Sooners Take on Dayton in Third Round

Dayton (26-8)

13/15 Oklahoma (23-10)

March 22 | 5:10 p.m. CT | Nationwide Arena | Columbus, Ohio
NCAA Tournament Third Round

QUICK PREVIEW
Making its 29th NCAA Tournament appearance and third straight under fourth-year head coach Lon Kruger, No. 13/15 Oklahoma (23-10 overall, 12-6 Big 12) enters Sunday's round-of-32 game against Dayton (27-8 overall, 13-5 Atlantic 10) as the East Region's No. 3 seed. The contest will be played at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, and will start at 6:10 p.m. ET. Dayton is the region's No. 11 seed.

ON THE AIR
All of OU's NCAA Tournament games will air on the Sooner Radio Network (KRXO 107.7 FM in Oklahoma City; KTBZ AM 1430 in Tulsa) with Toby Rowland (play-by-play) and Mike Houck (analyst) calling the action. Sunday's game will be televised nationally by TNT with Ian Eagle, Doug Gottlieb and Evan Washburn announcing. It will also air on the Westwood One Network (Sirius 93, XM 201) with Dave Sims and Jim Jackson on the call.

FIVE THINGS TO KNOW
• If Oklahoma beats Dayton, Lon Kruger will become the first coach in NCAA Division I history to take four programs to the Sweet 16 or beyond (Kansas State [1988 Elite Eight), Florida [1994 Final Four] and UNLV [2007 Sweet 16] are the other three). Only Rick Pitino, Tubby Smith, John Calipari and Bill Self have also each taken three programs to the Sweet 16.

• Oklahoma's NCAA Tournament No. 3 seed and this week's No. 13 AP Top 25 ranking are its highest since the 2008-09 season (Blake Griffin's last as a Sooner). OU was a No. 2 seed in the Big Dance that year (reached the Elite Eight) and was ranked No. 7 in the final AP poll.

• Oklahoma is one of just six teams nationally (the only one among the "Power 5" conferences) 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 66 games while TaShawn Thomas has started all 129 of his career contests (96 at Houston).

• Oklahoma's seven wins against AP-ranked opponents (at the time of competition) are the most in school single-season history. The previous record of six wins vs. AP-ranked teams was set in 1988-89 (No. 1 NCAA seed) and matched in 2001-02 (advanced to Final Four).

• All four of Lon Kruger's Oklahoma teams finished higher in the Big 12 than where they were picked in the league's preseason polls. In 2011-12, OU was picked ninth and finished eighth. In 2012-13, it was slotted seventh and tied for fourth. Last year, the Sooners were picked tied for fifth and finished second. Kruger's squad was tabbed for third in this year's poll and tied for second.

If Oklahoma beats Dayton, Lon Kruger will become the first coach in NCAA Division I history to take four programs to the Sweet 16 or beyond.

ABOUT DAYTON
Dayton enters Sunday's game with a 26-8 record and has won 10 of its last 13 games. It tied for second in the Atlantic 10 Conference with a 13-5 mark, one game behind Davidson. One of the country's smaller teams (no active player is taller than 6-6), the Flyers are 2-0 in this year's NCAA Tournament. They beat Boise State 56-55 in a First Four game on Wednesday (the game was played on Dayton's home court) and downed No. 6 seed Providence 66-53 on Friday. UD is averaging 67.8 points a game on .462 field goal, .351 3-point and .683 free throw shooting. It allows 60.5 points on .417 field goal and .319 3-point shooting. The Flyers are getting outrebounded by 1.5 boards a game.

Senior guard Jordan Sibert, who began his career at Ohio State and played in 24 games during the Buckeyes' 2011-12 Final Four season, was a first-team All-Atlantic 10 selection this year and averages a team-high 16.3 points a game. He's made a team-high 79 3-pointers and is shooting .351 from behind the arc. Junior forward and second-team all-league pick Dyshawn Pierre is averaging 12.8 points, a team-high 8.2 rebounds and 2.9 assists a contest.

The Flyers are coached by Archie Miller, who is 90-46 in his fourth year at Dayton.

OU-DAYTON HISTORY
The Sooners are 2-1 against Dayton, losing their lone NCAA Tournament matchup by an 89-85 score in 1984. OU was a No. 2 seed and received a first-round bye before falling to the 10th-seeded Flyers in Salt Lake City despite getting 36 points from sophomore Wayman Tisdale. Roosevelt Chapman scored 41 points for Dayton, a figure that still represents an OU opponent postseason record. The Sooners posted a third-round 1982 NIT home win over Dayton (91-82), and beat the Flyers 151-99 in the Chaminade Christmas Classic in the 1987-88 season (OU advanced to the national championship game that year). The headline in the next morning's Honolulu newspaper read, "Dayton Scores 99, Loses by 52." Stacey King scored 31 points for OU, Harvey Grant 24 and Ricky Grace 21.

IF OKLAHOMA BEATS DAYTON...
• The Sooners will advance to the Sweet 16 for the 10th time in school history and first time since 2009 (advanced to the Elite Eight).

• It will play No. 2 seed Virginia or No. 7 seed Michigan State on Friday at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse, N.Y.

• The Sooners will have 24 wins, their most in a season since going 30-6 in 2008-09.

