University of Oklahoma Athletics

Sooners Go For Sweep of Texas Monday Night

March 01, 2010 | Men's Basketball

 
  Tiny Gallon
 Oklahoma (13-15, 4-10) at Texas (22-7, 8-6) 
 Date & Tip Time  Monday, March 1 at 8 p.m. CST
 Location  Austin, Texas | Frank Erwin Center (16,734)
 Tickets  OU Athletics Ticket Office
 TV

 ESPN

 Radio  Sooner Radio Network 
 KOKC AM 1520 in Oklahoma City
 KMOD FM 97.5 in Tulsa
 Sirius 122
 XM 143
 Webcast  ESPN360.com
 Live Stats  SoonerSports.com GameTracker
 Game Info  Game Notes (PDF)

GAME PREVIEW
Oklahoma (13-15 overall, 4-10 Big 12) will make its final attempt to claim a Big 12 road win when it plays at No. 21 Texas (22-7, 8-6) Monday at 8 p.m. CST.  The Sooners, who have lost six straight games overall and are 1-8 in true road games on the season, are tied with Colorado and Texas Tech for eighth place in the Big 12 standings.  Texas, coming off a 74-58 loss at No. 22 Texas A&M, has lost seven of its last 12 games after obtaining the nation's No. 1 ranking (started 17-0).  The Longhorns are in a tie for sixth place in the conference race with Oklahoma State.  Monday's game will air on the Sooner Radio Network with Bob Barry Sr. and Mike Houck calling the action.  It will be televised nationally by ESPN with Brent Musburger, Bob Knight and Holly Rowe announcing.

NOTEWORTHY
• Oklahoma is 47-28 all-time against Texas and 16-15 versus the Longhorns in Austin.
• OU won the season's first matchup, 80-71, on Feb. 6 in Norman.
• The Sooners have not won a road game since Dec. 12 (78-73 at Utah in OT).
• In OU's last six games (all losses), opponents are averaging 82.0 points while shooting .507 from the field and .500 from 3-point range (47-for-94).  Each of the last five opponents have shot .500 or better from the field and five of the last six have shot .500 or better from behind the arc.
• Due to injuries, an illness and suspensions, the Sooners have used eight different starting lineups in their 14 conference games.
• In its Big 12 losses, OU is shooting .395 from the field and .305 from 3-point distance.  In the same games, opponents are shooting .495 and .484, respectively. 
• OU is the only Big 12 team with five players who each average at least 9.9 points.
• Four of Oklahoma's top seven scorers are freshmen.  Those four have accounted for 46 percent of the team's points this season.
• Over the last 11 games, freshman point guard Tommy Mason-Griffin is averaging 19.7 points, 4.8 assists and 3.1 3-point makes.
• Mason-Griffin has made at least one 3-pointer in 26 of 28 games, and at least two treys in 12 of 14 league outings.
• In OU's 14 league contests, Mason-Griffin is shooting .429 from 3-point range (42-for-98).  The rest of the team is shooting .274 (60-for-219).
• Mason-Griffin did not lead OU in scoring in any of its first 17 games.  He has done it eight times in the last 11 outings.
• Mason-Griffin has played at least 38 minutes in 12 of the last 13 games (35 in the other).  He has logged 40 or more minutes seven times in those 13 outings.
• Junior guard Cade Davis is averaging 13.4 points and 4.6 rebounds over the last nine outings.  He is 24-for-64 (.375) from behind the arc during the stretch and has made at least three treys in six of the last 11 games.
• Senior guard Tony Crocker, who has started his last 93 games, has recorded his only seven career double-doubles this year.  Crocker leads all Big 12 guards in rebounding (6.3 rpg) and double-doubles.
• Crocker is just the second Sooner to ever record 1,000 points, 500 boards and 150 3-point makes in a career (Ryan Minor is the other).
• OU's leading scorer on the year (16.3 ppg), sophomore guard Willie Warren has missed six Big 12 games (ankle, illness), including the last three.  He ranks ninth in the league in scoring and eighth in assists (4.1 apg).

