OU to Battle VCU in Round of 32 Sunday

VCU

^7/7 Oklahoma

March 20 | 4:15 p.m. CT | Oklahoma City | Chesapeake Energy Arena

CBS

SETTING THE SCENE

Making its 30th NCAA Tournament appearance and fourth straight under fifth-year head coach Lon Kruger, second-seeded Oklahoma (26-7 overall, 12-6 Big 12) won its opening-round game on Friday and advanced to play 10th-seeded VCU (25-10, 14-4 A-10) on Sunday in the round of 32. The contest will be played at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City and will tip at 4:15 p.m. CT.

If the Sooners win Sunday and earn their second straight trip to the Sweet 16, they will face the winner of the Texas A&M (No. 3 seed) and Northern Iowa (No. 11 seed) matchup next week in Anaheim, Calif.

ON THE AIR

All of OU's NCAA Tournament games will air on the Sooner Radio Network (KRXO 107.7 FM in Oklahoma City; KTBZ AM 1430 in Tulsa) with Toby Rowland (play-by-play) and Scott Thompson (analyst) calling the action. Sunday's game will be televised nationally by CBS with Carter Blackburn, Mike Gminski and Jaime Maggio announcing. It will also air on the Westwood One Network (Sirius 83, XM 202) with Tom McCarthy and PJ Carlesimo on the call.

SOONER STORYLINES

• LET'S KEEP DANCING: Making its 30th NCAA Tournament appearance and fourth straight under fifth-year head coach Lon Kruger, second-seeded Oklahoma (26-7 overall, 12-6 Big 12) won its opening-round game on Friday and advanced to play 10th-seeded VCU (25-10, 14-4 A-10) on Sunday in the round of 32. The contest will be played at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City and will tip at 4:15 p.m. CT. This will mark the fifth matchup all-time between OU and VCU (currently tied 2-2), including the second played inside Chesapeake Energy Arena. The teams also met in OKC for the All-College Classic on Dec. 20, 2008 (OU won 81-70).

• CLOSE TO HOME: Oklahoma opens the 2016 NCAA Tournament at Chesapeake Energy Arena in OKC for the first and second rounds, which is approximately 21 miles north of OU's Lloyd Noble Center. The Sooners have four student-athletes on their current roster hailing from the state of Oklahoma (C.J. Cole, Daniel Harper, Ryan Spangler and Jordan Woodard).

• KEEPING IT (OVER) 100: The Sooners aren't short on experience or leadership this season. OU's quartet of Isaiah Cousins, Buddy Hield, Ryan Spangler and Jordan Woodard has started every game (101 consecutive) for OU the past three seasons, tallying 404 combined starts during that span. With the addition of Khadeem Lattin (33 starts), OU boasts a starting five with 464 combined career starts. Each member of the 'core four' has at least 1,000 points in his respective career at Oklahoma.

• GETTING OFFENSIVE: OU currently ranks second nationally in 3-point field goal percentage (.429) by hitting 345-804 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 22 games this year (a school record) and it's 10.5 3-point makes per game ranks sixth nationally (first in Big 12). OU's 345 total 3-point field goals made this season ranks fifth in the country (first in the Big 12).

• BUDDYBUCKETS: Senior Buddy Hield is currently averaging 25.0 points per game, which ranks first in the Big 12 and second nationally (first among Power 5 conferences). The two-time Big 12 Player of the Year has scored at least 20 points in 24 games this season and his 46.4 percent (130-280) shooting from downtown ranks fourth in the country. His 3.9 3FGM per game is tops in the nation. The Bahamas native has 10 games of at least 30 points this season (same total as the rest of Big 12 combined, tied for most in the nation) and 12 total such games in his career at Oklahoma (second-most in Big 12 history).

FAST FACTS ON THE VCU RAMS

• VCU (25-10), the West Region's No. 10 seed, beat No. 7 seed Oregon State 75-67 in Friday's opening game in Oklahoma City. The Rams shot 48.2 percent from the field while holding OSU to a 41.7-percent mark, and outrebounded the Beavers 40-28. This is VCU's 15th NCAA Tournament appearance, ninth since 2004 and sixth straight. It advanced to the Final Four in 2011.

• The Rams tied with Dayton and St. Bonaventure for the Atlantic 10 regular season title with a 14-4 conference record. The No. 2 seed in the league championship, they lost 87-74 in the title game to No. 4 seed St. Joseph's.

• Senior guard Melvin Johnson is VCU's leading scorer on the year with his 17.2 points per game. He has made 105 3-pointers in 35 games and is shooting .383 from long distance.

• Junior guard JeQuan Lewis registered game highs of 21 points and 8 assists while adding 7 rebounds Friday against Oregon State. Junior forward Mo Alie-Cox finished with 20 points and a game-high 8 boards.

• The Rams are under the direction of head coach Will Wade (Clemson '05). Wade was a VCU assistant (2009-13) under current Texas head coach Shaka Smart before serving as the head coach at Chattanooga the last two years.

• VCU and Kansas are the only teams in the country to win at least 24 games in each of the last 10 seasons.

KRUGER IN THE BIG DANCE

• Three years ago, Lon Kruger became the first head coach in history to take five Division I programs to the NCAA Tournament (Kansas State, Florida, Illinois, UNLV and Oklahoma). To this day, he is the only person to coach five different programs to at least one NCAA Tournament victory each. He has won at least two NCAA Tourney games at all five schools.

• This marks Kruger's 17th NCAA Tournament appearance as a head coach and eighth in the last 10 seasons. He owns a 17-16 overall record and following Friday's victory over CSUB, is 10-7 in opening-round games. In his last coaching stop at UNLV, Kruger took the Runnin' Rebels to the NCAA Tournament in four of his final five seasons.

