is picked in the preseason SWAC poll to finish fifth in the league race. Harvey is 24-43 as a head coach.

Guards Lawrence Johnson-Danner and Kevin Galloway have led the way for the Texas Southern through two games. Johnson-Danner, a redshirt freshman, scored a game-high 22 points against Wichita State on Tuesday with the help of 4-for-9 3-point shooting. He is averaging 16.0 points and 3.0 rebounds in 36.0 minutes a contest. Galloway, a senior who transferred from Kentucky (he averaged 1.9 points and 1.7 assists in 30 games during the 2008-09 season under head coach Billy Gillispie), is averaging 14.0 points, 7.5 rebounds, 7.0 assists and 7.0 turnovers in 38.5 minutes per outing. Galloway racked up 20 points, eight boards and eight assists against Wichita State. Sophomore forward Aaron Clayborn contributes 7.0 points and 4.5 rebounds a game. Senior guard Harrison Smith, a transfer from Texas, scored 12 points in the season opener but did not play against Wichita State. Preseason SWAC Player of the Year Travele Jones has yet to play due to what TSU terms as "NCAA clerical issues." A senior forward, Jones averaged 13.7 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.8 steals last year. He attempted 204 free throws (6.4 per game) and shot .588 from the line.

OU-TEXAS SOUTHERN SERIES HISTORY
Oklahoma owns a 3-0 all-time record against Texas Southern. The Sooners posted home wins in 1991-92 (110-85) and 1995-96 (77-63), as well as a victory in the All-College Classic in Oklahoma City in 2001-02 (97-55).

FIVE-MINUTE RULE
With their win Monday, the Sooners are 6-0 in overtime games under head coach Jeff Capel. Overtime wins under Capel have come at West Virginia (88-82 in two overtimes on Dec. 29, 2007), versus Baylor (92-91 on Feb. 19, 2008), against Purdue (87-82 on Nov. 28, 2008, in Preseason NIT championship game), at Utah (78-73 on Dec. 12, 2009) and versus Oklahoma State (62-57 on Jan. 11, 2010).

BUNCH OF HOMERS
Oklahoma has dominated home non-conference games over the last decade, winning 79 of its last 81 non-league contests inside Lloyd Noble Center going back to Jan. 3, 2000 (good for a .975 winning percentage). Included was a streak of 49 non-conference home victories that was snapped by Villanova on Dec. 6, 2006. The current string stands at 21 games.

MAUI ON THE HORIZON
Thursday's game against Texas Southern will mark Oklahoma's final outing before leaving for the EA SPORTS Maui Invitational. This year's event will take place Nov. 22-24 (next Monday through Wednesday) at the Lahaina Civic Center in Lahaina, Hawaii. It will be OU's fourth time to participate in the eight-team tournament.

The Sooners open Monday, Nov. 22, against No. 12/13 Kentucky (35-3 record last year) at 12:30 p.m. Hawaii time (4:30 p.m. CT) in a game televised on ESPN2. The next day, OU will face Virginia (15-16 last year) or No. 18/15 Washington (26-10) at either 11:30 a.m. (3:30 p.m. CT) or 4:30 p.m. (8:30 p.m. CT) on ESPN or ESPN2. Wednesday's third-round game will pit the Sooners versus host Chaminade, Connecticut, No. 2/2 Michigan State or Wichita State.

Oklahoma went 2-1 (third place) in the 1988 Maui Invitational, 2-1 (fifth place) in the 1992 tournament and 1-2 (seventh place) in the 2006 event.

SOONERS SIGN JUNIOR COLLEGE STANDOUT
Junior college preseason All-American Robert Goff signed a letter of intent with the Sooners on Monday and will be a junior at OU starting in 2011-12. Goff, a 6-9, 230-pound sophomore who attends Hutchinson (Kan.) Community College, originally hails from Indianapolis, Ind. He played at Cowley County (Kan.) Community College as a freshman in 2008-09 before transferring to Hutchinson and sitting out the 2009-10 season. At Cowley, Goff averaged 9.2 points, 6.9 rebounds and 1.5 blocked shots per game while shooting .612 from the field for head coach Steve Eck, who's now the head coach at Hutchinson.

"Robert's a perfect fit," said OU head coach Jeff Capel. "We identified him very early as someone we really wanted, and we're fortunate that he's a Sooner. He's a tremendous athlete and will provide size for us, which we need. Plus, he's older and will come in and contribute right away. I think he can be an anchor for our defense with his ability to clog up the lane and block shots. Offensively, he has skill. He can also really run the floor. The thing I'm excited about is he's a great kid. He has a strong desire to grow as a basketball player and as a young man."

CAPEL TO PARTICIPATE IN "SHOTS FROM THE HEART"
Head coach Jeff Capel is one of 64 Division I men's basketball head coaches from around the country who will participate in "Shots From the Heart," a free throw shooting contest designed to create more awareness about heart disease and to raise money to benefit the American Heart Association.

Starting this week, coaches will compete head-to-head in a season-long, bracket-style contest with each round's winners advancing to the next round. Each coach will shoot 25 free throws per round, with shots No. 1 through 20 worth one point each, shots No. 21 through 24 worth two points each, and shot No. 25 worth three points. The four finalists will compete at the Final Four in Houston in early April.

Capel, a 67.6 percent free throw shooter during his four-year career at Duke, will take on first-year Sam Houston State head coach Jason Hooten in the opening round.

Fans and businesses can contribute to the American Heart Association by pledging a dollar amount for every shot Capel makes during the competition. For more information, send an e-mail to shots@collegeinsider.com, or visit www.collegeinsider.com/shots.

Capel was a 67.6 percent free throw shooter during his four-year career at Duke University.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Sooners Close Homestand vs. Texas Southern Thursday

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