OU Welcomes Texas Tech to LNC Wednesday

Texas Tech (11-9)

24/NR Oklahoma (12-7)

January 28 | 6:30 p.m. CT | Lloyd Noble Center | Norman

QUICK PREVIEW
After playing three of four games on the road (all four against ranked teams), No. 24/NR Oklahoma (12-7, 3-4) returns home to host Texas Tech (11-9, 1-6) Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. CT at Lloyd Noble Center. The Sooners, who are 8-1 in Norman and boast a +19.3 average scoring margin in those nine games, are coming off a 69-58 loss at then-No. 21/21 Baylor on Saturday. Texas Tech snapped a six-game losing streak with a 78-73 home win over then-No. 9/12 Iowa State on Saturday. The Red Raiders are 0-6 away from home (0-4 in true road games).

ON THE AIR
Wednesday's game will air on the Sooner Radio Network (KRXO 107.7 FM "The Franchise" in Oklahoma City; KTBZ 1430 AM in Tulsa; Sirius 92; XM 200) with Toby Rowland and Mike Houck calling the action. It will be televised by ESPNEWS with Dave Armstrong and Bryndon Manzer announcing.

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

• OU student tickets cost $10.

FIVE TOP STORYLINES
• Oklahoma owns a 34-21 all-time record against Texas Tech and is 20-7 in the series in games played in Norman. The Sooners have won seven of the last nine meetings at Lloyd Noble Center, three of the last four overall matchups and 10 of the last 15. OU is 25-13 against the Red Raiders since the formation of the Big 12 Conference.

• Wednesday's game will mark just the second in Big 12 play against an unranked opponent at the time of competition (Kansas State was the other). OU has played nine AP Top-25 opponents this year, most in the nation. Entering the week, only Kansas (eight), Iowa (six) and North Carolina (six) have played more than five AP Top-25 foes. The Sooners have played 11 games against a team that has been ranked for at least one week. That figure also leads the nation.

Oklahoma is the only Big 12 team that has started the same five players in every game this season.

• Last year in Norman (Feb. 12), Texas Tech entered its matchup vs. OU with 12-11 overall and 4-6 Big 12 records but left with a 68-60 victory (the Sooners' 60 points were their fewest of the entire season). The game was one-sided for the majority of the night, as the Red Raiders led 37-21 at halftime. The margin grew to 20 (47-27) with 13:30 left before OU went on a 21-3 run to make it 51-48 with 7:30 remaining. Tech rebounded by outscoring the Sooners 17-12 the rest of the way. OU shot just .421 from the field, .222 from 3-point range (6 for 27) and .500 from the free throw line, and was outrebounded 36-29. The Sooners posted a 74-65 win at Texas Tech two-and-a-half weeks earlier.

• Buddy Hield has been on a tear, scoring at least 20 points in five of the team's seven Big 12 games and pacing the squad with 13 and 12 in the other two. In conference play, the junior guard is averaging league highs of 21.4 points a game (next highest average is 18.1) and 3.0 3-pointers a contest. He also ranks fifth in field goal percentage (.485), sixth in free throw percentage (.829), ninth in 3-point field goal percentage (.382) and 12th in rebounding (6.1 rpg; second among league guards). The Freeport, Bahamas, native has led OU in scoring in six straight games and in seven of the last eight. He is averaging 23.4 points the last five games.

• Oklahoma is the only Big 12 team that has started the same five players in every game this season. In fact, OU was one of just seven teams nationally last year that used the same starting lineup in every game. Hield, Isaiah Cousins, Ryan Spangler and Jordan Woodard have all started the last 52 games while TaShawn Thomas has started all 115 of his career contests (96 at Houston).