• Last year, Kruger became the first coach since the NCAA Tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985 to take four programs to the Sweet 16 or beyond (Kansas State to the Elite Eight in 1988, Florida to the Final Four in 1994, UNLV to the Sweet 16 in 2007 and Oklahoma to the Sweet 16 in 2015).

• Kruger participated in the 1972 and '73 NCAA Tournaments as a player at Kansas State and helped the Wildcats to regional final (Elite Eight) appearances both seasons. K-State went 1-1 in 1972 when Kruger was the Big Eight sophomore of the year (beat Texas 66-55 before losing 72-65 to Louisville). The Wildcats again went 1-1 in 1973 when Kruger was the Big Eight player of the year (beat Louisiana-Lafayette 66-63 before falling 92-72 to Memphis).

NCAA TOURNEY QUICK HITTERS

• Following Friday's first-round victory, Oklahoma owns a 38-29 overall record in the NCAA Tournament (in 30 total trips to the Big Dance). This year's NCAA Tournament appearance marks OU's 31st postseason showing in the last 35 years and its 26th NCAA Tournament appearance in the last 34 seasons (tied with Michigan State for ninth-most nationally and second-most among Big 12 programs).

• This marks the ninth time OU has been a top-two seed in the NCAA Tournament (five times as a No. 1 seed, now four times as a No. 2).

• The last time Oklahoma was a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tourney, Blake Griffin and company advanced to the Elite Eight in 2009.

• OU's No. 2 seed marks the highest by a Lon Kruger-coached team. Florida was a No. 3 seed in 1994 (advanced to Final Four). OU was also a No. 3 seed last postseason.

• Entering the tourney, Oklahoma played 17 of its 32 games this season against a total of nine teams who are in the 2016 NCAA Tournament field, and is 11-6 in those contests. OU has beaten eight of those nine squads (did not defeat Kansas).

SOONER SEASON NUGGETS

• In the Big 12 Tourney, OU picked up its 25th win of the season. The Sooners have topped their previous year's win total each of the last six seasons (had 24 a year ago).

• Oklahoma owns an 8-5 record this season against teams ranked in the AP's top 25 (at the time of competition). That eight-win total is the most in school history and is the second-most among Big 12 schools this season. OU has two wins this season against top-10 opponents (then-No. 9 Villanova on Dec. 7 and then-No. 10 West Virginia on Feb. 20).

• OU finished third the 2016 Big 12 Conference race with a 12-6 league record. Kruger's squad advanced to the semifinals of the Big 12 Championship in Kansas City (with a win over Iowa State in the quarters), but fell short to No. 9 West Virginia, 69-67.

• The Sooners rank third in the Big 12 and 24th nationally in scoring offense (80.5 points per contest). OU enters Sunday's contest having scored at least 80 points in 16 of 33 total outings this season. OU is 15-1 this season when scoring 80-plus points.

• On the defensive end, OU ranks second in the Big 12 in field goal percentage defense (.406) and first in both blocked shots (5.2) and defensive rebounds (27.9) per contest.

SOONERS LIGHTING UP DOWNTOWN

• Oklahoma currently ranks second in the country in 3-point field goal percentage (.429, 345-804).

• OU's all-time record for 3-point field goal percentage in a season is .414 (1986-87). The Big 12's record is .426 by Oklahoma State (2004-05).

• OU's average of 10.5 3-point makes per game ranks sixth nationally (first in the Big 12). The Big 12 record for 3-point makes per game currently stands at 9.9 by Iowa State in 2012-13.

• OU has made at least 10 treys in 22 games this season (which marks a school record). In 35 contests last year, the Sooners registered just seven games of double-digit 3-point makes. The Sooners' 345 total 3-point makes this season ranks fifth in the country (first in the Big 12).

• Buddy Hield (.464), Jordan Woodard (.449) and Isaiah Cousins (.438) currently rank as the first-, second- and fourth-best 3-point shooters in the Big 12.

WE CALL HIM #BUDDYBUCKETS

• On the season, Buddy Hield is averaging 25.0 points, 5.6 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.2 steals in 35.2 minutes per game. He's shooting .498 (267-536) from the field, .464 (130-280) from 3-point range (which ranks No. 4 in the nation) and .895 (162-181) from the charity stripe. His 5.6 rebounds per game total is best among Big 12 guards.

• Hield's 79 3-pointers made in Big 12 games this year marked the most in a conference season in Big 12 history. His 448 total points in Big 12 games this season were the third-most in a conference campaign in Big 12 history (trailing only Kevin Durant-462 and Michael Beasley- 455).

• His 3.9 3FGM per game ranks first in nation. He has made at least five 3-pointers in a game 12 times this year. His 130 3-pointers made this season are the most in college basketball.

• 30-POINT GAMES: Hield has 10 games this season scoring at least 30 points (same total as the rest of the players in the Big 12 combined, tied for the most in the nation). It's the most 30-point games by a Sooner in a season since Jeff Webster in the 1993-94 season (10). In his career, Hield has 12 30-point games, which is second-most in Big 12 history.

• 25-POINT GAMES: He has 17 games this year of at least 25 points (most in nation). In his first three seasons, he combined for six games of at least 25 points.

• 20-POINT GAMES: Hield has at least 20 points in 24 of 33 games this season after doing it 13 times in 35 games last season. He has eight 20-point halves this season.

• 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 campaign.

UP NEXT

• If the Sooners win Sunday and earn their second straight trip to the Sweet 16, they will face the winner of the Texas A&M (No. 3 seed) and Northern Iowa (No. 11 seed) matchup next week in Anaheim, Calif.