Sooners Host K-State Saturday at 6 p.m.

Kansas State (8-7)

16/18 Oklahoma (11-3)

January 10 | 6 p.m. CT | Lloyd Noble Center | Norman

QUICK PREVIEW
No. 16/18 Oklahoma (11-3, 2-0) goes for its fifth straight win and seventh victory in its last eight contests when it hosts Kansas State (8-7, 1-1) on Saturday at 6 p.m. CT. The Sooners, who have posted each of their 11 wins by double digits, are 7-0 at home and coming off a 70-49 road victory over No. 10/10 Texas on Monday. Kansas State, which is 0-3 in true road games, snapped a three-game losing streak with a 58-53 home win over TCU on Wednesday.

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; Sirius 84; XM 84) with Toby Rowland and Mike Houck calling the action. The contest will be televised by ESPNU with Doug Bell and Rich Zvosec announcing.

TICKETS
• Tickets for Saturday's game are available for $10, $20 and $30 online at SoonerSports.com. Lloyd Noble Center's north and east ticket windows will open Saturday at 4:30 p.m.

• OU student tickets cost $10 and are subject to availability.

FIVE TOP STORYLINES
• Oklahoma owns a 105-94 all-time record against Kansas State and has won 12 of the last 19 meetings. The Sooners are 60-26 in the series in Norman, and posted an 86-73 win at Lloyd Noble Center last year (led 41-22 at half and by 27 points midway through second half). Box scores and cumulative stats from last year's two meetings are on page 23 of these notes.

• OU head coach Lon Kruger was the 1973 and '74 Big Eight Player of the Year as a Kansas State Wildcat and coached at the school for four years, compiling an 81-46 record from 1986-87 through 1989-90. He is 5-5 against his alma mater (3-3 at OU). Sooners assistant coach Steve Henson played for Kruger at K-State each of those four seasons and still holds school career records for assists (582), assists per game (4.58), free throw percentage (.900), minutes per game (35.2), starts (118), consecutive games played (127) and consecutive starts (118). Both are members of K-State's Athletics Hall of Fame.

Oklahoma's defense has been stellar all season, as the Sooners are one of just six teams nationally that have held opponents to 69 points or less in every game.

• Oklahoma's defense has been stellar all season, as the Sooners are one of just six teams nationally that have held opponents to 69 points or less in every game. OU has held 13 of 14 opponents below their season average in points. On the year, the Sooners are holding opponents to 58.9 points a game (ranks 33rd nationally out of 351) and limiting them to .356 field goal shooting (ninth) and .280 3-point shooting (24th). Through 14 games last year, opponents averaged 78.3 points on .423 field goal and .318 3-point shooting.

• OU has dominated its seven home games, winning by an average of 22.9 points and outshooting its opponents .492 to .340 from the field and .396 to .275 from 3-point range. The Sooners' starting five is shooting .549 (145 for 264) from the field. The junior trio of Buddy Hield (23 for 45; .511), Isaiah Cousins (16 for 30; .533) and Ryan Spangler (4 for 8; .500) is shooting a combined .518 (43 for 83) from behind the arc at Lloyd Noble Center. Spangler is shooting .680 from the field at home (32 for 47).

• OU has displayed a balanced scoring attack this season with its five starters averaging between 8.3 and 15.8 points per game. Six different players (Isaiah Cousins, Buddy Hield, Ryan Spangler, TaShawn Thomas, Dinjiyl Walker and Jordan Woodard) have led or co-led the team in scoring in the last nine outings. Each of OU's five starters has scored at least 20 points three or more times in their careers.

MONDAY'S TEXAS RECAP
• Oklahoma earned its first true road win over an AP top-10 opponent in 22 years by beating No. 10 Texas by a 70-49 score in Austin on Monday. It tied as OU's largest road win in the series (won 75-54 in 2000-01 season). The last time the Sooners won a true road game against an AP top-10 opponent was during the 1992-93 season (beat No. 6 Kansas 80-77). The 21-point loss for Texas tied as its largest at home during the 17-year Rick Barnes era (75-54 to OU in 2000-01)

• Texas entered the game ranked second nationally in rebounding margin (+14.4 per game) but was outrebounded by OU 42-37. It marked just the second time this season the Longhorns were outboarded (Connecticut posted a 36-35 advantage).