• It will improve the program's all-time mark against Dayton to 3-1 (1-1 in the NCAA Tournament).

FRIDAY'S OU-ALBANY RECAP
• Oklahoma never trailed in a 69-60 second-round NCAA Tournament win over No. 14 seed Albany. OU outshot the Great Danes 44 percent to 38 percent from the field and posted a 40-34 rebounding advantage in winning for the 11th time in the last 14 games.

• The Sooners dominated the glass on their end of the court in the first half, racking up 15 second-chance points in the opening 20 minutes to Albany's seven. OU registered a 23-11 advantage in the category for the game.

• The win was OU's first in the NCAA Tournament since 2009. The Sooners lost their opening NCAA game each of the last two years.

• Lon Kruger became the first coach in Division I history to win at least one NCAA Tournament game with five different programs (Kansas State, Florida, Illinois, UNLV and Oklahoma).

• Playing in his first NCAA Tournament game, OU senior forward TaShawn Thomas finished with a game-high 18 points on 7-for-11 field goal and 4-for-5 free throw shooting while adding 5 rebounds and a game-high 4 blocked shots. The Big 12 Newcomer of the Year who transferred from Houston also handed out 2 assists without a turnover in his 32 minutes.

• After going a combined 1-for-12 from 3-point in two NCAA Tournament games the last two seasons, junior guard Buddy Hield connected on 3 treys against Albany en route to 15 points. The Big 12 Player of the Year added 4 rebounds and 2 assists in his first NCAA Tourney win. Hield ran his season 3-pointers total to 89, tying the number he made last year (sixth most in school single-season history). Hield's 178 3-pointers the last two seasons tie a school record for treys in a two-year span (Hollis Price in 2002 and '03).

• Junior forward Ryan Spangler scored 9 points and pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds, the 21st time in 33 games this year he led the Sooners on the glass. He played just 24 minutes due to foul trouble.

• After scoring two combined bench points against Oklahoma State and Iowa State in last week's Big 12 Championship, the Sooners registered 13 against Albany. Sophomore guard Frank Booker supplied 8 points on 3-for-7 shooting while senior forward D.J. Bennett tallied 4 on 2-for-3 shooting. OU posted a 13-7 advantage in bench points, marking just the third time in the last 21 games the Sooners got more production from their reserves than opponents did.

Kruger

DEFENSE AMONG BEST IN SCHOOL HISTORY
• Last season, Oklahoma experienced a major resurgence in offense, averaging its most points per game (81.9) in 20 years. This season, the defense is posting numbers not seen in decades. OU's .385 opponent field goal percentage is on track to be its lowest since 1959-60 (.339). In fact, only once in the last 53 years have the Sooners held their opponents to a season field goal mark under .400 (.398 in 2008-09).

• Oklahoma has held 26 of 33 opponents (79 percent) below their season average in points (at the time of competition). OU has held its 33 opponents to an average of 8.7 points below their season average.

• On the year, the Sooners are holding foes to 62.7 points a game and limiting them to .385 field goal shooting (ranks 12th nationally out of 351 teams) and .310 3-point shooting (ranks 34th). By comparison, opponents averaged 76.0 points on .437 field goal and .342 3-point shooting last season.

• OU has outscored its opponents off turnovers in 10 of the last 13 games, in 20 of the last 26 and in 25 of 33 contests on the year.

• On Jan. 28, 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.

OKLAHOMA AGAINST THE NCAA FIELD
• Oklahoma has played 18 of its 33 games this season against a total of 10 teams who made the 2015 NCAA Tournament (including Albany), and is 12-6 in those contests. OU has beaten nine of those 10 squads.

• Besides Albany, OU has not faced any NCAA Tournament East Region team this season.

SOONER TIP-INS
• Oklahoma's No. 3 NCAA seed matches the highest by a Lon Kruger-coached team. Florida was a No. 3 seed in 1994 (advanced to Final Four).

• OU was runner-up in the eight-team Battle 4 Atlantis in November. Seven of the eight teams in the event made this year's NCAA Tournament and all seven won their opening games Thursday and Friday (OU, Butler, Georgetown, North Carolina, UAB, UCLA and Wisconsin). Florida is the only Battle 4 Atlantis participant that didn't qualify for the Big Dance.

• 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 .736 this year to again lead the league. Jordan Woodard ranks fourth in the Big 12 (.833) while Buddy Hield ranks sixth (.822).

• Hield is the first player in the 19-year history of the Big 12 to be named its player of the year, lead the league in scoring and be named to the Academic All-Big 12 First Team.

• OU has won its 23 games by an average of 16.3 points (17 games by double digits). Five of its losses have been by three points or less.

• Kruger participated in the 1972 and '73 NCAA Tournaments as a player at Kansas State and helped the Wildcats to regional final (Elite Eight) appearances both seasons. K-State went 1-1 in 1972 when Kruger was the Big Eight sophomore of the year (beat Texas 66-55 before losing 72-65 to Louisville). The Wildcats again went 1-1 in 1973 when Kruger was the Big Eight player of the year (beat Louisiana-Lafayette 66-63 before falling 92-72 to Memphis).

Players Mentioned

D.J. Bennett

Frank Booker

Isaiah Cousins

Buddy Hield

Ryan Spangler

TaShawn Thomas

Jordan Woodard

Sponsors

University of Oklahoma Athletics