OU Goes for Another Bedlam Sweep Saturday

Oklahoma State (14-6)

24/NR Oklahoma (13-7)

January 31 | 7 p.m. CT | Gallagher-Iba Arena | Stillwater, Okla.

QUICK PREVIEW
No. 24/NR Oklahoma (13-7, 4-4) goes for its fifth regular season Bedlam sweep in 10 years when it travels to face Oklahoma State (14-6, 4-4) on Saturday at 7 p.m. CT at Gallagher-Iba Arena. The Sooners are coming off an 81-36 home victory over Texas Tech on Wednesday in which they set a Big 12 record for fewest points allowed in a league game. The Cowboys, who are 10-1 at home this year (4-0 in conference play), are coming off a 64-53 home win over No. 20/19 Baylor on Tuesday.

ON THE AIR
Saturday's game will air on the Sooner Radio Network (KRXO 107.7 FM "The Franchise" in Oklahoma City; KTBZ 1430 AM in Tulsa) with Toby Rowland and Mike Houck announcing. It will be televised by ESPN2 with Dave Lamont and Stan Heath calling the action.

FIVE TOP STORYLINES
• Oklahoma has won five of the last six and 14 of the last 21 overall meetings with Oklahoma State, and holds a 132-95 all-time series advantage. The Sooners, who are 43-62 all-time in Stillwater, are going for their fifth regular season sweep of the Cowboys in the last 10 years (second straight).

• Saturday's Bedlam game will feature the Big 12's top three scorers. OU junior guard Buddy Hield leads the league with his 17.7 points per game on the year and is followed by Oklahoma State junior guard Phil Forte (17.4) and senior forward Le'Bryan Nash (17.1). The trio ranks in the same order in conference play (Hield 20.6, Forte 17.9 and Nash 16.0).

Oklahoma has won five of the last six and 14 of the last 21 overall meetings with Oklahoma State, and holds a 132-95 all-time series advantage.

• Saturday's game will mark just OU's third in Big 12 play against an unranked opponent at the time of competition (Kansas State and Texas Tech were the others). OU has played nine AP Top-25 opponents this year, most in the nation. Entering the weekend, only the Sooners and Kansas (eight) have played more than six AP Top-25 foes. OU has played 11 games against a team that has been ranked for at least one week (also leads the nation).

• Two Saturdays ago in Norman, No. 18 Oklahoma shot 55.8 percent from the field and 44.4 percent (8 for 18) from 3-point range to post an 82-65 home win over No. 24 Oklahoma State. It was OU's 11th consecutive home win in the series and 14th in the last 15 such contests. OU bolted to an 11-2 lead and went up 41-20 at halftime on 60.9 percent shooting. For the game, OU held OSU to a .373 mark from the field and a .269 figure from 3-point range (7 for 26). The Cowboys didn't hit their first 3 until 11:11 remained in the game (started 0 for 15). Hield went 10 for 10 from the field (four 3-pointers) and finished with a game-high 27 points, five rebounds, two steals and two assists. Oklahoma products Jordan Woodard (13, 5 and 4) and Ryan Spangler (11, 11 and 3) combined for 24 points, 16 rebounds and seven assists. The OSU duo of Nash and Forte entered the game as the Big 12's leading scorers (17.9 and 17.8 points a game), but OU held Nash to 15 points on 6-for-15 shooting and Forte to 11 points on 3-for-11 shooting. Forte failed to make a 3-pointer for the first time this season.

• Hield has been on a tear, scoring at least 20 points in five of the team's eight Big 12 games and averaging 13.3 in the other three. In conference play, the junior guard is averaging league highs of 20.6 points a game (next highest average is 17.9) and 2.8 3-pointers a contest. He also ranks fifth in field goal percentage (.491), fifth in free throw percentage (.829), seventh in 3-point field goal percentage (.373) and 10th in rebounding (6.3 rpg; leads league guards). The Freeport, Bahamas, native has led OU in scoring in six of the last seven games and in seven of the last nine. He is averaging 20.2 points the last six games.

PREVIEWING OKLAHOMA STATE
• Picked by Big 12 coaches to finish eighth in the league, Oklahoma State is 14-6 on the year and 4-4 in Big 12 play (tied with OU for fifth place). The Cowboys, who debuted in the AP and USA Today Coaches Polls on Jan. 12 (24th in both) but are no longer ranked, are 10-1 at home this year (4-0 in league home games). Their only home loss came to Maryland (73-64) on Dec. 21. In Big 12 play, OSU is averaging 61.6 points a game (ranks eighth in league) on .422 field goal shooting (ranks fifth), .350 3-point shooting (fifth) and .759 free throw shooting (second). They allow opponents just 59.5 points a game (first in Big 12) on .406 shooting from the floor (fourth) and .315 shooting from long distance (also fourth).

• OSU boasts the Big 12's second- and third-leading scorers in junior guard Phil Forte and senior forward Le'Bryan Nash, the only Cowboys who average in double figures. Forte averages 17.4 points a game and ranks second in the Big 12 with his .419 3-point percentage and with his 2.7 treys a contest. He leads the league in steals with 2.3 a game. Nash averages 17.1 points on .471 field goal and .773 free throw shooting while also grabbing 5.8 rebounds a contest. Nash leads the league with his 7.4 free throw attempts per game. Senior point guard Anthony Hickey, a transfer from LSU, averages 8.5 points, 4.8 rebounds (most among Big 12 point guards) and a team-high 3.9 assists. He's coming off an eight-point, 10-assist effort over Baylor

• The Cowboys are under the direction of seventh-year head coach Travis Ford (139-83 record).

Jordan Woodard

SOONER TIP-INS
• 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. Buddy Hield, Isaiah Cousins, Ryan Spangler and Jordan Woodard have all started the last 53 games while TaShawn Thomas has started all 116 of his career contests (96 at Houston).

• 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.

• Oklahoma has held 17 of 20 opponents below their season average in points at the time of competition (only Tulsa, West Virginia and Kansas surpassed their average). On the year, the Sooners are holding foes to 61.6 points a game and limiting them to .373 field goal shooting (ranks 10th nationally out of 351 teams) and .300 3-point shooting (30th). Last season, opponents averaged 76.0 points on .437 field goal and .342 3-point shooting.

• OU has won its 13 games by an average of 21.9 points (all by double digits). Three of its losses have been by three points or less.

• Oklahoma has outscored its opponents off turnovers in 10 of the last 13 games and in 15 of 20 contests on the year. In their 10 home games, the Sooners have posted a 205-88 advantage in points off turnovers (20.5-8.8 per outing).

• The Sooners have held 13 of their 20 opponents to 40-percent-or-lower field goal shooting. They have held five 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.

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

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

• Hield (.532) and Cousins (.513) are shooting a combined .525 from 3-point range in home games this year (53 for 101).

• Cousins has shot at least 50 percent from 3-point range in 11 of 20 games this year, including in 10 of the last 16 contests. He leads the Big 12 with his .455 season 3-point mark and ranks fifth with his 2.0 treys per game. Cousins shot .250 from 3-point range as a freshman and .404 last year.

• Woodard posted a 1.3 assist-to-turnover ratio in OU's first seven games (29 assists and 23 turnovers), but over the last 13 outings owns a 3.3 ratio (61 assists and 19 turnovers).

• Cousins and Hield, who both stand 6-foot-4, are tied for second among Big 12 guards with their 5.5 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 7.0 3-pointers a contest.

UP NEXT
OU host No. 17/17 West Virginia on Tuesday at 7 p.m. CT in a game televised by ESPN2.