PREVIEWING TEXAS TECH
• Texas Tech picked up its first Big 12 win of the season Saturday and did so in surprise fashion, knocking off No. then-No. 9/12 Iowa State, 78-73, in Lubbock. The Red Raiders (11-9, 1-6) entered the game shooting .295 from 3-point range in Big 12 play (4.7 makes per game) but went 11 for 24 (.458) from deep against the Cyclones while shooting .821 from the free throw line (23 for 28). In league play, Texas Tech averages 56.6 points a contest on .346 field goal shooting (both rank last in league), .328 3-point shooting (sixth) and .633 free throw shooting (ninth). It ranks ninth in the league in field goal percentage defense (.446) and sixth in 3-point percentage defense (.325).

• Junior college transfer Devaugntah Williams is averaging team highs of 11.0 points and 1.9 assists per game on the season. The junior guard has made a team-high 33 3-pointers and is shooting a team-best .384 from long distance. Williams is coming off a 22-point, 6-rebound effort against Iowa State in which he was 3 for 6 from behind the arc and 9 for 11 at the foul line. Senior guard Robert Turner, who tallied 13 points, 10 boards and three assists vs. the Cyclones, averages 8.8 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.7 assists a contest. Toddrick Gotcher (junior guard) averages 6.8 points, Norense Odiase (freshman forward) averages 6.7 points and 4.6 rebounds, and Justin Gray (freshman guard/forward) averages 6.7 points.

• Tubby Smith is in his second year as Texas Tech's head coach. Formerly the head coach at Tulsa, Georgia, Kentucky (1998 NCAA champion) and Minnesota, he owns a 536-253 (.679) career mark.

Head Coach Lon Kruger

SOONER TIP-INS
• OU has held 16 of 19 opponents below their season average in points (only Tulsa, West Virginia and Kansas surpassed their average). On the year, the Sooners are holding foes to 62.9 points a game and limiting them to .381 field goal shooting (ranks 22nd nationally out of 351 teams) and .305 3-point shooting (44th). Last season, opponents averaged 76.0 points on .437 field goal and .342 3-point shooting.

• OU has won its 12 games by an average of 20.0 points (all by double digits). Three of its losses have been by three points or less.

• Oklahoma has outscored its opponents off turnovers in nine of the last 12 games and in 14 of 19 contests on the year. In their nine home games, the Sooners have posted a 173-82 advantage in points off turnovers.

• The Sooners have held 12 of their 19 opponents to 40-percent-or-lower field goal shooting. They have held four foes to 30-percent-or-lower field goal marks. Only one opponent (Baylor; 50.0 on Jan. 24) has shot 50 percent or better this year.

• 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.

• Each of OU's five starters has scored at least 20 points three or more times in their careers.

• Hield (.552) and Cousins (.486) are shooting a combined .527 from 3-point range in home games this year (49 for 93).

• Cousins has shot at least 50 percent from 3-point range in 10 of 19 games this year, including in nine of the last 15 contests. He leads the Big 12 with his .440 season 3-point mark and ranks fifth with his 1.9 treys per game. Cousins shot .250 from 3-point range as a freshman and .404 last year.

• OU 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 .726 this year to rank second in the league. Hield ranks fifth in the Big 12 (.815) while Woodard ranks sixth (.810).

• Woodard posted a 1.3 assist-to-turnover ratio in OU's first seven games (29 assists and 23 turnovers), but over the last 12 outings owns a 3.4 ratio (57 assists and 17 turnovers).

• Cousins (5.6) and Hield (5.4), who both stand 6-foot-4, rank second and third among Big 12 guards in rebounds per game.

• 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 third in the Big 12 by averaging 6.8 3-pointers a contest.

• OU set an NCAA record (against a Division I opponent) Dec. 22 when it went on a 39-0 run against Weber State in an 85-51 home win. The former NCAA record of a 37-0 run was set by Utah State against Idaho on Feb. 15, 2006.

UP NEXT
OU plays its second Bedlam game in two weeks when it travels to face Oklahoma State on Saturday at 7 p.m. CT (televised by ESPN2). The Sooners own a 132-95 series advantage and have won five of the last six meetings (four of the last nine in Stillwater).