No. 1 OU Breaks for Big 12/SEC Challenge at LSU

LSU

^1/2 Oklahoma

Jan. 30 | 4 p.m. CT | Baton Rouge, La.

SATURDAY'S GAME BASICS

No. 1/2 Oklahoma and LSU will take a break from conference action to square off in the 2016 Big 12/SEC Challenge this Saturday at 4 p.m. CT in Baton Rouge. OU, which is 17-2 overall and tied atop the Big 12 standings at 6-2, is in its fifth season under head coach Lon Kruger. The Tigers are 13-7 this season (6-2 SEC) and are under the direction of Johnny Jones, who is in his fourth campaign at LSU.

The Sooners are 2-0 all-time in the Big 12/SEC Challenge. In 2013-14 OU defeated Texas
A&M 64-52 in Houston and in 2014-15 the Sooners downed Missouri 82-63 in Norman.

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 matchup will be televised by ESPN with Brent Musburger, Dick Vitale and Holly Rowe calling the action.

GAMEDAY STORYLINES

• SCENE SETTER: No. 1/2 Oklahoma and LSU will take a break from conference action to square off in the 2016 Big 12/SEC Challenge this Saturday at 4 p.m. CT in Baton Rouge. OU, which is 17-2 overall and tied atop the Big 12 standings at 6-2, is in its fifth season under head coach Lon Kruger. The Tigers are 13-7 this season (6-2 SEC) and are under the direction of Johnny Jones, who is in his fourth campaign at LSU. A win Saturday would give Kruger his 100th career victory at Oklahoma.

• SERVING TREYS: Oklahoma currently ranks first nationally in 3-point field goal percentage (.467) by hitting 212-454 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 13 games this year (ties a school record) and it's 11.2 3-point makes per game ranks fourth nationally. OU's starting five is averaging 49.3 percent from 3-point range (183-371).

• STRONG ON BOTH ENDS: The Sooners rank in the nation's top 20 in both scoring offense with 85.8 points per game (fourth) and scoring margin (+14.4, 16th) by holding opponents to just 71.4 points per contest. Oklahoma has scored at least 80 points in 14 of 19 contests this season. On the other end, OU leads the Big 12 in field goal percentage defense (.390).

• BUDDY BUCKETS: Senior Buddy Hield is currently averaging 25.9 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 11 of the last 13 games and his 52.3 percent (79-151) shooting from downtown ranks second in the country. His 4.16 3FGM per game is tops in the nation. He has seven games of at least 30 points this season (same total as rest of Big 12 combined).

• 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 (87 total) for OU the past three seasons, tallying 349 combined starts during that span. With the addition of Khadeem Lattin (19 starts), OU boasts a starting five with 394 combined career starts.

SCOUTING LSU

• The Tigers own a 13-7 record on the year, including a 6-2 mark in SEC play. LSU is 11-1 inside the Pete Maravich Center and 7-5 overall this season against non-conference foes.

• LSU is led by freshman phenom Ben Simmons, who is averaging 19.8 points, 12.7 rebounds, 4.9 assists and 1.8 steals in 34.3 minutes (all team-highs). His 12.7 boards per game ranks third in the country (ranked fourth in the nation with his 9.4 defensive rpg).

• Simmons, who has 15 double-doubles on the season, is shooting .553 (135-244) from the field and .713 (124-174) from the foul line (has only attempted three 3-pointers on the season). He ranks fifth in the nation in total free throw attempts.

• Simmons was the preseason player of the year selection by SEC media and was selected as a preseason All-American by the AP.

• Also averaging double-digit scoring for LSU is Keith Hornsby (13.2), Craig Victor II (12.8) and Tim Quarterman (11.6).

• The Tigers are averaging 81.3 points per game (30th in the country) and holding opponents to 75.6 points per contest.

• LSU is led by head coach Johnny Jones, who is in his fourth season in Baton Rouge. He's 74-44 with the Tigers entering Saturday's contest with the Sooners.

• With the win over Kentucky on Jan. 5, LSU has 77 wins all-time against teams ranked in the AP poll. LSU has recorded 37 of those 77 wins against top 10 teams. LSU's last win against a top 10 team in the AP poll came on Dec. 19, 2011, as LSU defeated No. 10 Marquette 67-59 in Baton Rouge.

• OU and LSU are tied in the all-time series, 2-2. The teams last met during the 2003-04
postseason when the Sooners defeated the Tigers by a 70-61 final in the first round
of the NIT.