• Texas became OU's fourth foe of the year (third in the last four games) to shoot 30.0 percent or less. UT shot 20.0 percent in the first half (OU led 33-14) and 30.0 percent for the game.

• The Sooners used a 9-2 run to start the second half to go up 42-16 and went ahead by as many as 28 three times later in the stanza (last time was 60-32 with 8:57 remaining).

• Five Sooners scored in double figures and another scored nine points against a Texas team that entered the game ranked third nationally in field goal percentage defense (.337). Buddy Hield scored a team-high 13 and was joined by Isaiah Cousins (12), TaShawn Thomas (12), Dinjiyl Walker (10) and Jordan Woodard (10). Thomas added 11 rebounds for his first double-double as a Sooner (35th of his career). Ryan Spangler added nine points.

PREVIEWING KANSAS STATE
• Picked by Big 12 coaches to finish fourth in the league, Kansas State is 8-7 overall and 1-1 in conference action. The Wildcats posted a 58-53 home win over TCU on Wednesday after dropping a 61-47 decision at Oklahoma State on Saturday. They are 0-3 in true road contests (also lost at Long Beach State [69-60] and Tennessee [65-64]). K-State averages 66.2 points a game on the year (ranks last in league) on .458 field goal shooting (third), .373 3-point shooting (third) and .668 free throw shooting (sixth). It ranks last in field goal percentage defense (.456) and turnovers (14.5 per game) and ninth in 3-point percentage defense (.342).

• Sophomore guard Marcus Foster, a preseason All-Big 12 pick, leads three Wildcats who average double figures in scoring. Foster ranks sixth in the Big 12 with his 13.7 points per game and third with his .446 3-point mark. A starter in KSU's first 13 outings, he has come off the bench the last two. He was scoreless at Oklahoma State on Saturday before scoring 23 points in 29 minutes against TCU (10 for 12 at free throw line). Senior forward Thomas Gipson averages 11.7 points on .638 field goal shooting and grabs 4.7 rebounds a contest. Senior forward Nino Williams averages 11.1 points and a team-high 4.9 boards a game. He is shooting .515 from the floor.

• Kansas State is under the direction of head coach Bruce Weber, who is in his third season with the Wildcats (55-28 record). The 2012-13 Big 12 Coach of the Year, Weber is in his 16th season as a head coach (also coached at Southern Illinois and Illinois).

Isaiah Cousins

SOONER TIP-INS
• OU has outscored its opponents by 7.1 points per game off turnovers on the year (16.4-9.3). The Sooners have outscored their foes off turnovers in each of the last seven games (133-45 total during that stretch [19.0-6.4 per game]).

• The Sooners have held 11 of their 14 opponents to 40-percent-or-lower field goal shooting. They have held four foes (three of the last four) to 30-percent-or-lower field goal marks.

• The Sooners averaged 15.1 turnovers per game through the season's first eight contests. Over the last six games, however, they are averaging just 9.2 turnovers. OU has committed single-digit turnovers in five of the last six outings.

• 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 .741 this year to again lead the league.

• 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.

• Three Sooners rank in the top six of the Big 12 in scoring in league play (Thomas is No. 2 at 18.0 points per game, Hield is No. 5 at 16.5 and Cousins is No. 6 at 15.5).

• Cousins has shot at least 50 percent from 3-point range in eight of 14 games this year, including in seven of the last 10 contests. He ranks second in the Big 12 with his .452 season 3-point mark and fifth with his 2.0 treys per game. Cousins shot .250 from 3-point range as a freshman and .404 last year.

• Spangler is 8 for 18 (.444) from 3-point range this season after going 3 for 11 (.273) all of last year. He has shot 50 percent or better from the floor in 36 of his 47 games at OU.

• Woodard posted a 1.3 assist-to-turnover ratio in OU's first seven games (29 assists and 23 turnovers), but over the last seven outings owns a 4.3 ratio (39 assists and nine turnovers).

• Cousins (6.4) and Hield (5.5), who both stand 6-foot-4, rank first and third among Big 12 guards in rebounds per game. Woodard ranks second among Big 12 point guards with his 4.1 rebounds an outing.

• 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 travels to face No. 14/14 West Virginia on Tuesday at 6 p.m. CT in a game televised by ESPNEWS.