Sooners Hit the Road to Face West Virginia

No. 7/8 West Virginia

Oklahoma

January 18 | 6 p.m. CT | WVU Coliseum

WEDNESDAY'S GAME BASICS

For the third time in the past six games, Oklahoma (7-9, 1-4 Big 12) will face a top 10 opponent. The Sooners travel to Morgantown for a Wednesday night meeting with No. 7/8 West Virginia (15-2, 4-1 Big 12). Oklahoma is coming off of an 84-75 win over Texas Tech on Saturday in which Jordan Woodard (27 points) and Rashard Odomes (24 points) combined to score 51. The outing was Woodard's fifth 20-point game of the season. The senior guard, who has started 116 games for the Sooners, is third in the Big 12 scoring race with 17.5 points per game. Oklahoma is 7-4 this season with Woodard in the starting lineup.

ON THE AIR

Wednesday's contest tips off at 6 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 ESPN2 with Mark Neely and Fran Fraschilla calling the action.

FIVE THINGS TO KNOW

• Sophomore guard Rashard Odomes has been one of the largest contributors to the Sooners' scoring efforts in conference play, averaging 11.4 points against Big 12 foes. Odomes has scored in double figures in three-straight games, including a career-high 24 points on Jan. 14 against Texas Tech. On the season, Odomes is scoring 10.5 points per game while shooting exactly 50 percent from the field.

• The Sooners have used eight different starting lineups this season - the most lineups used in one season under Kruger. Oklahoma defeated Texas Tech in its most recent contest under the debut lineup of Jordan Woodard, Kameron McGusty, Rashard Odomes, Dante Buford and Khadeem Lattin.

• With 597 career wins as a head coach, Lon Kruger is three victories away from becoming the 33rd coach to win 600 NCAA Division I basketball games. Kruger owns the 10th most DI wins among active head coaches. One of the few coaches ahead of him, West Virginia's Bob Huggins, has won 806 career games (734 at Division I level).

• OU continues to show its depth in conference play by averaging 26.0 points off the bench in conference play - the second-most bench scoring in the Big 12. The Sooners are one of only three Big 12 squads to average over 20 bench points in league games as the conference averages 17.3 per contest.

• Oklahoma's four scholarship freshmen combine to average 23.6 points per game in Big 12 competition. Guard Kameron McGusty leads the newcomers with 12.6 points per game. He has scored nine points of more in every Big 12 contest and has put together four-straight games of double-digit scoring. He is expected to start his third game in a row on Wednesday.

LOOKING BACK AT SATURDAY'S WIN

• Oklahoma (7-9, 1-4 Big 12) picked up an 84-75 win over Texas Tech (13-4, 2-3 Big 12) on Saturday at Lloyd Noble Center. The Sooners improved to 38-22 all-time against the Red Raiders, including 23-7 in Norman. Oklahoma is 5-1 at LNC against Tech in the Lon Kruger era and has won the past three contests by a combined 78 points.

• The Sooners were boosted by a pair of 20-point performances from senior guard Jordan Woodard (27 points) and sophomore guard Rashard Odomes (24 points). Oklahoma last had two 20-point scorers in the same game on Feb. 13, 2016 (Isaiah Cousins and Buddy Hield vs. Kansas).

• Odomes shot 9-of-14 from the field en route to his career-high 24 points. The sophomore notched 17 points on 7-of-8 shooting in the opening half – the most by a Sooner in any first half this season. Odomes rounded out his evening with eight rebounds and four assists in 35 minutes.

• Texas Tech entered the under-12 media timeout on a 7-1 run, narrowing OU's lead to 57-51 with 11:52 remaining. Coming out of the timeout, Woodard re-entered the game and proceeded to score 18 points the rest of the way on 5-of-6 shooting from the field and making all eight of his foul shots to seal the Sooner win. Woodard's 27 points marked his fifth 20-point game of the season and fell point one shy of tying a career high.

• Woodard shot a perfect 14-for-14 from the charity stripe – the most fouls shots he's made without a miss in his career. With 426 made free throws in his career, Woodard moved into fifth in the OU record books for career foul shots. Wayman Tisdale holds the school record with 507.

• Freshman guard Kameron McGusty scored in double figures for the fourth consecutive game, scoring 10 points in his second career start. McGusty is averaging 12.6 points per game during Big 12 play. Junior forward Khadeem Lattin also tallied 10 points to go with six boards, two steals and a block.

Woodard .

Jordan Woodard scored 18 points in the final 12 minutes of Saturday's win over Texas Tech.

WATCHING WOODARD

• A 2015-16 All-Big 12 honorable mention selection, Jordan Woodard was the team's second-leading scorer last season with averages of 13.0 points (10th in Big 12), 3.4 assists (9th), 3.0 rebounds and 1.6 steals (5th) in 29.8 minutes. The Big 12 coaches voted Woodard a preseason All-Big 12 Honorable Mention selection ahead of the 2016-17 season and he has continued to improve his numbers as Oklahoma's leading scorer. At 17.5 points per game, Woodard is third in scoring among all Big 12 players.

• With three-plus seasons of experience in the Sooner starting lineup under his belt, Woodard has already made a dent in the OU record book. Woodard has continued his climb up Oklahoma's all-time scoring list. With 27 points against Texas Tech, Woodard passed Mookie Blaylock (1,338), David Johnson (1,344) and Tony Crocker (1,351) on Saturday to sit in 17th all-time with 1,358 points. He also ranks in the top 10 of four statistical categories in the OU record book (free throws, free throw percentage, assists, steals).

• Boasting 426 made foul shots and a career free throw percentage of .811, Woodard is just the seventh Sooner to ever sink 400 career free throws. No Sooner has ever finished his collegiate career with over 400 made free throws at a rate of over .800.

SERIES HISTORY

• Oklahoma leads the all-time series, 8-4, and is 2-2 against WVU in Morgantown.

• The Sooners swept the regular season series against WVU last year, winning 70-68 in Norman and 76-62 in Morgantown. The Mountaineers ended OU's Big 12 Championship run by winning 69-67 in the semifinals in Kansas City.

UP NEXT

• The Sooners are back at Lloyd Noble Center for a Saturday afternoon contest against Iowa State on Jan. 21. The game will tip at 1 p.m. CT on ESPN2.

• Oklahoma owns a 115-85 all-time record against the Cyclones, including a 64-22 series lead when played in Norman. OU is 5-8 against Iowa State during the Kruger era, but has won two of the previous three meetings.

• OU has won four-straight home games against the Cyclones and is 4-1 against ISU at Lloyd Noble Center under Kruger.

• The two schools split the 2015-16 regular season series with the home team winning each meeting. They met again in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Championship in Kansas City with Oklahoma pulling off the 79-76 win.