No. 2 OU Looks to Extend Bedlam Streak Tonight

Oklahoma State

^2/2 Oklahoma

Jan. 13 | 8 p.m. CT | Stillwater, Okla.

WEDNESDAY'S GAME BASICS

No. 2/2 Oklahoma travels to Stillwater, Okla., to take on in-state rival Oklahoma State in the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Oklahoma Bedlam Series Wednesday at 8 p.m. CT inside Gallagher-Iba Arena. OU, which is 13-1 overall and 2-1 in conference, is in its fifth season under head coach Lon Kruger. The Cowboys are 9-6 this season (1-2 Big 12) and are under the leadership of Travis Ford, now in his eighth campaign in Stillwater.

ON THE AIR

Wednesday's contest will air on the Sooner Radio Network (KRXO 107.7 FM “The Franchise” in Oklahoma City; KTBZ 1430 AM in Tulsa) with Toby Rowland and Scott Thompson announcing. The in-state clash will be televised by ESPNU with Clay Matvick and Tim Welsh calling the action.

GAMEDAY STORYLINES

• SCENE SETTER: No. 2/2 Oklahoma travels to Stillwater, Okla., to take on in-state rival Oklahoma State in the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Oklahoma Bedlam Series Wednesday at 8 p.m. CT inside Gallagher-Iba Arena. OU, which is 13-1 overall and 2-1 in conference, is in its fifth season under head coach Lon Kruger. The Cowboys are 9-6 this season (1-2 Big 12) and are under the direction of Travis Ford, now in his eighth campaign in Stillwater. OU has won five straight in the series.

• SERVING TREYS: Oklahoma currently ranks first in the country in 3-point field goal percentage (.464) by hitting 148-319 of its shots from downtown this season. Oklahoma's all-time record for 3-point field goal percentage in a campaign is .414 (1986-87). OU has connected on at least 10 treys in nine games this year. OU's starting five is averaging a combined 50.0 percent shooting from long distance.

• ON THE OFFENSIVE: The Sooners enter Wednesday's game ranked in the top 10 in both scoring offense with 88.3 points per game (second) and scoring margin (+17.2, 10th) by holding opponents to just 71.1 points per contest. Oklahoma has scored at least 80 points in eight straight games and in 12 of 14 contests this season.

• BUDDY BUCKETS: Senior Buddy Hield is currently averaging 26.6 points per game, which ranks first in the Big 12 and second nationally. He has scored at least 20 points in eight straight games and his 52.0 percent (53-102) shooting from downtown ranks fourth in the country (3.8 3FGM per game). The Bahamas native has six games of at least 30 points this season, including five such games in the past eight contests.

• STEADFAST SOONERS: Oklahoma isn't short on experience or leadership this season. OU's quartet of Isaiah Cousins, Buddy Hield, Ryan Spangler and Jordan Woodard have each started every game (82 total) for OU the past three seasons, tallying 328 combined starts during that span. With the addition of Khadeem Lattin (14 starts), Oklahoma boasts a starting five with 369 combined career starts.

SCOUTING OKLAHOMA STATE

• The Cowboys enter Wednesday's contest on a two-game losing streak. OSU lost to both Baylor (79-62) and West Virginia (77-60) by 17 points. The last time the Cowboys lost back-to-back games by more than 15 points was in 2011-12. OSU hasn't lost three straight by 15 or more since 1985-86.

• The Cowboys field a solid defensive unit that ranks second in the Big 12 and 35th nationally in scoring defense at 64.4 points per game. OSU is holding its opponents to 38.7 percent shooting, which also ranks second in the league and 25th in the country. The Cowboys defense starts at the rim, where they rank second in the Big 12 and 32nd in the NCAA with 5.33 blocked shots per game. The Cowboys have held their Big 12 opponents to 38.5 percent shooting, which leads the league.

• Freshman Jawun Evans is only a game removed from a career-high nine assist performance at Baylor, which is tied for the third best performance by an OSU freshman in school history. The Dallas native ranks sixth in the Big 12 with 4.67 assists per game, which is sixth among all freshmen nationwide. At 3.9 rebounds per game, Evans is also second in rebounding among Big 12 point guards behind only K-State's Justin Edwards (5.8 RPG).

• The Cowboys rank second the league and 37th nationally with a free throw mark of 73.7 percent. Jeff Newberry leads the OSU efforts from the free throw line. At 53-of-64 (.828), Newberry ranks eighth in the league from the stripe.

