Sooners Close Home Slate Against Kansas

No. 9/10 Kansas (24-6)

15/15 Oklahoma (20-9)

March 7 | 3 p.m. CT | Lloyd Noble Center | Norman

QUICK PREVIEW
In a battle of first- and second-place Big 12 teams, No. 15/15 Oklahoma (20-9, 11-6) plays its final home game of the year when it hosts No. 9/10 Kansas (24-6, 13-4) on Saturday at 3 p.m. CT inside Lloyd Noble Center. If it wins, OU will be a No. 2 or 3 seed in next week's Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship. If it loses, it will be the No. 3 or 4 seed. The Sooners are 13-1 at home this year (lone loss was in overtime) with an average scoring margin of +18.4. Kansas, which is 5-5 in true road games this year, clinched the outright Big 12 title with its 76-69 overtime win over West Virginia on Tuesday.

Saturday's game will mark the last at home in the careers of OU seniors D.J. Bennett, James Fraschilla and TaShawn Thomas. The trio will be honored during a 2:50 p.m. pre-game ceremony.

ON THE AIR
Saturday'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 and Mike Houck announcing. It will be televised by ESPN with Dave Flemming and Fran Fraschilla calling the action.

TICKETS
• Reserved seats are sold out. Restricted admission tickets will go on sale for $20 on Satuday at 1:30 p.m. at Lloyd Noble Center's north and east ticket windows.

FIVE TOP STORYLINES
• Kansas is the only current or former Big 12 team to hold an all-time winning record against Oklahoma. The Jayhawks own a 142-65 series lead and have won 13 of the last 14 meetings after OU had won four of six. The Sooners' last win in the series was two years ago in Norman (72-66) when Kansas was ranked No. 5 in the AP poll. OU is 41-48 against KU in Norman.

OU has flourished at home, posting a +18.4 average scoring margin in its 14 games at Lloyd Noble Center and outshooting its opponents .483 to .366 from the field and .406 to .292 from 3-point range.

• In the teams' Jan 19 meeting in Lawrence, OU came back from a 51-32 halftime deficit to take a 69-65 lead with 4:56 remaining before falling 85-78. The Sooners started the second half on a 21-3 run and extended it to 37-14 with just under five minutes remaining. KU ended the game on a 20-9 run. Kansas made its first eight 3-point attempts of the game and finished the first half 9 for 13. Buddy Hield scored a game-high 26 points and added five rebounds, while Isaiah Cousins tallied 18 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists, and Ryan Spangler 13 points and a team-high 10 boards. Kelly Oubre led Kansas with 19 points.

• A leading candidate for the Big 12 Player of the Year award, Hield has scored at least 20 points in eight of 15 Big 12 games, including each of the last two. In conference play, the junior guard, who was named to the Academic All-Big 12 First Team last week, is averaging league highs of 18.5 points a game (next highest average is 16.5) and 2.6 3-pointers. He also ranks sixth in steals (1.5 spg), seventh in free throw percentage (.806), ninth in field goal percentage (.449), ninth in 3-point field goal percentage (.388) and 10th in rebounding (5.7 rpg; tops among guards). The Freeport, Bahamas, native has led OU in scoring in 10 of the last 16 games.

• OU has flourished at home, posting a +18.4 average scoring margin in its 14 games at Lloyd Noble Center and outshooting its opponents .483 to .366 from the field and .406 to .292 from 3-point range. The Sooners' starting five is shooting .516 from the field in Norman. Junior guards Cousins (25 for 49) and Hield (45 for 89) are both shooting 51 percent from 3-point range.

• Oklahoma has held 23 of 29 opponents below their season average in points (at the time of competition). In fact, OU has held its 29 opponents to an average of 9 points below their season average. On the year, the Sooners are holding foes to 62.7 points a game and limiting them to .384 field goal shooting (ranks 17th nationally out of 351 teams) and .313 3-point shooting (ranks 46th). By comparison, opponents averaged 76.0 points on .437 field goal and .342 3-point shooting last season.

