OU and Harvard to Battle For Hawaii Title

Harvard

^3/2 Oklahoma

2015 Diamond Head Classic Finals

Dec. 25 | 7:30 p.m. CT | Honolulu, Hawaii

Live Stats

ESPN2

Notes

Bracket

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FRIDAY'S GAME BASICS

No. 3/2 Oklahoma faces Harvard in the title game at the 2015 Diamond Head Classic Friday, Dec. 25, at 7:30 p.m. CT in Honolulu inside Stan Sheriff Center. The championship matchup will mark the first ever meeting between the Sooners and the Crimson. Oklahoma is 10-0 on the season, while Harvard owns a 5-6 overall record.

ON THE AIR

Friday's contest 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 Scott Thompson announcing. The game will be televised by ESPN2 with Roxy Bernstein and Brad Daughtery calling the action.

GAMEDAY STORYLINES

• A championship is on the line as No. 3/2 Oklahoma faces Harvard in the title game at the 2015 Diamond Head Classic. The championship matchup will mark the first ever meeting between the Sooners and the Crimson. Oklahoma is 10-0 on the season, while Harvard owns a 5-6 overall record.

• OU, one of just five remaining D-I teams still undefeated, currently ranks second in the country in 3-point field goal percentage (.472) by hitting 101-214 of its shots from downtown this season. Oklahoma's all-time record for 3-point field goal percentage in a season is .414 (1986-87). Six Sooners are averaging at least .425 from beyond the arc, led by Buddy Hield who is shooting .523 (34-65, avg. 3.4 3FGM). OU's average of 10.1 3-point makes per game ranks 20th nationally.

• The Sooners enter Friday's game ranked in the top 10 in both scoring offense with 87.4 points per game (fifth) and scoring margin (+21.8, eighth) by holding opponents to just 65.6 points per contest. OU is led in scoring by 2015 Big 12 Player of the Year Hield, who is averaging 24.0 points (fifth nationally).

• OU is once again proving it is an elite team on defense as well, as 2015-16 opponents have struggled to score on the Sooners. OU ranks No. 2 in the nation in field goal percentage defense (.353), including 10th nationally in 3-point field goal defense (.272). On the season, OU foes are just 68-250 from downtown (compared to Oklahoma's 101-214, .472 3FG% effort).

• Oklahoma isn't short on experience or leadership this season. The quartet of Isaiah Cousins, Buddy Hield, Ryan Spangler and Jordan Woodard have each started every game (78 total) for OU the past three seasons, tallying 312 combined starts. With the addition of Khadeem Lattin (10 starts), Oklahoma boasts a starting five with 322 combined career starts.

CRIMSON NUGGETS

• Harvard has played in three in-season tournaments under Tommy Amaker including this year's appearance in the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic and boasts an 8-0 record in those tournaments. The Crimson won the inaugural Battle 4 Atlantis in 2011 and won the 2013 Great Alaska Shootout.

• Harvard leads the Ivy League in both opponent field goal percentage (38.3%) and scoring defense (64.1 ppg), having held seven opponents to under 40.0 percent shooting and four opponents to under 60 points.

• Oklahoma is currently ranked No. 3 in the Associated Press Top 25 and No. 2 in the USA Today Coaches Poll, representing the highest ranking of a Harvard opponent since the Crimson played at AP No. 1 Duke on Nov. 30, 1991 during Tommy Amaker's tenure as an assistant coach with the Blue Devils.

• Harvard boasts four wins over ranked opponents under Tommy Amaker, representing the only four wins versus ranked opponents in program history.

• Including Friday's game against Oklahoma, Harvard will have played against three teams ranked in this week's Associated Press top 10 (lost at Providence, 76-64; lost at Kansas, 75-69) and six games against teams ranked in the top 150 of the RPI (Oklahoma, Providence, Kansas, Auburn, Northeastern, BYU).

• Harvard is 1-8 all-time against the Big 12 with the lone win coming against TCU in the championship game of the 2013 Great Alaska Shootout, 71-50. Friday's meeting will mark the first between Harvard and Oklahoma.

• Friday will mark the first ever meeting between the Sooners and the Crimson. Tommy Amaker and Lon Kruger have met once previously as head coaches with Kruger's Illinois squad defeating Amaker's Seton Hall Pirates 72-61 on Dec. 5, 1999.

CHASE FOR 1K, HIELD BREAKS INTO TOP 10

• Seniors Isaiah Cousins and Ryan Spangler and junior Jordan Woodard are all on the cusp of scoring 1,000 points in their respective OU careers. Cousins needs five points, Spangler needs 240 and Woodard 208 to be added to the current 41-member list at OU.

• With Buddy Hield's 240 combined points this season, the senior has become the school's 10th all-time leading scorer with 1,606 career points. He has passed Don Sidle (1,548), John McCullough (1,507 career points), Chucky Barnett (1,462), Harvey Grant (1,391) and Steven Pledger (1,392) all this season. Additionally, Hield's 236 3-point FG makes ranks fourth all-time at OU.

HIELD'S HOT START

• OU guard Buddy Hield is off to a hot start to begin his senior season. The Bahamas native is averaging 24.0 points, 5.1 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.6 steals in 30.3 minutes. He is shooting 49.0 percent (76-155) from the field, .523 percent (34-65) from long distance and 90.0 percent (54-60) from the charity stripe.

• His 24.0 points per game average ranks first among Big 12 players this season and fifth nationally. His 52.3 3FG% ranks seventh in the country.

• Entering Friday's contest, Hield has registered four consecutive games scoring 25 or more points. Over the last four contests, he is averaging 28.8 points. He has scored 30-plus points three times this season.

SOONERS AMONG NATION'S BEST

• Oklahoma currently ranks second in the country in 3-point field goal percentage (.472) by hitting 101-214 of its shots from downtown this season. Six Sooners are averaging at least .425 from beyond the arc, led by Buddy Hield who is shooting .523 (34-65). OU's average of 10.1 3-point makes per game ranks 20th nationally. OU's all-time record for 3-point field goal percentage in a season is .414 (1986-87).

• The Sooners currently rank No. 3 in the nation in field goal percentage defense (.353), including 10th nationally in 3-point field goal defense (.272). On the season, OU foes are just 68-250 from downtown (compared to Oklahoma's 101-214, .472 3FG% effort).

• OU ranks fifth in the country in total rebounds per game (44.2), including first in defensive rebounds per contest (32.8). Five Sooners are averaging at least 4.0 rebounds per game this season, led by Ryan Spangler (9.5) and Khadeem Lattin (5.8).

• The Sooners rank in the top 10 in both scoring offense with 87.4 points per game (fifth) and scoring margin (+21.8, eighth) by holding opponents to just 65.6 points per contest. OU is led in scoring by 2015 Big 12 Player of the Year Buddy Hield, who is averaging 24.0 points (fifth nationally, tops in Big 12).

UP NEXT

• Oklahoma returns to Norman to prepare for the Big 12 season. First up on the conference slate, the Sooners host nationally-ranked Iowa State on Saturday, Jan. 2, at 6 p.m. CT inside Lloyd Noble Center. OU went 1-2 vs. ISU last season. The Sooners hold a 113-84 edge against the Cyclones in the all-time series.