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January 23, 2013 | Record: 13-4 (4-1 Big 12) | Gameday Central | Stats

Opportunity Awaits

Playing its best stretch of basketball of the season the last few weeks, Oklahoma has won six of its last seven games and is tied for second place in the Big 12 with a 4-1 record.

But Saturday's game at Kansas provides what could very well be OU's sternest challenge of the season. Not only are the Jayhawks 17-1 on the year and ranked No. 3 in the AP poll, but they have dominated play at Allen Fieldhouse under head coach Bill Self, winning 101 of their last 102 games there. On top of that, the Sooners haven't won in Lawrence since 1993. OU's losing streak at Allen Fieldhouse stands at 11 games.

"The Jayhawks are very good; a top-three or four team in the country right now," said OU head coach Lon Kruger. "(They've got) a lot of very good players and Allen Fieldhouse is a great atmosphere. We'll have to do things better on both ends of the floor; maintain our composure, move the ball, try to limit them to one shot each time down (the floor) and do a good job taking care of it on our end."

"They're a really good team," echoed senior forward Romero Osby, who ranks second in Big 12 play with his 19.2 scoring average. "They're a top-three team in the country and they're not rated there by mistake. We've just got to come out and play as hard as we can possibly play, take care of the ball, rebound the ball and just get some things to go in our favor."

Saturday's game features an intriguing storyline. In conference play, the Sooners are shooting a Big 12-best .459 from the field while Kansas leads the league with its .362 field goal percentage defense. Points will likely be more difficult to come by for OU.

Said junior forward Amath M'Baye, "They're a very, very, very tough team, but I'm definitely confident in (our) team. It's going to be a big test for us, but it's also going to be a lot of fun. That's what the Big 12 is all about. Hopefully we can pull off an upset."

Student Section Win

One of the many things that stood out from OU's 73-67 win over Texas Monday night was the Oklahoma student section. It was packed, and the overflow crowd made a difference, one the Sooners were well-aware of.

"We really appreciate it," Osby said Tuesday. They make the environment hostile, so we always need that young energy, standing up and going wild. It was great. It was exciting to see."

While the fan support didn't win the game for the Sooners, it certainly helped. After the game, several Sooners, including James Fraschilla, M'Baye and Osby, reciprocated the support on Twitter. The Sooners hope to welcome the students back to the Lloyd Noble Center with another electrifying performance when they host No. 11 Kansas State on Saturday, Feb. 2 at 5 p.m. CT.

"We want the students to enjoy the moment," Kruger said. "Enjoy the atmosphere, enjoy doing things with friends and help us win ball games, so that goes hand-in-hand."

Red River Review

The Sooners notched a big 73-67 win over rival Texas Monday to improve to 13-4 overall and 4-1 in the Big 12 Conference. OU downed the Longhorns thanks to a career-high 29 points from Osby and excellent post play.

"I thought they were fantastic," Kruger said of the Sooners' post play after the win. "I thought Roe [Osby] and Amath [M'Baye] established early that they were going to be aggressive and attack. The guys did a good job of getting the ball in the rough spot. But, again, those guys did great being very aggressive on the offensive end."

Osby was 9-for-15 from the field and 10-for-11 from the free throw line and added game highs of eight rebounds, two blocks and three steals. He has led the team in scoring in every Big 12 game this year.

"I thought we played well," Osby said. "We had some really good stretches on both ends of the floor. We turned the ball over a little bit at the end and let them stay close, but if you erase that I thought we played a really good game."

UP NEXT
Oklahoma heads north Saturday to take on No. 3/2 Kansas and then plays at Baylor next Wednesday:

Date	Opponent	Time
1/26	at Kansas	3 p.m.
1/30	at Baylor	6 p.m.

Tickets | Full Schedule
MOST RECENTLY
OU has won two of its last three and six of its last seven, including a Big Monday win over Texas:

Opponent	W/L	Score
Texas	W	73-67
Kansas State	L	69-60
Texas Tech	W	81-63

LATEST PROJECTIONS
National "bracketologists" continue to project OU's first NCAA Tournament berth since 2009. Check out a few:

8 Seed (ESPN's Joe Lunardi)
9 Seed (CBS' Jerry Palm)
11 Seed (SN's Ryan Fagan)

QUOTABLE
Junior F Amath M'Baye
"I see (Romero Osby) in practice every day and he is one of the most humble post players I have every played with in Europe or here. He is a great senior and a great leader. The fact that he was able to get so many points and so many rebounds is just a model of how hard you should and can play."

Senior F Romero Osby
"You look around the country and you watch games on TV and the student sections are going crazy. I think our student section could be better than any of them. Hopefully they continue to come and the more we win, the more they'll continue to support."

FRESHMEN FITTING IN
Learn about the immediate impact that Isaiah Cousins, Buddy Hield and Je'lon Hornbeak have made:

Freshman Guards Make Impact
TEAM NOTES

Kansas is the only Big 12 program with a winning record against the Sooners. The Jayhawks own a 138-64 series lead and have won the last nine meetings. OU's last win in Lawrence came in 1993.

In Big 12 play, Oklahoma leads the league in field goal percentage (.459) and free throw percentage (.780), and ranks third in 3-point field goal percentage (.357).

The Sooners have shot at least .727 from the free throw line in eight of the last nine games and are shooting a combined .805 in those nine outings. They have outscored their last nine opponents by a total of 54 points at the free throw line.

2012-13 Game Notes

INDIVIDUAL NOTES
Senior F Romero Osby
Osby has shot 50 percent or better in each of the last 10 games. During the stretch, he is averaging 16.9 points in 26.2 minutes per contest (40-minute point projection is 25.8) on .600 field goal and .869 (53-for-61) free throw shooting. In Big 12 play, Osby ranks second in the league with his 19.2 ppg and .579 field goal mark.

Freshman G Buddy Hield
Over the last nine games, Hield is averaging 10.2 points and team highs in rebounding (6.1 rpg), assists (3.6 apg) and steals (1.4 spg). He has 32 assists and 14 turnovers during the stretch for a 2.3 ratio (in OU's first eight games he had four assists and 19 turnovers).

Senior F Andrew Fitzgerald
Fitzgerald needs just two points to join OU's career 1,000-point club. Only 38 Sooners have scored 1,000 career points, including fellow current team member Steven Pledger (1,209).

SOCIAL MEDIA
Stay connected with the OU men's basketball team by following our feeds on Twitter and Instagram:

Twitter: @SoonerHoops
Instagram: @ou_mbasketball