Oklahoma and Auburn Clash in Connecticut

AUBURN

Oklahoma

December 21 | 7:30 p.m. CT | Mohegan Sun Arena

WEDNESDAY'S GAME BASICS

Before the Sooners and Tigers take the field in New Orleans to determine a Sugar Bowl champion, Oklahoma (6-4) and Auburn (8-2) will square off in men's basketball in the Birthday of Basketball at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn. Wednesday's neutral site contest tips at 7:30 p.m. CT on the 125th anniversary of basketball. Dec. 21, 1891 is the date James Naismith first introduced the game of basketball to a class of young men at the YMCA International Training School in nearby Springfield, Mass.

ON THE AIR

The matchup will tip off at 7:30 p.m. CT and air on the Sooner Radio Network (KRXO 107.7 FM “The Franchise” in Oklahoma City; KTBZ 1430 AM in Tulsa) with Toby Rowland and Kevin Henry announcing. The game will be televised nationally on CBS Sports Network with Rich Waltz, Doug Gottlieb and Jamie Erdahl calling the action.

FIVE THINGS TO KNOW

• Head Coach Lon Kruger has used four different starting lineups throughout the first 10 games of the 2016-17 season. In Oklahoma's last game (Dec. 17 vs. Memphis), Kruger started freshman Jordan Shepherd at the point guard, shifting senior Jordan Woodard over to the shooting guard position he played last season. Shepherd entered the day averaging just 2.7 points and 8.8 minutes in his first nine games and had seen just one minute of action in the previous contest (Dec. 10 vs. Wichita State), but responded to the shake-up by scoring a career-high 18 points in his first career start. Woodard adjusted to the change as well, scoring 22 points and shooting 4-of-9 from 3-point range.

• Coming off of a 28-point performance against Wichita State, Woodard's 22 points in OU's most recent outing against Memphis marked the first back-to-back games of 20-plus points in his career and the largest point total (50) in a two-game stretch.

• The Sooners suffered their fourth loss of the season on Saturday in an overtime thriller to Memphis, 99-94, and now looks to continue its trend of bouncing back. Since 2013, the Sooners are 24-6 in games after a loss, including 2-1 in such scenarios this season.

• Oklahoma has won six consecutive games against SEC opponents and looks to continue its trend of success against the conference under Kruger.

•After shooting 95-of-147 (.646) from the free throw line in the first six games of the season, Oklahomas has shot 68-of-84 (.810) in its last four outings. Jordan Woodard (.818) and Khadeem Lattin (.789) both rank in the Big 12's top five in free throw percentage.

LOOKING BACK AT MEMPHIS

• Oklahoma (6-4) forced overtime against Memphis (8-3) on a Jordan Woodard 3-pointer with less than a second to play in regulation, but fell, 99-94, in OT. The loss snaps a 16-game winning streak against non-conference opponents at the Lloyd Noble Center. The Sooners last lost to an out-of-conference team at the LNC on Dec. 30, 2013 against Louisiana Tech (102-98 in OT).

• Freshman guard Jordan Shepherd received his first collegiate start and came through with a career-high 18 points with two assists, two rebounds, one block and a steal in 37 minutes. Shepherd's 18 points were the most by an OU freshman since Woodard scored 23 against West Virginia in 2014.

• Jamuni McNeace tallied career highs in both points (13) and rebounds (nine) while shooting 6-of-8 from the field. McNeace saw a career-best 33 minutes of action, almost doubling his previous career high of 18 minutes played (Nov. 17, 2016 vs. Tulane).

• The Sooner bench produced 40 points and included three OU players in double-digit scoring. Christian James led the bench's scoring efforts with 15 points and 3-of-5 shooting from 3-point range. Dante Buford also shot 3-of-5 from behind the arc and contributed 10 points.

James

Christian James is embracing his new role with the Sooners. He is the only returning Big 12 player to average less than 3.0 points in 2015-16 and over 12.0 points in 2016-17.

NEW ROLES AND NEW FACES

• After losing the senior trio of Isaiah Cousins, Buddy Hield and Ryan Spangler, the Sooners are looking to a roster that features 11 underclassmen (most of the Kruger era) to continue its development and growth as the season progresses. OU has benefited from a dramatic increase in scoring from guards Christian James and Rashard Odomes. After averaging 2.9 points per game in 2015-16, James is the second leading scorer for the Sooners through 10 games, scoring 12.6 points per game on .469 shooting from the field and a Big 12-leading .556 from 3-point range. James is the only returning Big 12 player to average less than 3.0 points in 2015-16 and over 12.0 points in 2016-17. Tallying just 35 total points in 2015-16 (1.9 per game), Odomes has almost tripled his total points output with 99 on the season (averaging 9.9 per game).

• Oklahoma has seen potential from all four of its scholarship freshmen as the youngest Sooners have combined to produce six games of double-digit scoring - most recently an 18-point showing from Jordan Shepherd in his first collegiate start (Dec. 17 vs. Memphis).

SERIES HISTORY

• The Sooners are 1-1 all-time against Auburn, with both meetings occuring at neutral sites. Oklahoma and Auburn last met on the hardwood in the opening round of the 1988 NCAA Tournament. The Sooners defeated the Tigers, 107-87, on their road to the 1988 Final Four before falling to Kansas in the national title game.

• Oklahoma is 8-5 against current SEC teams in the Lon Kruger era, including 6-1 against schools which were SEC members at the time of competition. OU has won six consecutive games against SEC teams. The Sooners have faced Arkansas (1-1), Alabama (1-0), LSU (1-0), Missouri (1-2, 1-0 as a member of SEC) and Texas A&M (4-2, 3-0 as a member of SEC) under Kruger and are slated to face Florida on Jan. 28 as part of the SEC/Big 12 Challenge.

UP NEXT

• Oklahoma opens Big 12 play on Dec. 30 when it hosts No. 4/6 Baylor at 6 p.m. CT inside Lloyd Noble Center. The Sooners own a 44-12 all-time record against the Bears and have won 39 of the last 46 meetings. OU won both contests against Baylor last season and have been victorious in four straight home games against the Bears.

• OU is 4-1 in Big 12 openers under Kruger and have opened conference play with a win in the past four seasons.

• Should Baylor hold its position in the AP poll, it will be OU's highest-rated opponent to date in the 2016-17 season and the second team to face the Sooners while in the AP Top 25. Oklahoma is 14-5 at home against AP Top 25 teams in the Kruger era, including 4-4 against top 10 teams and 1-2 versus teams in the top five. OU has won 12 of its last 14 home games againt AP Top 25 opponents.

• Tickets for the Big 12 opener against Baylor are available here.