Sooners Look to Bounce Back in Norman

Weber State (4-5)

15/15 Oklahoma (7-3)

December 22 | 7 p.m. CT | Lloyd Noble Center | Norman

QUICK PREVIEW
No. 15/15 Oklahoma (7-3) plays its final game before Christmas when it hosts Weber State (4-5) on Monday at 7 p.m. CT at Lloyd Noble Center. The Sooners are looking to bounce back from a 69-67 loss to No. 16 Washington on Saturday in Las Vegas. Weber State, an NCAA Tournament team a year ago that is located in Ogden, Utah, is coming off a 73-61 home win over Utah Valley on Saturday.

ON THE AIR
Monday's contest will air on the Sooner Radio Network (KRXO 107.7 FM "The Franchise" in Oklahoma City; KTBZ 1430 AM in Tulsa; Sirius 135) with Toby Rowland and Mike Houck calling the action. The game will be televised by Sooner Sports TV (FS Southwest Plus) with Bob Carpenter and Renzi Stone announcing.

TICKETS
• Tickets for Monday's game are available for $10, $20 and $30 online at SoonerSports.com. Lloyd Noble Center's north and east ticket windows will open Monday at 5:30 p.m.

• OU student tickets cost $10.

FIVE TOP STORYLINES
• Monday's game will mark the first between Oklahoma and Weber State in men's basketball.

• Oklahoma has won 106 of its last 110 home games against non-conference opponents, and 48 of its last 50. The only non-conference opponents to beat OU at Lloyd Noble Center in the last 15 years were Villanova (2006-07), Stephen F. Austin (2007-08 and 2012-13) and Louisiana Tech (2013-14).

• In its four home games, Oklahoma is shooting .435 from 3-point range and is averaging 9.3 makes (opponents are shooting .302 and are averaging 6.5 conversions). The junior trio of Buddy Hield (14 for 23; .609), Isaiah Cousins (11 for 17; .647) and Ryan Spangler (4 for 5; .800) is shooting a combined .644 from behind the arc (29 for 45) at Lloyd Noble Center. Spangler is shooting .742 from the field at home (23 for 31).

Oklahoma has won 106 of its last 110 home games against non-conference opponents, and 48 of its last 50.

• Five of Oklahoma's 10 opponents (Creighton, UCLA, Butler, Wisconsin and Washington) have been ranked in the AP Top 25 at least once this season, tying Kansas for the most such foes in the Big 12. Iowa State and Texas have played two such teams, while the other six league teams have played one or no such opponents.

• OU has displayed a balanced scoring attack this season with four starters averaging between 10.1 and 16.1 points per game, and another averaging 7.8. Five different players (Isaiah Cousins, Buddy Hield, Ryan Spangler, TaShawn Thomas and Dinjiyl Walker) have led the team in scoring in the last seven outings, and each of OU's five starters have scored at least 20 points three or more times in their careers.

PREVIEWING WEBER STATE
• A member of the Big Sky Conference, Weber State enters Monday's game with a 4-5 record. The Wildcats are 3-1 at home and 0-2 in true road games (lost 72-61 to Utah State in season opener and 63-56 to UT Arlington on Dec. 6). OU and Weber State have played one common opponent in Oral Roberts, and both teams posted home wins (the Wildcats won 62-61 on Dec. 1). WSU is averaging 63.0 points on .400 field goal, .335 3-point and nation-leading .790 free throw shooting. Opponents are averaging 64.8 points on .425 field goal and .326 3-point shooting. The Wildcats are getting outrebounded by 3.1 a contest.

• Sophomore guard Jeremy Senglin leads three Wildcats who average double figures in scoring. The 6-2, 185-pounder is averaging 14.4 points and a team-high 3.4 assists per game while shooting .340 from 3-point range (a team-high 2.0 makes per contest). He is coming off a 16-point, 8-assist game in a win over Utah Valley. Junior forward/center Joel Bolomboy is averaging 13.6 points and a team-high 10.0 rebounds a game while shooting .808 from the free throw line (team-high 5.8 attempts per outing). Sophomore guard Richaud Gittens averages 10.0 points with the help of .500 (12-for-24) 3-point shooting. Gittens was 5 for 8 from 3-point range against Utah Valley and scored a career-high 21 points.

• Head coach Randy Rahe is in his ninth season as a collegiate head coach, all at Weber State. He owns a 173-92 (.653) record. Rahe has led Weber State to four Big Sky Championships and seven postseason tournament appearances, including two NCAA Tournament trips. He is the first coach in Big Sky Conference history to be named conference coach of the year four times.

Ryan Spangler

SOONER TIP-INS
• Oklahoma has held nine of its 10 opponents to sub-44-percent field goal shooting (seven opponents have shot 40 percent or less).

• OU is holding opponents to 61.9 points a game and limiting them to .374 field goal and .292 3-point shooting (ranks 27th and 53rd nationally). Through 10 games last year, opponents averaged 76.8 points on .420 field goal and .323 3-point shooting.

• The Sooners entered last week averaging 15.1 turnovers per game. But in the last two games against Oral Roberts and Washington, they averaged just 7.0 turnovers (season-low six vs. ORU and eight against the Huskies). OU is outscoring its opponents by 5.2 points a game off turnovers (15.4-10.2) on the year.

• Oklahoma led the Big 12 in free throw shooting each of the last two years (.749 last season and .756 in 2012-13) and is shooting .740 this year to rank second in the league. Each of OU's top seven scorers are shooting at least 68 percent from the line.

• OU returned 68 percent of its scoring, 70 percent of its rebounding and 73 percent of its assists from last season's 23-10 squad that finished in sole possession of second place in the Big 12 (12-6). The Sooners welcomed back four starters (each started all 33 games) in juniors Buddy Hield, Isaiah Cousins and Ryan Spangler, and sophomore Jordan Woodard. Senior TaShawn Thomas started all 33 games last year at the University of Houston. Those five players have started every game this season.

• In OU's four home games, the team's starters are shooting a combined .549 from the field (100 for 182).

• Cousins has shot at least 50 percent from 3-point range in six of 10 games this year, including in five of the last six contests. He ranks fourth in the Big 12 with his .455 season 3-point mark. Cousins shot .250 from 3-point range as a freshman and .404 last year.

• Spangler is 7 for 13 from 3-point range this season after going 3 for 11 all of last year. In addition to his .538 3-point field goal mark, Spangler is shooting .597 from the field. He has shot 50 percent or better from the floor in 34 of his 43 games at OU.

• Woodard has made his last 18 free throw attempts and 23 of his last 24. The school record for consecutive free throw makes without a miss is 37 by Nate Carter during the 2006-07 season. Woodard ranks sixth in the Big 12 with his .857 season free throw mark.

• Cousins (6.3) and Hield (5.5), who both stand 6-foot-4, rank second and third among Big 12 guards in rebounds per game. Iowa State guard Bryce DeJean-Jones (6-foot-6), averages 6.6 boards per contest.

• OU returned 71 percent of its 3-point production from last season's team that averaged a school-record 8.6 treys per game. This year's Sooners rank second in the Big 12 by averaging 7.5 3-pointers a contest.

• Each of head coach Lon Kruger's first three Oklahoma teams finished higher than where they were picked in the Big 12 preseason poll. Last year the Sooners were picked tied for fifth and finished second. In 2012-13 OU was slotted seventh and finished tied for fourth. In 2011-12 OU was picked ninth and wound up eighth. Kruger's squad was picked third in this year's poll.

UP NEXT
OU will play host to George Mason on Dec. 31 at 4 p.m. CT. The game will be televised by Sooner Sports TV (FS Southwest).