QUICK HITS

• Oklahoma has already played six teams this season ranked in the AP's top 20 (4-2 in those contests).

• OU currently owns the best overall winning percentage (.895) in the Big 12. The Sooners (6-2) are currently tied atop the Big 12 standings (with West Virginia and Baylor).

• The Sooners rank in the top 20 in both scoring offense with 85.8 points per game (fourth) and scoring margin (+14.4, 16th) by holding opponents to just 71.4 points per contest.

• OU enters Saturday's contest having scored at least 80 points in 14 of 19 total contests this season (averaging 85.8 points per game, which is ranked fourth nationally). OU is 13-1 this season when scoring 80-plus points.

• The Sooners currently rank first in the Big 12 in field goal percentage defense (.390). OU is currently first in the Big 12 and seventh in the country in blocked shots per game (6.2).

• OU ranks first in the Big 12 in rebounds per game (41.5). It ranks first nationally in defensive rebounds per contest (30.7). The Sooners are led on the boards by Ryan Spangler (9.7) and Khadeem Lattin (6.4). Oklahoma has outrebounded its opponent in 13 of 19 games this season.

SOONERS RED HOT FROM DEEP

• Oklahoma currently ranks first in the country in 3-point field goal percentage (.467). OU's all-time record for 3-point field goal percentage in a season is .414 (1986-87). OU's average of 11.2 3-point makes per game ranks fourth nationally.

• OU has made at least 10 treys in 13 games this season (which ties the single-season school record for games of 10 or more 3-pointers). In 35 contests last year, the Sooners registered just seven games of double-digit 3-point makes.

• Jordan Woodard (.544) and Buddy Hield (.523) currently rank as the first- and second-best 3-point shooters in the nation. Only two DI players in last eight years have shot 50 percent from 3 for a season (min. 2.5 makes/game).

• OU's 46.7 3-point field goal percentage would be the highest in DI hoops since Green Bay also shot 46.7 percent from downtown in 1991-92.

• Oklahoma is currently shooting better from downtown (.467) than six teams in the Big 12 are shooting overall from the field (West Virginia [.460], Texas Tech [.446], Oklahoma State [.444], Texas [.436], Kansas State [.429] and TCU .[415]).

• The Sooners have shot better than 50 percent from 3-point range in each of the last three games. They are shooting a combined .542 (45 for 83) during the stretch. The starting backcourt of Isaiah Cousins, Buddy Hield and Jordan Woodard is averaging a combined 58.0 points over the last three contests with the help of .576 (34 for 59) 3-point shooting.

#BUDDYBUCKETS

• On the season, Buddy Hield is averaging 25.9 points, 5.8 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.4 steals in 33.9 minutes per game. He's shooting .530 (160-302) from the field, .523 (79-151) from 3-point range (which ranks No. 2 in the nation) and .903 (93-103) from the charity stripe.

• The senior is currently the only player in the country averaging greater than 50.0 percent from the field, 50.0 percent from 3 and 90.0 percent from the foul line (min. 20 FT attempts).

• His 25.9 points per game average ranks first among Big 12 players this season and second nationally (first among Power 5 conf. players).

• The senior's 4.16 3FGM per game ranks first in nation. He has made at least five 3-pointers in a game eight times this year.

• Hield has scored at least 20 points in 14 of 19 games this season after doing it 13 times in 35 games last season.

• He has 10 games this year of at least 25 points. In his first three seasons, he combined for six games of at least 25 points.

• Hield has seven games this season scoring at least 30 points (same number as the rest of the players in the Big 12 combined). It's the most 30-point games by a Sooner in a season since Jeff Webster in the 1993-94 season (10).

• In eight Big 12 games, Hield is averaging 27.3 points, 6.5 rebounds and 3.6 assists while shooting .549 from the field, .519 from 3-point range (42 for 81) and .909 from the free throw line (30 for 33). He is averaging 5.3 3-point makes in league play.

• Hield has shot at least 50 percent from 3-point range in each of the last seven games (40 for 72; .556) and in 12 of the last 13 outings.

• If the season ended today, Hield would be the only player in Big 12 history to average at least 25.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists in a season.

• Hield's 25.9 points per game would be the second-highest season average in Big 12 history (Michael Beasley owns record with 26.2).

UP NEXT

• The Sooners return home to resume Big 12 play against TCU on Tuesday, Feb. 2, at 7 p.m. CT inside the Lloyd Noble Center (tickets still available here).

• It will mark the first of two regular-season meetings between OU and TCU this season. Oklahoma will travel to Fort Worth on March 5 to even out the season series.