 
 Sooner to Watch 

 Tommy Mason-Griffin | Fr. | Guard
 • Racked up 24 points, five rebounds and four assists in Feb. 6 win over Texas
 • Leads all Big 12 newcomers with his 17.5 scoring average in league play
 • Needs three 3-pointers and eight assists to set OU freshman season records
 • Ranks fourth in the Big 12 in assists (4.8) and fifth in 3-point percentage (.422)

   

PREVIEWING TEXAS
Texas, ranked No. 21 in last week's AP and ESPN/USA Today polls, is 22-7 on the year and 8-6 in Big 12 play.  It reached the No. 1 spot in both polls Jan. 18 after winning its first 17 games, but has lost seven of its last 12 since.  The Longhorns, who are 14-2 at the Frank Erwin Center this year, are tied with Oklahoma State for sixth place in the Big 12.  In league play, UT ranks No. 3 in scoring offense (76.9 ppg), No. 8 in scoring defense (73.1 ppg), No. 6 in field goal percentage (.440), No. 6 in 3-point percentage (.371) and No. 12 in free throw percentage (.612).

Senior forward Damion James leads a trio of Longhorns who average double figures in points.  James, who originally signed a letter of intent with Oklahoma, produces 17.5 points, 10.3 rebounds and 1.7 steals per game on the year.  He ranks sixth in the Big 12 in scoring, first in rebounding and fourth in steals.  Freshman guard Avery Bradley averages 12.3 points and 2.2 assists per game.  A McDonald's All-American last year, Bradley ranks second on the team with his 42 3-point makes (shooting .400 from behind the arc).  He sports a .500 free throw mark (27-for-54).  Senior center Dexter Pittman is averaging 10.4 points, 5.9 rebounds and a team-high 2.0 blocks in just 18.9 minutes a contest.  The 6-10, 290-pounder is averaging 6.6 points and 5.0 boards in league play (18.2 minutes per game).  Freshmen J'Covan Brown and Jordan Hamilton are tied for fourth on the squad in scoring.  Brown, a guard, averages 9.6 points and 2.3 assists a contest, and is shooting .897 from the free throw line (70-for-78).  Hamilton supplies 9.6 points and 3.6 rebounds in 18.7 minutes an outing, and leads the team with his 46 treys (shooting .359 from long distance).  Junior guard Dogus Balbay, who started 22 of his 27 games, sustained a torn ACL Feb. 20 at Texas Tech and is out for the year.  He averaged 3.8 points and a team-high 3.9 assists per contest.

Rick Barnes is in his 12th year as Texas' head coach and is 292-112 (.723).  He owns a 494-246 (.668) career record.

OU-TEXAS SERIES HISTORY
Oklahoma owns a 47-28 series advantage against Texas despite losing seven of the last nine meetings.  OU is 16-15 against the Longhorns in Austin but has lost its last four there.  Since the start of the Big 12 in 1996-97, OU is 18-15 against Texas (5-8 in Austin).  Jeff Capel is 2-6 against the Longhorns as OU's head coach.

EARLIER THIS YEAR AGAINST THE LONGHORNS
• Oklahoma never trailed in its first meeting of the year against an AP top-25 opponent as it handled No. 9 Texas 80-71 Feb. 6 in Norman.
• Tommy Mason-Griffin and Cade Davis combined for 32 (16 each) of OU's 48 first-half points and propelled the Sooners to an 18-point halftime lead.  The closest Texas got in the second half was to within six points.
• The Sooners made nine first-half 3-pointers on 16 attempts (4-for-5 by Mason-Griffin and 4-for-8 by Davis).
• Mason-Griffin finished with a game-high 24 points, five rebounds and four assists.  He was 5-for-7 from behind the arc.
• Davis recorded 20 points (third-highest career total) and 10 rebounds (second highest total) for his second career double-double.
• Ryan Wright had the most productive game of his career, finishing with 11 points and a career-high 14 rebounds for his first-ever double-double.  He had five points and 10 rebounds in the first half.
• Willie Warren played just 16 minutes (sprained ankle) and had three points, two boards and two assists.  He made his only field goal try.
• OU went 20-for-28 (.714) from the free throw line while the Longhorns went 10-for-37 (.370).