• Senior Phil Forte injured his elbow in the first half of the win over Towson, which snapped his streak of consecutive games played at 102. Forte was a Preseason All-Big 12 Honorable Mention honoree.

• Head coach Travis Ford enters his eighth season with the Cowboys, and ranks third in school history in both total wins (152) and win percentage (61.0 percent). Ford ranks behind only Eddie Sutton and Henry Iba in both categories.

QUICK HITS

• OU has made at least 10 treys in nine games this season. In 35 contests last year, the Sooners registered just seven games of double-digit 3-point makes.

• OU enters Wednesday's contest having scored at least 80 points in eight straight games and in 12 of 14 total contests this season (averaging 88.3 ppg).

• Four of Oklahoma's five starters are averaging better than 42.5% from 3-point range. Collectively, the group is averaging .500 (129-258) from deep (Khadeem Lattin hasn't attempted a 3).

• Through 14 games this season, Jordan Woodard is averaging 15.2 points and 3.9 rebounds. He's shooting .483 (70-145) from the floor, .556 (35-63) from 3-point range and .864 (38-44) from the charity stripe. Comparatively, last season Woodard averaged 9.3 points and 3.5 rebounds, while shooting .361 (90-249) from the field and .254 (17-67) from long distance.

• Ryan Spangler's 10.5 rebounds per game ranks 15th in the nation (second in the Big 12). Spangler currently leads the Big 12 in field goal percentage (.604).

• The Sooners currently have the first- (Khadeem Lattin, 2.2) and third-best (Akolda Manyang, 1.7) shot blockers in the Big 12.

• Jordan Woodard (.556) and Buddy Hield (.520) currently rank as the third- and fourth-best 3-point shooters in the country, respectively.

CHASE FOR 1K, HIELD MOVING ON UP

• Junior Jordan Woodard and senior Ryan Spangler are on the cusp of scoring 1,000 points in their respective OU careers. Woodard needs 120 points and Spangler 191 to be added to the current 42-member list at OU.

• With Buddy Hield's 373 combined points this season, the senior has become the school's eighth all-time leading scorer with 1,739 career points. He has passed Alvan Adams (1,707), Eduardo Najera (1,646) Don Sidle (1,548), John McCullough (1,507 career points), Chucky Barnett (1,462), Harvey Grant (1,391) and Steven Pledger (1,392) all this season. Additionally, Hield's 255 3-point FG makes ranks second all-time at OU.

#BUDDYBUCKETS

• On the season, Buddy Hield is averaging 26.6 points, 5.6 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.4 steals in 33.4 minutes per game. He's shooting .520 (119-229) from the field, .520 (53-102) from 3-point range and .901 (82-91) from the charity stripe.

• His 26.6 points per game average ranks first among Big 12 players this season and second nationally (first among Power 5 conf. players). His 52.0 3FG% ranks fourth in the country. His 3.79 3FGM per game ranks fourth in nation.

• Hield has scored at least 20 points in 12 of 14 games this season after doing it 13 times in 35 games last season.

• Buddy Hield has scored 20 or more points in eight straight games, the first Sooner to accomplish that feat since Nate Erdmann (1996-97 season). The last Sooner to record nine or more such games was Stacey King (1988-89 season, 11 straight). In conference play, Hield is averaging 33.0 points, 7.0 rebounds and 4.7 assists.

• Hield has six games this season scoring at least 30 points, including five times in the past eight outings. The rest of the Big 12 has combined for six 30-point individual outings on the year.

• The senior is currently the only player in the country averaging greater than 50.0 percent from the field, 50.0 percent from 3, 90.0 percent from the foul line and scoring greater than 20.0 ppg.

• Hield is averaging a Big 12-best 26.6 ppg, more than seven ppg greater than second-place Georges Niang (19.4) of Iowa State.

CALLING ON ALL RESERVES

• The Sooners are getting more production from their bench than a season ago. Through 14 games in 2015-16, OU's reserves (excluding walk-ons) are averaging 61.8 minutes played (out of possible 200), 16.1 points, 9.7 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game. Last season, Oklahoma's reserves (excluding walk-ons) averaged 42.5 minutes played (out of possible 200), 11.4 points, 6.9 rebounds and 1.4 assists per contest (35 total games).

UP NEXT

• Oklahoma returns to Norman to host No. 11 West Virginia on Saturday, Jan. 16, at 3 p.m. CT inside Lloyd Noble Center. OU leads the all-time series 6-3, including a perfect 3-0 mark in Norman. In 2014-15, the teams split the season series 1-1.