University of Oklahoma Athletics

Men's Hoops Team Hosts Sacramento State Tuesday

December 20, 2010 | Men's Basketball

 
  Cameron Clark is averaging 39.3 minutes over the last three games
 Oklahoma (5-6) vs. Sacramento State (3-7) 
 Date & Tip Time  Tuesday, Dec. 21 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 
 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
 Webcast  SoonerSports.com
 Live Stats  SoonerSports.com GameTracker
 Game Info  Game Notes (PDF)

TUESDAY'S GAME BASICS
Oklahoma (5-6) looks to stay unbeaten at home when it hosts Sacramento State (3-7) Tuesday at 7 p.m. CST inside Lloyd Noble Center.  The Sooners (5-0 at home) are coming off a 66-56 loss to Cincinnati in Oklahoma City on Saturday, while the Hornets lost 65-63 in overtime at McNeese State on Sunday.  Tuesday's 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 (KWTV Ch. 9 in Oklahoma City; KQCW Ch. 19 in Tulsa; ESPN Full Court) with Bob Carpenter and 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 Tuesday.

NOTEWORTHY
• Oklahoma has won 24 straight non-conference home games and 82 of its last 84.
• The Sooners are 5-0 at home this year and 0-6 away from Norman.
• After averaging 4.0 points, 2.2 rebounds and 2.5 assists in 17.0 minutes over his first six games, sophomore point guard Carl Blair is averaging 11.0 points, 5.3 boards and 6.7 assists in 32.7 minutes over the last three contests.  Blair did not play in OU's first two games of the season.
• Freshman Cameron Clark has played 118 out of a possible 120 minutes the last three games, including all 40 minutes in each of the last two outings.
• Sophomore guard Steven Pledger is averaging a team-high 17.8 points in OU's wins (all at home).  He has made 16 3-pointers (3.2 average) and is shooting .905 from the free throw line (19-for-21) in those contests.  Pledger has scored in double figures in each of the last four games.
• Oklahoma has outscored opponents 88-77 in points off turnovers in its five wins, but has been outscored 119-65 in the category in its six defeats.
• In their five wins, the Sooners are shooting .420 from 3-point range (42-for-100) and .792 from the free throw line (80-for-101).  In their five losses, they're shooting .295 from behind the arc (33-for-112) and .656 from the foul line (61-for-93).

 
 Sooner to Watch 

 Steven Pledger | So. | Guard
 • Has scored in double figures in each of the last four outings
 • Averaging 17.8 points in OU's four home games (all wins)
 • Has scored in double figures in all five home games (13, 14, 23, 20 and 19 points)
 • Has made 10 treys over the last three outings 

   

SOONER UPDATE
• Oklahoma shot a combined .500 from the field and .485 from 3-point range in 13-point wins over Gardner-Webb and Oral Roberts two weeks ago, but shot just .333 from the floor and .182 from 3-point distance Saturday in a 66-56 loss to Cincinnati in the All-College Classic in Oklahoma City.
• OU had shot 47 percent or better from the field in each of its five games prior to the Cincinnati contest.  It has shot under 44 percent just twice this year. 
• Turnovers have been an issue for the Sooners, as they average 14.6 per game.  They've committed at least 10 turnovers in all but one outing and rank last in the Big 12 in turnover margin (-1.9).  Opponents are averaging 17.8 points off turnovers per game. 
• Sophomore forward Andrew Fitzgerald has shot .500 or better from the field in eight of 11 games and owns a .534 season percentage to rank fifth in the Big 12.  He leads the team with his 14.5 points and 6.1 rebounds per game.   His free throw percentage (.735) is up significantly from last year (.638) and he is shooting .800 (20-for-25) from the foul line over the last five games.
• Over the last five games, Fitzgerald is averaging 16.0 points and 7.2 rebounds.  He registered his first career double-double (18 points and a career-high 13 rebounds) Dec. 1 at Arkansas and followed with a career-high-tying 22 points and five boards Dec. 5 at Arizona. 
• Guard Cade Davis had averaged 15.8 points on .474 field goal and .472 (25-for-53) 3-point shooting over the eight outings prior to Saturday's seven-point performance against Cincinnati (he was 1-for-10 from the field and 0-for-5 from behind the arc against the Bearcats).  Included were games of 21 points against Texas Southern, 23 points versus No. 8 Kentucky and a season-high 24 points against Chaminade.  On the year, OU's lone senior averages 13.5 points to rank 15th in the Big 12.
• Davis ranks third in the Big 12 with his 2.5 treys per game and seventh with his .403 percentage.  Going back to last year, he has made 58 3-pointers over his last 23 games.  Davis ranks ninth on OU's career 3-point field goals list with 144 (needs nine to move into eighth place).
• In OU's five wins (all at home), sophomore guard Steven Pledger has scored no fewer than 13 points and is shooting .410 from 3-point range (16-for-39) and .905 from the free throw line (19-for-21).  In six games away from home (all losses), Pledger has been held to single digits four times and is shooting .222 from deep (6-for-27).
• Freshman Cameron Clark has heated up the last couple of weeks.  After averaging 5.5 points on .450 field goal shooting over OU's first eight games, the wing is averaging 12.7 points on .533 shooting over the last three.  He recorded consecutive career highs of 13 points Dec. 9 against Gardner-Webb and 17 Dec. 11 versus Oral Roberts (he had been held to single digits in each of the previous seven games).  Clark has five steals over the last three contests after registering just one over OU's first eight games. 
• Sophomore point guard Carl Blair has rebounded nicely from a tough start to the year by averaging 11.0 points, 5.3 rebounds and 6.7 assists over the last three games.  The University of New Orleans transfer had six points, five rebounds, seven assists and no turnovers in 23 minutes off the bench in the Dec. 9 win over Gardner-Webb and followed with 12 points, five boards and nine assists in 37 minutes off the bench Saturday against Oral Roberts.  Saturday against Cincinnati, Blair scored 15 points, his most in an OU uniform.  He recorded 15 assists over his first six games but has 20 over the last three.  He is also shooting .525 from the field on the year.

