Sooners Set for Iowa State on Big Monday

11/14 Iowa State (17-5)

21/21 OU (16-7)

February 9 | 8 p.m. CT | Lloyd Noble Center | Norman

QUICK PREVIEW
No. 21/21 Oklahoma (16-7, 7-4) goes for its fifth straight win when it hosts No. 11/14 Iowa State (17-5, 7-3) on Monday at 8 p.m. CT at Lloyd Noble Center. The Sooners, who have won their last four games by an average of 21.0 points, are 10-1 in Norman and boast a +21.6 average scoring margin in those 11 contests. The Cyclones are 2-3 in true road games (1-3 in the Big 12). They have won five of their last seven games and are coming off a 75-38 home victory over Texas Tech.

ON THE AIR
Monday's game will air on the Sooner Radio Network (KRXO 107.7 FM "The Franchise" in Oklahoma City; KTBZ 1430 AM in Tulsa; Sirius 91; XM 91) with Toby Rowland, Mike Houck and Chad McKee calling the action. It will be televised by ESPN with Brent Musburger, Fran Fraschilla and Kaylee Hartung announcing.

TICKETS
• Tickets for Monday's game are available for $10, $20 and $30 online here. Lloyd Noble Center's north and east ticket windows will open Monday at 6:30 p.m.

• OU student tickets cost $10.

FIVE TOP STORYLINES
• Oklahoma owns a 112-82 all-time record against Iowa State and is 62-22 in the series in Norman (OU has won nine of the last 10 meetings at Lloyd Noble Center and 23 of the last 27). Last year in Norman, Buddy Hield (22 and 5), Isaiah Cousins (17 and 4) and Ryan Spangler (16 and 15) combined for 55 points and 24 rebounds in an 87-82 win over the previously unbeaten Cyclones. ISU scored an 81-75 win in Ames despite a then-career-high 30 points from Hield. Hield averaged 26.0 points on 11-for-20 3-point shooting in the two games.

• Oklahoma has held 20 of 23 opponents below their season average in points (at the time of competition). In fact, OU has held its 23 opponents to an average of 11.3 points below their season average. On the year, the Sooners are holding foes to 60.7 points a game and limiting them to .370 field goal shooting (ranks seventh nationally out of 351 teams) and .292 3-point shooting (ranks 17th; leads Big 12). By comparison, opponents averaged 76.0 points on .437 field goal and .342 3-point shooting last season.

• Monday's game will mark Oklahoma's nation-leading 11th against an AP Top-25 opponent (at the time of competition) this season. Entering the week, only OU (10), Kansas (nine), Oklahoma State (nine), Iowa (eight) and North Carolina (eight) have played more than seven AP Top-25 foes. OU has also played a nation-high 13 games against teams that have been ranked for at least one week this season. The Sooners are No. 17 in the NCAA RPI while Iowa State is No. 15.

• OU has flourished at home, posting a +21.6 average scoring margin in its 11 games at Lloyd Noble Center and outshooting its opponents .494 to .345 from the field and .401 to .258 from 3-point range. The Sooners' starting five is shooting .539 (260 for 482) from the field in Norman. The junior duo of Hield (38 for 69; .560) and Cousins (20 for 39; .513) is shooting a combined .537 (58 for 108) from behind the 3-point arc at home.

• Hield has been on a tear, scoring at least 20 points in six of the team's 11 Big 12 games and averaging 14.2 in the other five (he has scored in double figures in all 11). In conference play, the junior guard is averaging league highs of 19.7 points a game (next highest average is 16.8) and 2.7 3-pointers a contest. He also ranks fourth in field goal percentage (.493), seventh in rebounding (6.2 rpg; first among guards), seventh in steals (1.6 spg), ninth in 3-point field goal percentage (.405) and 10th in free throw percentage (.780). The Freeport, Bahamas, native has led OU in scoring in seven of the last 10 games.

