Sooner Report: Sweet 16 Preparation

Making its first Sweet 16 appearance since 2009, the No. 3 seed Oklahoma men's basketball team spent its first full day in Syracuse, N.Y., continuing preparation for Friday night's Sweet 16 matchup against No. 7 seed Michigan State.

The Sooners started the day with a 30-minute, late morning film session before heading to the Carmelo K. Anthony Basketball Center where they practiced for just under an hour and a half. From there, they headed to the 35,446-seat Carrier Dome, the site for this weekend's East Regional contests.

Head coach Lon Kruger, senior TaShawn Thomas and juniors Buddy Hield and Ryan Spangler all met with the media in formal press conferences, while the locker room was opened for media members to talk with other team members. OU closed the afternoon with another practice, which was attended by fans and media, before heading back to the hotel.

Sooners Face Michigan State in Sweet 16
Friday's Sweet 16 game will mark the ninth time Oklahoma and Michigan State have squared off on the hardwood. The Spartans hold a 5-3 series lead, but the Sooners have won two of the last three. Last season, 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.

Friday's Sweet 16 game will mark the ninth time Oklahoma and Michigan State have squared off on the hardwood. The Spartans hold a 5-3 series lead, but the Sooners have won two of the last three.

Fourth-year OU head coach Lon Kruger said Michigan State, which is led by 20th-year coach Tom Izzo, provides a big challenge for his squad, but one to which it is looking forward.

“Tom's clubs always play great. We've got our hands full,” Kruger said. “Our guys have a great deal of respect for what they're doing ... Michigan State is great in a lot of different ways. Transition is super, rebound the ball well, execute things on the offense and stingy defensively.”

A key for the Sooners will be working to control the boards against a Michigan State team that has a reputation for its rebounding ability, OU junior forward Ryan Spangler said.

“That's a big part of our game plan,” explained Spangler, who has led Oklahoma on the glass in 22 of 34 contests this year. “They get a lot of easy buckets off of offensive rebounding. That and (in) transition. One of my and TaShawn's (Thomas) biggest goals is to block out every time and give up nothing easy.”

The Sooners (24-10 overall, 12-6 Big 12) take on the Spartans (25-11 overall, 12-6 Big Ten) on Friday at approximately 9:07 p.m. CT. The game will be televised by TBS. Click here for complete NCAA Tournament coverage.

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Bahamian Brothers
When the Sooners and Spartans take the court on Friday night, both starting lineups will feature a player native to the Bahamas in OU junior Buddy Hield (from Freeport) and Michigan State freshman Lourawls “Tum Tum” Nairn (from Nassau).

Not only do the two hail from the same country but they also share a strong friendship, having played together during the 2011-12 season at Sunrise Christian Academy in Bel Aire, Kan. (outside of Wichita). Every summer, the pair still works out at Sunrise.

The Sooners recruited Naim, and Hield served as his on-campus host. Despite their friendship, Hield said he encouraged Naim to make the best decision for himself when it came to picking where to attend school and play basketball.

“I told Tum Tum, ?Go wherever is best for Tum Tum. Don't go where you think is good for Buddy. I know we are good friends but do what's best for you. You have to make your own decisions. What you do isn't going to hurt me, so do what's best for you.'”

Hield said playing against Nairn is a “fun deal” because of the great relationship they have.

“I consider him my brother, and we know each other's family,” Hield shared. “It's just fun matching up with someone from the Bahamas. Someone's going to lose tomorrow, and I hope it's not me.”

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Defensive Strides
In the offseason, a key goal of the Sooners became defensive improvement. And that goal has been accomplished as Lon Kruger's team has been one of the best in school history.

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). Additionally, OU has held 27 of 34 opponents (79 percent) below their season average in points.

This change began right after the end of last season when the team recognized the improvements that needed to be made, head coach Lon Kruger stated.

“Most of the guys that were on the club last year realized, coming out of the NCAA Tournament, we weren't built to get the stops that we needed, to get the extended play defensively that we needed, the big rebound that we needed. So it wasn't a tough sales job. They were bought in last spring, through summer, through fall. They've obviously made big strides.”

Junior Ryan Spangler credited this improvement as the reason for OU's success in this year's tournament thus far. Sunday against Dayton, the Sooners held the Flyers scoreless for more than nine minutes in the second half in overcoming a nine-point deficit to post a 72-66 win.

“Defense is the reason we're this far this year,” Spangler said. “Last year and this year, we've always been able to score. Last year we couldn't get stops when we wanted to, but I think the last two games, first and second round, we got stops when we had to. That's how we won those games. The rest of this year, we're going to concentrate on defense. We're going to have defense take us all the way.

Kruger Succeeds in NCAA Tournament
Lon Kruger just keeps making NCAA Tournament history. Two years ago, he became the first head coach in history to take five Division I programs to the NCAA Tournament and has now won at least one tournament game with each school.

Additionally, he is the first coach since the NCAA Tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985 to take four programs to the Sweet 16 or beyond.

Senior forward TaShawn Thomas said Kruger sometimes mentions his past Sweet 16 experiences, and thinks the team will be successful if it continues to follow its coach's lead.

“He'll just keep on telling us, ?You earned it to be here. I'm just going to help guide you guys to what I think and reach out to the next win,'” Thomas said. “If we just keep trusting in Coach, we're going to keep riding it out until the wheels fall off.”

For Kruger, there is an appreciation for the milestones he has reached in the NCAA Tournament once he considers how challenging it actually is to do so.

“I think the more you do it (make the Sweet 16), the more you realize how difficult it is to do,” Kruger explained. “Especially today when the parity is there. You look through the seedings, and all those games pretty much toss out regardless of the seeds. If you get through the first few, everyone else is pretty even. So (I) probably (have) a greater appreciation today. When you're younger, you kind of feel like, ?Well, we did it; we'll do it again.' And it's just not that easy. (You) probably (develop) a greater appreciation the older or more experienced you get.”