Top-15 Road Battle with Baylor Today for OU

^13/15 Baylor

^1/1 Oklahoma

Jan. 23 | 11 a.m. CT | Waco, Texas

SATURDAY'S GAME BASICS

No. 1/1 Oklahoma hits the road for its second straight Big 12 road test at No. 13/15 Baylor this Saturday inside the Ferrell Center at 11 a.m. CT in Waco, Texas. OU, which is 15-2 overall and 4-2 in conference, is in its fifth season under head coach Lon Kruger. The Bears are 15-3 this season (5-1 Big 12) and are under the direction of Scott Drew, who is in his 13th campaign in Waco.

ON THE AIR

Saturday'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 Big 12 battle will be televised by ESPN with Dave Flemming and Miles Simon calling the action.

GAMEDAY STORYLINES

• SCENE SETTER: No. 1/1 Oklahoma hits the road for its second straight Big 12 road test at No. 13/15 Baylor this Saturday inside the Ferrell Center at 11 a.m. CT in Waco, Texas. OU, which is 15-2 overall and 4-2 in conference, is in its fifth season under head coach Lon Kruger. The Bears are 15-3 this season (5-1 Big 12) and are under the direction of Scott Drew, who is in his 13th campaign in Waco. Last season, the teams split the season series (OU leads all-time series, 42-12).

• SERVING TREYS: Oklahoma currently ranks first nationally in 3-point field goal percentage (.457) by hitting 184-403 of its shots from downtown. 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 11 games this year and it's 10.8 3-point makes per game ranks fourth nationally. OU's starting five is averaging 48.0 percent from 3-point range (158-329).

• STRONG ON BOTH ENDS: The Sooners rank in the nation's top 25 in both scoring offense with 85.7 points per game (sixth) and scoring margin (+14.1, 21st) by holding opponents to just 71.6 points per contest. Oklahoma has scored at least 80 points in 12 of 17 contests this season. On the other end, OU leads the Big 12 in field goal percentage defense (.391).

• BUDDY BUCKETS: Senior Buddy Hield is currently averaging 26.1 points per game, which ranks first in the Big 12 and second nationally (first among Power 5 Conferences). The reigning Big 12 Player of the Year has scored at least 20 points in 10 of the last 11 games and his 51.5 percent (70-136) shooting from downtown ranks second in the country. His 4.12 3FGM per game is tops in the nation. The Bahamas native has six games of at least 30 points this season.

• 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 (85 total) for OU the past three seasons, tallying 340 combined starts during that span. With the addition of Khadeem Lattin (17 starts), OU boasts a starting five with 384 combined career starts.

SCOUTING BAYLOR

• Baylor is 7-7 in its last 14 games against OU since snapping a 30-game losing streak in the series in 2010. BU is 0-6 all-time vs. AP No. 1-ranked teams. This is the first time BU has hosted No. 1 since Jan. 11, 1997 (KU). All 3 of Baylor's losses this season have been true road games against current top-8 RPI teams (Oregon, TAMU, Kansas).

• Baylor has won 5 straight Big 12 games, tying the school record for longest single-season Big 12 winning streak. BU has won 15 straight home games, tying the Ferrell Center-record set Feb. 2010-Jan. 2011.

• Baylor leads the nation in assists/game and ranks top-20 in offensive rebound percentage (5th), assist-to-turnover ratio (6th), rebound margin (12th), steal percentage (13th) and scoring margin (20th).

• Six BU players are averaging double-digit scoring in Big 12 play (Prince, Motley, Freeman, Medford, Maston, Gathers).

• Rico Gathers ranks 24th on Baylor's all-time scoring list (1,080) and has a school record 1,039 career rebounds. Gathers ranks second in school history with 31 career double-doubles, 3 back of Brian Skinner's school record of 34.

• Lester Medford has 24 career starts at point guard and has 167 assists and 44 turnovers in those games (3.8 A-T ratio). Medford is the nation's only player ranked in the NCAA top 20 in assists (5th), assist-to-turnover ratio (12th) and steals (15th).

• BU's bench is averaging 35.5 ppg in the last 4 games, led by Johnathan Motley (56 pts) and Terry Maston (47 pts).

• In Big 12 play, Baylor leads the league in field goal percentage (.494), scoring margin (+5.3), assists (17.5), rebounding margin (+7.5) and offensive rebound percentage (.387).

• Scott Drew is coaching his 407th game at Baylor (243-163). His .599 winning percentage is best in BU history among coaches with 60+ games, and his teams have a .690 winning percentage (209-94) since 2007-08.

QUICK HITS

• Saturday will mark the sixth game already this season for Oklahoma against teams ranked in the top 20 (at the time of competition). OU is 3-2 in those contests.

• OU currently owns the best overall winning percentage (.882) in the Big 12. Baylor currently sits alone in first place in the Big 12 standings (Oklahoma is tied for second).

• Oklahoma has made at least 10 treys in 11 games this season. In 35 contests last year, the Sooners registered just seven games of double-digit 3-point makes.

• OU enters Saturday's contest having scored at least 80 points in 12 of 17 total contests this season (averaging 85.7 points per game, which is ranked sixth nationally).

• Collectively, Oklahoma's starting five is averaging 48.0 percent from 3-point range (158-329). As an entire team, OU is shooting .457 (ranks first nationally).

#BUDDYBUCKETS

• On the season, Buddy Hield is averaging 26.1 points, 5.6 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.4 steals in 34.2 minutes per game. He's shooting .514 (144-280) from the field, .515 (70-136) from 3-point range and .904 (85-94) from the charity stripe.

• His 26.1 points per game average ranks first among Big 12 players this season and second nationally (first among Power 5 conf. players). His 51.5 3FG% ranks second in the country. His 4.12 3FGM per game ranks first in nation.

• Hield has scored at least 20 points in 14 of 17 games this season after doing it 13 times in 35 games last season.

• Hield has scored 20 or more points in 10 of the last 11 games. In conference play, Hield is averaging 28.2 points, 6.3 rebounds and 3.8 assists.

• Hield has six games this season scoring at least 30 points. Hield joins Blake Griffin (2008-09) as the only Sooner with six or more 30-point games in the last 20 years (Griffin had six in 35 games in 2008-09).

• 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 14.0 ppg.

• Hield is averaging a Big 12-best 26.1 ppg, more than six ppg greater than second-place Georges Niang (19.7).

• If the season ended today, Hield would be one of only three players in Big 12 history to average at least 25.0 points and 5.0 rebounds (Michael Beasley, 07-08, and Kevin Durant, 06-07).

• Hield's 26.1 points per game would be the second-highest season average in Big 12 history (Michael Beasley owns record, 26.2).

CALLING ON ALL RESERVES

• The Sooners are getting more production from their bench than a season ago. Through 17 games in 2015-16, OU's reserves (excluding walk-ons) are averaging 60.1 minutes played (out of possible 200), 15.2 points, 8.8 rebounds and 2.3 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).

• Last game vs. Iowa State, freshman Dante Buford came off the bench to score a career-high 14 points.

UP NEXT

• Oklahoma returns home to the Lloyd Noble Center to host Texas Tech on Tuesday, Jan. 26, at 6 p.m. CT. It will mark the first of two regular season matchups between the Sooners and Red Raiders.

• OU leads the all-time series over Texas Tech, 36-21, including an 21-7 advantage in Norman. Last year the Sooners took both meetings (81-36 in Norman, 79-75 [OT] in Lubbock).