OU and Oregon to Battle for Final Four Berth

^5/4 Oregon

^7/7 Oklahoma

March 26 | 5:09 p.m. CT | Anaheim, Calif. | Honda Center

SETTING THE SCENE

Making its ninth trip to the NCAA Elite Eight in school history, No. 2 seed Oklahoma (28-7 overall, 12-6 Big 12) will take on No. 1 seed Oregon (31-6 overall, 14-4 Pac-12) in Saturday's West Regional final in Anaheim, Calif. The contest, to be played at the 18,336-seat Honda Center, will start at 5:09 p.m. CT.

Should it advance to the school's fifth-ever Final Four, Oklahoma will face the winner of Saturday's Kansas (No. 1 seed) versus Villanova (No. 2 seed) matchup next weekend in Houston (time TBA).

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. Saturday's game will be televised nationally by CBS with Verne Lundquist, Jim Spanarkel and Allie LaForce announcing. It will also air on the Westwood One Network (Sirius 81, XM 201) with Kevin Kugler and Donny Marshall on the call.

SOONER STORYLINES

• ELITE SOONERS: Making its ninth trip to the NCAA Elite Eight in school history, No. 2 seed Oklahoma (28-7 overall, 12-6 Big 12) will take on No. 1 seed Oregon (31-6 overall, 14-4 Pac-12) in Saturday's West Regional final in Anaheim, Calif. The contest, to be played at the 18,336-seat Honda Center, will start at 5:09 p.m. CT. The Sooners are 0-2 all-time against the Ducks. The teams have not met since the 1939-40 (Final Four) and 1940-41 seasons. OU advanced to the 2016 Elite Eight with wins over CSU Bakersfield and VCU in the first and second rounds, respectively, and Texas A&M in the third round on Thursday.

• OREGON CONNECTIONS: Oregon head coach Dana Altman was an assistant for Lon Kruger at Kansas State from 1986-89. The two helped lead the Wildcats to the Elite Eight in the 1988 NCAA Tournament. Altman then succeeded Kruger as the head coach at K-State following the 1989-90 season.

• 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 (103 consecutive) for OU the past three seasons, tallying 412 combined starts during that span. With the addition of Khadeem Lattin (35 starts), OU boasts a starting five with 474 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 (.426) by hitting 364-855 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 23 games this year (a school record) and it's 10.4 3-point makes per game ranks seventh nationally (first in Big 12). OU's 364 total 3-point field goals made this season ranks third in the country (first in the Big 12).

• BUDDYBUCKETS: Senior Buddy Hield is currently averaging 25.1 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 25 games this season and his 45.8 percent (138-301) shooting from downtown ranks sixth in the country. His 3.9 3FGM per game is tops in the nation. The Bahamas native has 11 games of at least 30 points this season (same total as the rest of the Big 12 combined, most in the nation) and 13 total such games in his career at OU (tied with Michael Beasley for most in Big 12 history).

FAST FACTS ON THE DUCKS

• Oregon enters Saturday's West Regional final with a 31-6 record following NCAA Tournament wins over No. 16 seed Holy Cross (91-52), No. 8 seed Saint Joseph's (69-64) and No. 4 seed Duke (82-68). Its 31 wins are the most in school history.

• Following back-to-back losses in mid-February, the Ducks have won 11 straight games. They won the Pac-12 regular season (14-4 record) and tournament titles (beat Utah 88-57 in tourney championship game). UO is 8-1 this season in neutral site contests.

• Oregon has four players averaging double figures in scoring. They are led by sophomore forward Dillon Brooks, a first-team All-Pac-12 pick who averages 17.0 points, 5.6 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game. Brooks had 22 points, 5 boards and 6 assists Thursday vs. Duke. Pac-12 Tournament MVP Elgin Cook, a senior forward, averages 14.6 points and 5.2 boards per game. Pac-12 All-Freshman Team member Tyler Dorsey contributes 13.5 points a game from the guard spot with the help of 66 3-pointers and .418 3-point shooting, both team highs. Junior forward Chris Boucher averages 12.0 points and a team-leading 7.3 rebounds a game.

• Dana Altman, the 2016 Pac-12 Coach of the Year, is 154-63 in his sixth season at Oregon. In his 27th year as a Division I head coach, this is his 12th trip to the NCAA Tournament and fourth with the Ducks. Altman succeeded Lon Kruger as the head coach at Kansas State following the 1989-90 season (he was a K-State assistant under Kruger for three years).

• Oregon is making its 15th NCAA Tournament appearance (19-12 record) and fourth straight. Its only NCAA Tournament title came in 1939, the first year of the event (beat Oklahoma in the national semifinals and Ohio State in the championship game).

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. Thursday, Kruger became one of just six coaches to take three different schools to the Elite Eight.

• This marks Kruger's 17th NCAA Tournament appearance as a head coach and eighth in the last 10 seasons. He owns a 19-16 overall record and following Thursday's victory over Texas A&M and 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 and Elite Eight in 2016).

• 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 Thursday's third-round victory, Oklahoma owns a 40-29 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 is OU's ninth-ever trip to the NCAA Elite Eight and the first since the 2009 season. This marks Lon Kruger's third trip to the Elite Eight as a head coach (also had trips at Kansas State in 1988 and Florida in 1994).

• This is 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.

• This marks the 10th time OU has been assigned to the West Region. The Sooners have come out of the West in three of their four Final Four appearances (1939, 1947, 2002).

• 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 NCAA Third Round, OU picked up its 28th 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 9-5 record this season against teams ranked in the AP's top 25 (at the time of competition). That nine-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 in 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 21st nationally in scoring offense (80.5 points per contest). OU enters Saturday's contest having scored at least 80 points in 17 of 35 total outings this season. Oklahoma is 16-1 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 (5.3) and defensive rebounds (27.9) per contest.

SOONERS LIGHTING UP DOWNTOWN

• Oklahoma currently ranks second in the country in 3-point field goal percentage (.426, 364-855).

• 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 10.4 3-point makes per game ranks seventh 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 23 games this season (which marks a school record). That total shatters the school's previous record of 13. In 35 contests last year, the Sooners registered just seven games of double-digit 3-point makes. The Sooners' 364 total 3-point makes this season ranks third in the country (first in the Big 12).

• Buddy Hield (.458), Jordan Woodard (.455) and Isaiah Cousins (.421) currently rank as the first-, second- and fifth-best 3-point shooters in the Big 12.

WE CALL HIM #BUDDYBUCKETS

• On the season, Buddy Hield is averaging 25.1 points, 5.7 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.1 steals in 35.3 minutes per game. He's shooting .499 (284-569) from the field, .458 (138-301) from 3-point range (which ranks No. 6 in the nation) and .883 (173-196) from the charity stripe. His 5.7 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 13 times this year. His 138 3-pointers made this season are the most in college basketball.

• 30-POINT GAMES: Hield has 11 games this season scoring at least 30 points (one more than the rest of the players in the Big 12 combined, most in the nation). It's the most 30-point games by a Sooner in a season since Wayman Tisdale in the 1983-84 season (15). In his career, Hield has 13 30-point games in his career, which is tied with KSU's Michael Beasley for the most in Big 12 history.

• 25-POINT GAMES: Hield has 18 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 25 of 34 games this season after doing it 13 times in 35 games last season. He has nine 20-point halves this season.

• 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).

UP NEXT

• Should it advance to the school's fifth-ever Final Four, Oklahoma will face the winner of Saturday's Kansas (No. 1 seed) versus Villanova (No. 2 seed) matchup next weekend in Houston (time TBA).