SATURDAY'S BAYLOR RECAP
• Oklahoma shot .343 from the field (its second worst mark of the year) and a season-low .111 (2-for-18) from 3-point range in a 70-63 loss to No. 24 Baylor on Saturday.  The defeat was OU's first at home against Baylor since the 1977-78 season (15-game span).
• A 10-1 run gave the Sooners a 53-52 lead with 6:56 remaining.  Baylor led 62-61 with 2:26 left and outscored OU 8-2 the rest of the way.
• OU's starting guard trio of Tony Crocker, Cade Davis and Tommy Mason-Griffin combined to go 7-for-36 (.194) from the field and 2-for-16 (.125) from 3-point range.  The threesome entered the game averaging a combined 35.7 points a game but was held to 19 points.
• Freshman forward Tiny Gallon scored a career-high 23 points on 11-of-17 field goal shooting and added a game-high 15 boards and two steals.  His 36 minutes were also a career high.  He was 8-for-9 from the field in the first half.
• Senior forward Ryan Wright came off the bench to score a career-high 14 points and grab five boards in 21 minutes.
• The Sooners lost despite posting an eight-rebound advantage (38-30) and seven fewer turnovers (17-10).
• Baylor shot .511 from the field, .500 from 3-point range (7-for-14) and .895 from the free throw line (17-for-19).

MASON-GRIFFIN A LEADING CANDIDATE FOR BIG 12 FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR
Point guard Tommy Mason-Griffin is attempting to become Oklahoma's second straight Big 12 Freshman of the Year (Willie Warren was last year's unanimous selection).  In Big 12 play, the 5-11, 203-pounder from Houston, Texas, leads all league newcomers in scoring (17.5 ppg), assists (4.4 apg) and 3-pointers per game (3.0).  He also ranks second among conference newcomers in 3-point percentage (.429) and free throw percentage (.820).  Here are more notes:

• With two regular season games remaining, Mason-Griffin ranks second on OU's all-time freshman list in both 3-point makes (65) and assists (134).  He needs three 3-pointers and eight assists to claim sole possession of the top spot in both categories. 
• Mason-Griffin has led OU in scoring in eight of the last 11 games.  Over those last 11 outings, he is averaging 19.7 points and 4.8 assists while shooting .420 (34-for-81) from 3-point range and .848 (39-for-46) from the free throw line in an average of 39.0 minutes.
• Mason-Griffin ranks fourth in the Big 12 (all games) in assists (4.8) and fifth in 3-point percentage (.422) and 3-pointers per game (2.3).
• Terry Evans (.423 in 1989-90) is the only Oklahoma freshman to ever shoot better from 3-point range for a season than Mason-Griffin's current .422 mark.  No OU freshman has ever averaged more than his current 35.4 minutes per outing.

PICK YOUR POISON
Five different Sooners have each made at least 30 treys through the team's first 28 games.  Texas, with four, is the only other Big 12 team with more than three players with at least 30 3-point makes each heading into the week.  Tommy Mason-Griffin leads Oklahoma with 65 makes (2.3 per game) and is followed by Cade Davis with 51 (1.8 per outing), Tony Crocker with 37 (1.4 per game), Steven Pledger with 34 (1.3 per contest) and Willie Warren with 30 (1.4 per game).  The Sooners rank second in the Big 12 with their 8.1 treys per outing (the school record is 8.5 in 1998-99).

GUARDS SHOULDERING THE LOAD
Five of OU's top six scorers, including its top four, are guards.  The Sooners' backcourt has accounted for 1,509 of the team's 2,038 points, or 74 percent.  Willie Warren leads the guard charge by averaging 16.3 points per outing and is followed by Tommy Mason Griffin (13.9), Tony Crocker (11.3), Cade Davis (9.9) and Steven Pledger (5.8).  All five of those players have surpassed the 20-point mark at least twice this year (Warren has done it seven times, Mason-Griffin six times, Crocker and Davis three times each and Pledger twice).  Mason-Griffin (three times), Crocker and Davis have all scored at least 20 points in a half this season.  Last year, guards accounted for 52 percent of OU's points.

YOUTH MOVEMENT
The freshman foursome of Tommy Mason-Griffin (13.9 ppg), Tiny Gallon (10.4), Steven Pledger (5.8) and Andrew Fitzgerald (5.0) has combined to score 942 of the team's 2,038 points this year, or 46 percent.  Mason-Griffin ranks fifth in the Big 12 with his .422 3-point field goal percentage and fourth with his 4.8 assists per game.  Gallon, who is shooting .542 from the field, ranks seventh in the Big 12 in rebounds per game (8.3) and sixth with seven double-doubles (he missed out on another by one rebound).  Pledger has knocked down 34 treys and has two games of more than 20 points.  Fitzgerald has made nine starts and is shooting .517 from the field.

UP NEXT
The Sooners close the regular season at home versus Texas A&M on Saturday at 11 a.m. CST.  The game, which will be the last at Lloyd Noble Center in the careers of seniors Tony Crocker, Beau Gerber and Ryan Wright, will be televised by ESPN.

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