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February 14, 2013 | Record: 16-7 (7-4 Big 12) | Gameday Central | Stats

Can't Replace a Buddy

Just two hours after successful surgery on Tuesday, it became clear Buddy Hield's energy won't be missed. With a cast on his right leg, a seated Hield was at practice, yelling encouragement and providing that same passion from the sideline. Expect that to continue during practices and games until he comes back.

"He means a lot to everybody," fellow freshman guard Je'lon Hornbeak said. "He's still going to be the best cheerleader, no matter what, whether he's on the court or off the court. That's what's so special about him."

The Sooners suffered a blow in the second half of Monday's 75-48 win over TCU when Hield fractured the fifth metatarsal in his right foot. He is expected to miss four to six weeks of action. There's a possibility his season could be over.

On the year, Hield is averaging 8.6 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game on the season to rank fourth, third and second on the team, respectively. His 26.5 minutes per game are most on the squad.

While his production has been important to OU's success, Hield's energy and enthusiasm off the court has been just as crucial.

"We just have to pull together," senior Romero Osby said. "We can't replace Buddy, but the thing we can do is try to pull together and make up for the impact that he brings."

Logjam at the Top

With just seven games remaining in the regular season, the Big 12 race is as tight as it can get. Five teams, including OU, are separated by just one game atop the standings. Sitting at 7-4, Oklahoma's .636 winning percentage is fourth, but they remain on the heels of first-place Kansas, Kansas State and Oklahoma State, who are all 8-3. The Sooners say they aren't paying attention to the standings, though.

"We just have to keep winning games, that's the thing about it," Osby said. "We have to stay together, make sure we're fighting together all the time. If we do that we'll have a chance to be there at the end of the year. But at the same time, it's just all about taking it one game at a time."

When the season began, the Sooners set their sights on an NCAA Tournament bid and a Big 12 Championship. With such high expectations, now that they have a chance to achieve those goals, there isn't any added pressure.

"We have [five] teams a game away from each other on the top, but that's good," head coach Lon Kruger said. "It's a new experience for our guys. It's something they wanted at the start of the season and now we're into it and it'll be interesting to see how we handle that."

As OU hits the stretch run, it knows one thing is certain: keep playing quality basketball and things will turn out for the best.

Bedlam Round Two

Oklahoma has won 11 of the last 17 meetings with Oklahoma State and never trailed in a 77-68 victory over the Cowboys on Jan. 12 in Norman. OU shot a season-high .615 from 3-point range (8-for-13) and recorded a .905 mark at the free throw line (19-for-21) to win its ninth straight home game in the series.

Saturday's rematch in Stillwater figures to be a much tougher challenge for the Sooners. Not only is OSU 12-1 at home this year, the 17th-ranked Cowboys have won six straight games and will be looking to stay at least tied for first place in the Big 12 .

OU players say they're looking forward to a hard-fought game at Gallagher-Iba Arena.

"Any time you play your rival like that it's a good matchup," said forward Amath M'Baye, who scored 15 points in the first meeting. "We did a good job here and we got on top of them. I think they're going to try to come back strong and avoid a sweep. And that's exactly what we want to do -- we want to sweep them."

Osby, who scored 17 points against the Cowboys in Norman, provided some colorful insight.

"They don't like us, we don't like them," Osby said. "It's always going to be tough playing against those guys on their home court. I think that's really what makes it tough -- it's like a sea of orange and black."

The Sooners have won three of the last seven meetings in Stillwater.

UP NEXT
Oklahoma heads north for Bedlam Round Two in Stillwater and then swings to Lubbock to face Tech:

Date	Opponent	Time
2/16	at OSU	12:30 p.m.
2/20	at Texas Tech	6 p.m.

Tickets | Full Schedule
MOST RECENTLY
After suffering consecutive losses for the first time this season, Oklahoma responded with a pair of home wins:

Opponent	W/L	Score
TCU	W	75-48
No. 5 Kansas	W	72-66

QUOTABLE
Junior F Amath M'Baye
"Buddy is the only kind of guy that gets surgery in the morning and shows up in practice yelling and cheering up his teammates. Everybody expects us to cheer him up, but Buddy's the one cheering us up, telling us everything's going to be OK and that he's going to be back soon."

Freshman G Isaiah Cousins
"We have a great opportunity, because at the beginning of the year, we were ranked seventh [in the Big 12]. And now we have a chance at being No. 1. I feel that Coach Kruger helped us to get there, and we're just going to keep going."

Freshman G Je'lon Hornbeak
"It's going to be a big game. It's Bedlam. Any Bedlam (game) is going to be a good game. We're looking to take one from them, especially coming off these two good wins. We're really looking to carry this momentum forward."
TEAM NOTES

Oklahoma owns a 129-94 series lead over Oklahoma State and is 42-61 against the Cowboys in Stillwater. OU has won nine of the last 14 overall meetings and 11 of the last 17. OU is 19-17 against the Cowboys since the start of the Big 12 in 1996-97.

The Sooners have already won more games away from home this year (7-5 record) than they did over the last two seasons combined (6-25 record). Their seven wins away from home are tied with Kansas for the most by a Big 12 team. OU is 4-4 in true road games this season (2-3 in Big 12 play).

With 16 wins, OU has already surpassed its victory total from each of the last three years. The Sooners won 13 games in 2009-10, 14 in 2010-11 and 15 last season. OU's seven Big 12 wins are also its most since 2009 (won four in 2010 and five each of the last two years).

In five Big 12 road games, OU's opponents have made 45 treys to the Sooners' 18. That's a difference of 16.2 points per game.

2012-13 Game Notes

INDIVIDUAL NOTES
Freshman G Isaiah Cousins
After totaling 20 points over a 12-game stretch (1.7 average) in which he shot 19.0 percent from the field, Isaiah Cousins has 29 points over the last four contests (7.3 average) on 55.0 percent shooting. He has started the last two games at point guard.

Senior F Romero Osby
Osby has shot 50.0 percent or better from the field in 13 of the last 16 games and is also shooting 83.5 percent from the free throw line (71-for-85) during the 16-game stretch. He has led OU in scoring in eight of 11 Big 12 games.

Junior G Cameron Clark
Over the last four games, Clark is averaging 8.8 points in 16.3 minutes per contest on 64.0 percent field goal shooting (16-for-25). Projected to 40 minutes, Clark is averaging a team-high 21.5 points over those four outings.

SOCIAL MEDIA
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