No. 12 OU at Kentucky for SEC/Big 12 Challenge

^12/12 Oklahoma

^17/20 kentucky

december 1 | 6 p.m. | lexington, ky.

Notes

THURSDAY'S GAME BASICS

No. 12/12 Oklahoma (5-0) hits the road to face its first ranked opponent of the season as the Sooners visit No. 17/20 Kentucky (5-1) on Thursday at 6 p.m. CT inside Memorial Coliseum for the 2016 SEC/Big 12 Challenge. The meeting is a rematch of last season's NCAA Tournament second round contest, which Kentucky won 79-58, in Lexington, Ky. Thursday's game also marks the third straight season the Sooners and Wildcats have faced one another. OU is off to its best start since the 2010-11 season when the Sooners opened the year with a 7-0 record.

ON THE AIR

Thursday's game will air on the SEC Network with Courtney Lyle and Rebecca Lobo announcing. Fans can also stream the game online through WatchESPN.com. The contest will air on the Sooner Radio Network with Brian Brinkley calling the action.

FIVE THINGS TO KNOW

• No. 12/12 Oklahoma is off to its best start since winning seven straight games to open the 2010-11 season. Thursday's game marks OU's fourth straight matchup against a 2016 NCAA Tournament participant as the Sooners visit No. 17/20 Kentucky. A win would snap a three-game losing streak against SEC opponents and mark the first road win versus a ranked non-conference foe for OU since the 2006-07 season (defeated No. 22 Michigan State, 66-55, in East Lansing on Dec 16, 2006).

• Through its first five games, OU's opponents are averaging 56.4 points per game, a .334 shooting percentage, a .275 clip from 3-point range and a .583 mark from the free throw line. In Division I, OU is 29th in field goal percentage defense and 46th in scoring defense.

• Altering shots and defending the glass have been two focal points of OU's defense this year. The Sooners are one of just three teams in Division I to rank in the top 20 in defensive rebounds and blocked shots per game (Baylor and Utah). OU ranks 12th in defensive rebounds per game and 14th in blocked shots per contest.

• Oklahoma's ability to force turnovers has been a consistent theme in the Sooners' five wins this year. Over the last three games, OU has forced each opponent to a season-high number turnovers. Entering last Sunday's game, Colorado State ranked 10th in Division I in fewest turnovers, but OU forced 17 Ram miscues. Kentucky averages just 10.0 turnovers per game heading into Thursday's game, which ranks first in the NCAA for fewest turnovers.

• Peyton Little needs just four points to reach 1,000 points during her collegiate career between Oklahoma and Texas A&M. Little has scored in double figures in three games this season. She is 160 points away from becoming the 32nd OU player to reach 1,000 career points as a Sooner.

GAME FIVE RECAP: COLORADO STATE

• Behind an offensive surge in the third quarter, the Oklahoma women's basketball team defeated Colorado State, 70-55, Sunday afternoon inside Lloyd Noble Center to move to 5-0 on the season. This marks the first time the Sooners have been undefeated in November since the 2010-11 season, and their 5-0 start is also the best since that year.

• Up 31-23 at half, the Sooners came out firing in the third quarter, scoring the first eight points of the frame. OU finished the third with 28 points on 12-of-16 from the field, its best offensive quarter this season, to stretch its lead to 59-36. The Sooners outshot the Rams (2-3), 42.3 percent to 30 percent in the contest.

• Eleven Sooners scored on Sunday, paced by redshirt senior Maddie Manning with season-highs in points and rebounds with 16 and nine, respectively. In her first career start, freshman Chelsea Dungee tallied a career-high 10 points, eight of which came in the first quarter.

• Redshirt senior Peyton Little added nine points, and junior Gabbi Ortiz contributed eight. Off the bench, freshman Nancy Mulkey recorded a season-best six points along with two blocks in 10 minutes of action.