PREVIEWING SACRAMENTO STATE
• A member of the Big Sky Conference, Sacramento State enters Tuesday's game with a 3-7 record.  The Hornets have posted wins over Bethany (84-55), Cal Poly (71-67) and William Jessup (65-54), all at home.  They are coming off a 65-63 overtime loss at McNeese State on Sunday, a game in which they led 32-21 at halftime, and also lost in overtime to CSU Bakersfield (80-78) in the season opener.
• Sacramento State is shooting .412 from the field, .329 from 3-point range (5.6 makes per game) and .651 from the free throw line (13.8 makes per game).  Opponents are shooting .430 from the field and .335 from behind the arc (7.0 makes per outing).
• Senior point guard Sultan Toles-Bey leads the Hornets in several statistical categories, including points (12.6), assists (3.8), steals (1.4), 3-pointers (21) and free throw percentage (.852).  He leads the Big Sky with his 36.1 minutes per outing.
• Sophomore forward John Dickson is averaging 8.9 points and 3.6 rebounds per game, as well as a team-high 4.5 free throw attempts.
• Senior forward Duro Bjegovic contributes 8.2 points and a team-high 5.0 rebounds per contest.
• Head coach Brian Katz is 14-55 in his third year at Sacramento State.  Last year he coached the Hornets to a 9-21 record.

OU-SACRAMENTO STATE SERIES HISTORY
Tuesday's game will mark the first between Oklahoma and Sacramento State in men's basketball.

SATURDAY'S CINCINNATI RECAP
• Oklahoma shot .333 from the field (its second-lowest mark of the year) and a season-low-tying .182 from 3-point range Saturday in a 66-56 loss to undefeated Cincinnati (10-0) at the All-College Classic in Oklahoma City.
• OU held Cincinnati to .420 field goal and .176 (3-for-17) 3-point marks.  The Bearcats entered the game shooting .456 from the field and .385 from long distance.
• The Sooners, who never led, trailed 28-21 at halftime before scoring the first six points of the second half to draw within one.  They got stops on Cincinnati's next three possessions but missed two field goal attempts and committed a turnover on their next three trips.
• The Bearcats led by just five (49-44) with six minutes remaining before going on an 8-1 run to go ahead by 12 (57-45) with 3:22 left for their largest lead of the game.
• Cincinnati posted a 22-15 advantage in points off turnovers despite the fact both teams committed 13 offensive miscues.
• Sophomore point guard Carl Blair finished with a game-high 15 points and OU highs of six rebounds and four assists, but also committed six turnovers.  He was the only Sooner who shot at least 50 percent from the field (6-for-12).
• Senior guard Cade Davis was held to seven points on 1-for-10 field goal and 0-for-5 3-point shooting.
Steven Pledger netted 13 points with the help of 5-for-6 free throw shooting while fellow sophomore Andrew Fitzgerald contributed 10 points, five boards, two assists and three steals.

HOME IS WHERE THE "W" IS
Oklahoma has dominated home non-conference games over the last decade, winning 82 of its last 84 non-league contests inside Lloyd Noble Center going back to Jan. 3, 2000 (good for a .976 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 24 games.

UP NEXT
OU is back home to play Central Arkansas on Thursday, Dec. 30, at 7 p.m. CT.  The game will be televised by the Sooner Sports Network.  The Bears are coached by former University of Arkansas standout Corliss Williamson.

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