Sooners Set for Sweet 16

23/22 Michigan State (25-11)

13/15 OU (24-10)

March 27 | 9:07 p.m. CT | Carrier Dome | Syracuse, N.Y.
NCAA Tournament Sweet 16

EAST REGIONAL BASICS
Making its 29th NCAA Tournament appearance and third straight under fourth-year head coach Lon Kruger, No. 3 seed Oklahoma (24-10 overall, 12-6 Big 12) will meet No. 7 seed Michigan State (25-11 overall, 12-6 Big Ten) in Friday's East Regional semifinals in Syracuse, N.Y. The contest, to be played at the 35,446-seat Carrier Dome, will start at approximately 9:07 p.m. CT.

Should it advance to the regional final, Oklahoma will face the winner of Friday's Louisville (No. 4 seed) versus NC State (No. 8 seed) matchup on Sunday (time TBA). The Cardinals sport a 26-8 record while the Wolfpack is 22-13.

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. Friday's game will be televised nationally by TBS with Verne Lundquist, Jim Spanarkel and Allie LaForce announcing. It will also air on the Westwood One Network (Sirius 92, XM 202) with Ian Eagle and P.J. Carlesimo on the call.

OKLAHOMA AND THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
• OU is making its 29th NCAA Tournament appearance (37-28 record), 16th in the last 21 years and 25th in the last 33 seasons.

• The Sooners have made four Final Four appearances (1939, 1947, 1988 and 2002). They played in the 1947 and 1988 national championship games.

• Oklahoma is 14-8 in its last nine NCAA Tournaments, with a Final Four showing in 2002 and Elite Eight appearances in 2003 and 2009.

• The Sooners are 7-4 as participants in the East Region (4-2 the last two times with an Elite Eight showing in 2003 and an appearance in the round of 32 in 2008).

• OU is 4-2 all-time as a No. 3 seed (went 1-1 in 2000 and 2005 under Kelvin Sampson).

KRUGER AND THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
• Two years ago, Lon Kruger became the first head coach in history to take five Division I programs to the NCAA Tournament (Kansas State, Florida, Illinois, UNLV and Oklahoma). He is still the only coach to accomplish the feat. In fact, he has taken each of those five schools to at least two NCAA Tournaments and has now guided four of them to at least three appearances. Coaches who have taken four programs to the Big Dance are current mentors John Beilein, Rick Pitino and Tubby Smith, and former head men Gene Bartow, Lefty Driesell, Jim Harrick, Tom Penders and Eddie Sutton.

• On Sunday, Kruger became the first coach since the NCAA Tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985 to take four programs to the Sweet 16 or beyond (Kansas State [Elite Eight in 1988], Florida [Final Four in 1994], UNLV [Sweet 16 in 2007] and Oklahoma).

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.

• Kruger is the only person to coach five programs to at least one NCAA Tournament win each. He has won at least two NCAA Tourney games at all five schools. Only two coaches have ever directed four programs to at least one win in the Big Dance (Harrick and Sutton).

• This marks Kruger's 16th NCAA Tournament appearance as a head coach (16-15 record) and seventh in the last nine seasons.

• 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).

FIVE THINGS TO KNOW
• Oklahoma's NCAA Tournament No. 3 seed and its 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.

• OU junior Buddy Hield and Michigan State freshman Lourawls "Tum Tum" Nairn are both from the Bahamas and played together during the 2011-12 season at Sunrise Christian Academy in Bel Aire, Kan. (outside of Wichita). The Sooners recruited Nairn, and Hield served as his on-campus host. Hield is from Freeport while Nairn is from Nassau. The pair works out together every summer at Sunrise and remains close friends.

• 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 67 games while TaShawn Thomas has started all 130 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.

HOW THE SOONERS GOT TO SYRACUSE
• Oklahoma beat 14th-seeded Albany (69-60) and 11th-seeded Dayton (72-66) on Friday and Sunday in Columbus, Ohio.

• The Sooners outshot their opponents 44.3 percent to 40.2 percent and outrebounded them by 9 boards a contest (37.5-28.5).

• Oklahoma never trailed in its win over Albany, racking up 14 offensive rebounds and outscoring the Great Danes 23-11 in second-chance points. 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. After averaging 6.5 points in his first two NCAA Tournaments, junior guard Buddy Hield made three 3-pointers and scored 15 points.

• Playing in a true road environment, the Sooners made 8 first-half treys against Dayton and led by as many as 12 points (29-17) before falling behind 49-40 with 13:13 remaining in the game. Down 56-49, Oklahoma went on a 13-0 run after holding the Flyers scoreless for a span of 9:04 to advance to its first Sweet 16 since 2009. OU registered a 35-23 rebounding advantage (UD's 23 boards were an OU opponent season low). Sophomore point guard Jordan Woodard scored a team-high 16 points, going 9 for 10 from the free throw line (all in the final 2:57), while Hield added 15 points and 5 assists.