PREVIEWING IOWA STATE
• Picked by Big 12 coaches to finish in fifth place in the league, No. 11/14 Iowa State is in sole possession of second place with a 7-3 record (a half game ahead of Oklahoma). The Cyclones, who are 17-5 overall, suffered two of their three conference losses by a combined six points. Their league defeats came at Baylor (74-73), at Texas Tech (78-73) and at Kansas (89-76). They are 13-0 at home and 4-5 away from home (2-3 in true road games). In conference play, Iowa State is averaging 76.9 points per game (leads the league) on .484 field goal shooting (also ranks first), .359 3-point shooting (fourth) and .659 free throw shooting (seventh). They allow opponents to score 71.6 points per game (last) on .417 field goal shooting (sixth) and .364 3-point shooting (eighth).

• A Big 12-high five Cyclones average double figures in scoring. Junior forward Georges Niang leads the team with his 15.2 points per game and also averages 5.3 rebounds and 3.5 assists while shooting .411 from 3-point range (1.4 makes per contest) and .775 from the free throw line. In Big 12 play, he is shooting .486 from behind the arc (1.7 makes per outing). Senior guard Bryce Dejean-Jones, a transfer from UNLV, is averaging 12.5 points, a team-high 5.8 rebounds (leads Big 12 guards) and 2.8 assists a game. He ranks third in the Big 12 (tops among guards) with his .517 field goal mark. Junior guard Naz Long averages 11.8 points and 2.6 3-pointers (ranks second in league) per contest. Sophomore point guard Monté Morris averages 10.8 points and a Big 12-high 5.6 assists a game. He also paces the conference with his 4.8 assist-to-turnover ratio (next best figure is 2.4). Senior forward Dustin Hogue averages 10.6 points and 5.0 rebounds an outing while shooting .581 from the field.

• Fred Hoiberg is in his fifth year as a collegiate head coach and owns a 107-52 record. He was a 1995 third-team All-American at Iowa State and is the school's third-leading all-time scorer (1,993 points). The Ames native played 10 years in the NBA.

Khadeem Lattin

SOONER TIP-INS
• During its four-game winning streak, the Sooners are shooting 49.8 percent from the field while holding their opponents to a 31.6-percent mark. They have outscored their foes 99-38 off turnovers during the stretch.

• OU is holdings its opponents to .370 field goal shooting on the year. Only once in the last 53 years (.398 in 2008-09) have the Sooners held their opponents to a season field goal mark under .400. The last opponent season field goal mark under .370 was .339 in 1959-60.

• Four games ago, the Sooners set a Big 12 record for fewest points allowed in a conference game in their 81-36 win over Texas Tech. The Red Raiders' .212 field goal mark was the lowest by an OU opponent in any game in 11 years. The 45-point win was the team's second largest in the 19-year history of the Big 12 and tied for the eighth largest in the league.

• 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 is the only Big 12 team that has started the same five players in every game this season. Interestingly, OU was one of just seven teams nationally that used the same starting lineup in every game last year. Buddy Hield, Isaiah Cousins, Ryan Spangler and Jordan Woodard have all started the last 56 games while TaShawn Thomas has started all 119 of his career contests (96 at Houston).

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

• OU has won its 16 games by an average of 20.3 points (all but one by double digits). Three of its losses have been by three points or less.

• Oklahoma has outscored its opponents off turnovers in 13 of the last 16 games and in 18 of 23 contests on the year. In their 11 home games, the Sooners have posted a 232-96 advantage in points off turnovers (21.1 to 8.7 per outing).

• The Sooners have held 16 of their 23 opponents (each of the last four) 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 on Jan. 24) has shot 50 percent or better this year (the Bears shot 50.0 percent).

• 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 .720 this year to rank second in the league. Woodard ranks fourth in the Big 12 (.833) while Hield ranks eighth (.788).

• Cousins has shot at least 50 percent from behind the arc in 12 of the 21 games this year in which he's attempted a 3-pointer, including in 11 of the last 17 such contests. He leads the Big 12 with his .456 season 3-point mark and ranks seventh with his 1.8 treys per game. Cousins shot .250 from 3-point range as a freshman and .404 last year.

• Hield (5.6) and Cousins (5.4), who both stand 6-foot-4, rank second and third among Big 12 guards in rebounds per game. In league play, Hield paces all guards with his 6.2 boards per 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 travels to take on Kansas State on Saturday at 7 p.m. CT (televised by ESPN2). The Wildcats are the only team to beat the Sooners in Norman this year (66-63 in overtime on Jan. 10).