PREVIEWING KANSAS
• No. 9/10 Kansas claimed the outright Big 12 regular season title Tuesday with its 76-69 home overtime win over West Virginia. The Jayhawks, who have lost two of their last five games, are 24-6 overall and 13-4 in the Big 12. They are 4-4 in league road games, with all four losses coming by seven or fewer points. In conference play, KU is averaging 72.4 points per game (ranks second in Big 12) on .456 field goal shooting (second), .379 3-point shooting (first) and .717 free throw shooting (fourth). It is holding opponents to 65.0 points per game (ranks fourth) on .379 field goal shooting (first) and .312 3-point shooting (third). The Jayhawks rank third in the Big 12 with their +7.4 average rebounding margin.

• Junior forward Perry Ellis and sophomore point guard Frank Mason are the only two Jayhawks who average double figures in scoring. Ellis, who is averaging team highs of 14.2 points and 7.0 rebounds a game while shooting .471 from the field, sprained his knee against West Virginia and will not play Saturday. He has been named Big 12 Player of the Week three times this season. Mason is averaging 12.4 points a game on .453 field goal and .420 3-point (34 for 81) shooting. He also averages team highs of 4.2 assists and 1.4 steals per game. Mason is coming off a 19-point performance against the Mountaineers (11 for 12 from free throw line). Sophomore guard Wayne Selden contributes 9.4 points (.385 3-point shooting; team-high 1.5 makes a game) and 3.0 assists while freshman wing Kelly Oubre averages 8.9 and 4.9 rebounds.

• Bill Self is in his 12th year as Kansas' head coach and owns a 349-75 record there. He is in his 22nd year overall (556-180).

Ryan Spangler

SOONER TIP-INS
• Oklahoma needs one more win against an AP ranked opponent (at the time of competition) to set a school single-season record. OU's six wins against AP ranked teams are tied for the most in school history. It also won six games vs. AP ranked teams in 1988-89 (No. 1 NCAA seed) and 2001-02 (advanced to Final Four).

• The Sooners have played 12 games against AP Top-25 opponents (at the time of competition) this season, tied with Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma State and Texas for most in the nation. OU and Kansas have also played a nation-high 18 games each against teams that have been ranked for at least one week this season. The Sooners are No. 16 in the NCAA RPI while Kansas is No. 2 (as of Thursday).

• Oklahoma has outscored its opponents off turnovers in seven of the last nine games, in 17 of the last 22 and in 22 of 29 contests on the year.

• In their 14 home games, the Sooners have posted a 278-124 advantage in points off turnovers (20-9 per outing).

• OU is holdings its opponents to .384 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 .384 was .339 in 1959-60.

• 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 one of just seven 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 62 games while TaShawn Thomas has started all 125 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 20 games by an average of 17.4 points (all but four by double digits). Four of its losses have been by three points or less.

• The Sooners have held 17 of their 29 opponents to 40-percent-or-lower field goal shooting, and have held six foes to 30-percent-or-lower field goal marks. Only two opponents (at Baylor and at Texas Tech) have shot 50 percent or better this year.

• 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 .725 this year to rank second in the league (Oklahoma State is shooting .728). Woodard ranks fourth in the Big 12 (.833) while Hield ranks sixth (.804).

• In home games this season, the Sooners are shooting .483 from the field and .406 from 3-point range. In true road games, OU shot .407 from the floor and .320 from behind the arc.

• Cousins has shot at least 50 percent from behind the arc in 15 of the 27 games this year in which he's attempted a 3-pointer, including in 14 of the last 23 such contests. He leads the Big 12 with his .447 season 3-point mark and ranks sixth with his 1.8 treys per game. Cousins shot .250 from 3-point range as a freshman and .404 last year.

• Hield (5.4) and Cousins (4.9), who both stand 6-foot-4, rank first and fourth among Big 12 guards in rebounds per game.

• 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 (is tied for second).

UP NEXT
OU will begin play in the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship inside Kansas City's Sprint Center. The Sooners have earned a first-round bye and will play a quarterfinals game on Thursday (opponent, time and seed to be determined).