• OU's bench was unusually potent in the two contests, scoring 13 points against Albany and 17 versus Dayton. It marked just the second time this calendar year the Sooners' reserves scored in double figures in back-to-back games. Sophomore guard Frank Booker was 6 for 12 from 3-point range on the weekend, totaling 8 points against Albany and 12 against Dayton after going scoreless in two Big 12 Championship games the previous week.

• Hield drained his first 3-point attempt against Dayton, giving him179 long-distance makes the last two seasons, a school record for treys in a two-year span.

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 .386 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 27 of 34 opponents (79 percent) below their season average in points (at the time of competition). OU has held its 34 opponents to an average of 8.5 points below their season average.

• On the year, the Sooners are holding foes to 62.8 points a game and limiting them to .386 field goal shooting (ranks 13th nationally out of 351 teams) and .316 3-point shooting (ranks 50th). 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 11 of the last 14 games, in 21 of the last 27 and in 26 of 34 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.

OKLAHOMA AGAINST THE NCAA FIELD
• Oklahoma has played 19 of its 34 games this season against a total of 11 teams that made the 2015 NCAA Tournament and is 13-6 in those contests. OU has beaten 10 of those 11 squads (lost to Wisconsin in Battle 4 Atlantis title game in November in lone matchup with the Badgers).

• OU has not faced fellow remaining East Region participants Michigan State, Louisville or NC State this season.

OU AT THE CARRIER DOME
Oklahoma has played one game in the Carrier Dome, beating Syracuse 98-91 during the 1983-84 season under head coach Billy Tubbs. Sophomore Wayman Tisdale scored 33 points to lead the Sooners while freshman Tim McCalister added 26.

Huddle

OU-MICHIGAN STATE SERIES HISTORY
• Friday's game will mark the ninth meeting between Oklahoma and Michigan State. The Spartans hold a 5-3 series lead but the Sooners have won two of the last three (60-58 in Oklahoma City in the 2002-03 season and 80-77 in overtime in Auburn Hills, Mich., in the 2003-04). Last year, No. 1-ranked MSU outscored unranked OU 12-5 over the last 3 minutes to post an 87-76 Coaches vs. Cancer Classic title game win in Brooklyn, N.Y. Cameron Clark scored 32 for the Sooners. The box score is on page 23 of these notes.

• The teams' lone NCAA Tournament meeting occurred in the 1999 Midwest Regional semifinals in St. Louis, Mo. Under head coach Kelvin Sampson, the 13th-seeded Sooners upset No. 4 seed Arizona and No. 5 seed Charlotte in the first two rounds before falling 54-46 to the top-seeded Spartans. The game featured an infamous collision between OU's Eduardo Najera and MSU's Mateen Cleaves with 9:34 remaining that delayed the game for five minutes and sent Najera to the Sooners' locker room with a grade-one concussion, a sternoclavicular strain, a chipped tooth and a six-stitch cut on his chin. Najera returned to action at the 4:25 mark.

OU-LOUISVILLE SERIES HISTORY
• Oklahoma is 3-1 all-time against Louisville, with two of those meetings coming in the NCAA Tournament. The No.-1 seeded Sooners got 34 points from Harvey Grant and 24 from Stacey King in a 108-98 win over the fifth-seeded Cardinals in the 1988 Southeast Regional semifinals in Birmingham, Ala. (OU went on to lose 83-79 to Kansas in the national title game). In the 2008 second round, East Region No. 3 seed Louisville beat No. 6 seed OU 78-48.

• The teams first met in the first round of the 1970 postseason NIT in New York City with OU winning 74-73 in overtime. The No. 17 Sooners posted a 1984 Christmas Day win over the No. 20 Cardinals (90-72) in the Chaminade Classic in Honolulu, Hawaii.

OU-NC STATE SERIES HISTORY
• The Sooners are 2-1 all-time against NC State. No. 14 OU posted a 72-69 home win over the No. 18 Wolfpack in a late 1986 regular season game. Tenth-ranked OU won 86-82 the next year in Raleigh. NC State beat the No. 23 Sooners 62-58 in the 1998-99 season in the third round of the Puerto Rico Holiday Classic.

SOONER TIP-INS
• OU'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).

• Oklahoma is 18-1 this season when wearing its white uniforms (only loss in overtime). It will wear white this weekend in Syracuse.

• 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 .738 this year to again lead the league. Jordan Woodard ranks fourth in the Big 12 (.838) while Buddy Hield ranks sixth (.817).

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

• Oklahoma has won its 24 games by an average of 15.8 points. Five of its losses have been by three points or less.

• 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.

Players Mentioned

Frank Booker

Cameron Clark

Isaiah Cousins

Buddy Hield

Ryan Spangler

TaShawn Thomas

Jordan Woodard

Sponsors

University of Oklahoma Athletics