PREVIEWING KENTUCKY

• Kentucky enters Thursday's game with a 5-1 record after defeating Samford, 80-57, on Sunday afternoon in Lexington. The Wildcats are 1-0 this season against ranked opponents after defeating then No. 14 Miami, 82-66. Kentucky's lone loss came at Colorado, 79-69.

• Senior guard Makayla Epps leads Kentucky with 17.2 points and 5.2 assists per game this year. Epps, who was an AP All-America Honorable Mention selection in 2016, led the Wildcats with 17.1 points per game last season, hitting .473 from the field along with 4.8 rebounds per game.

• Senior forward Evelyn Akhator is averaging a double-double this season with 16.8 points and 11.7 rebounds per game. She ranks second in Division I with five double-doubles this season through six games. Akhator also ranked eighth in the nation with 70 rebounds this season.

• Kentucky is under the direction of 10th-year head coach Matthew Mitchell, who is 224-90 with the Wildcats. Mitchell has guided Kentucky to seven straight NCAA Tournament appearances and the 2012 SEC Championship.

• The Wildcats have won 61 consecutive regular-season non-conference games at Memorial Coliseum.

BLOCK IT UP

• Through five games, the Sooners have nearly doubled their block total from this time last season. OU has logged 32 blocks (6.4 per game) to begin the season, which ranks 27th in Division I. The Sooners finished 136th in the nation a year ago with 112 blocked shots (3.4 per game).

• Vionise Pierre-Louis has continued her climb up OU's chart for blocked shots and is averaging 2.0 rejections per contest this year. Freshman Nancy Mulkey, who averaged just 6.4 minutes per contest, has contributed 1.8 blocks a game off the bench.

Chelsea Dungee scored 10 points and hit two 3-pointers in her first career start Sunday vs. Colorado State.

QUICK HITS

• The Sooners are 76-73 against current members of the Southeastern Conference. OU is 3-1 all-time in games played in the state of Kentucky and 1-1 at Memorial Coliseum.

• For the third straight season, OU is competing in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge. The Sooners fell to then No. 18 Texas A&M, 78-68, last season in Oklahoma City. Arkansas topped the OU in Little Rock in the inaugural event, 71-64, in 2014.

• OU finished November with a 5-0 record, the first undefeated month for the Sooners since November 2010. The Sooners have finished a month undefeated 11 times during the Sherri Coale era.

• The Sooners have been ranked in the AP Poll for 23 consecutive weeks (tied for the 12th-longest active streak in the country). OU's place in both the AP and USA Today polls are the highest ranking for the Sooners since the beginning of the 2013-14 season.

• OU is 4-15 all-time on the road against ranked non-conference opponents and 12-12 on the road as a higher ranked team. Under Sherri Coale, OU is 78-78 in games when both teams are ranked in the top 25.

• In the first five games of the 2016-17 season, the Sooners have showcased their depth and versatility with 12 players appearing in all five games.

• Oklahoma's non-conference schedule includes matchups against four NCAA Tournament teams from last season (BYU, Colorado State, Kentucky and South Dakota State). The Sooners will play nine of their 14 non-conference matchups at Lloyd Noble Center. OU's first six opponents each won at least 20 games a year ago.

• The Sooners boast one of the nation's most experienced rosters with six seniors on their squad, the most for an OU team since the 2006-07 season. It marks the third time for the Sooners to have more than five seniors on their roster and on the previous two occasions, OU has claimed the Big 12 regular season title (2002 and 2007).

• Over the last 10 seasons, the Sooners rank second in the Big 12 in overall wins (217) and conference victories (144). OU is the only team in the Big 12 to make every NCAA Tournament since 2000.

UP NEXT

Oklahoma opens a three-game homestand on Sunday as its takes on in-state foe Oral Roberts at 2 p.m. CT inside Lloyd Noble Center. Sunday's game will air on Fox Sports Oklahoma. OU is 21-14 all-time against Oral Roberts.

For more information on Oklahoma women's basketball, follow the Sooners on Twitter (@OU_WBBall) or like Oklahoma Sooners Women's Basketball on Facebook.