Sooners Aim to Bounce Back Against Portland

Portland

Oklahoma

November 24 | 5 p.m. | Portland, Ore.

FRIDAY'S GAME BASICS

After a close battle with Arkansas in the opening round of PK80, Oklahoma (2-1) looks to bounce back when it faces Portland (2-2) in its second game at the prestigious event. The Sooners and Pilots are meeting for the first time, with the PK80 contest taking place at Veterans Memorial Colliseum. Portland lost its opening-round game to defending champion North Carolina, 102-78.

ON THE AIR

Friday's matchup will 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 broadcasted on ESPN3 and available through the WatchESPN app and WatchESPN.com with Roxy Bernstein and Bill Walton calling the action.

THREE POINTERS

• Oklahoma continues play in Portland, Ore., for PK80 - an early-season tournament honoring the 80th birthday of Nike co-founder Phil Knight. The Sooners are one of 16 prestigious Nike schools competing in the event. The field combines for 23 national titles, 89 Final Four appearances and 391 NCAA Tournament invitations. OU is 14-6 during in-season tournament games under Lon Kruger, having won at least two games in all six previous in-season tournaments under Kruger.

• Freshman guard Trae Young led Thursday's game against Arkansas with 28 points – the second most by a freshman during the Kruger era. Young added five assists, three rebounds and a pair of steals. Three games into his collegiate career, the Norman native is averaging 21.7 points, 9.3 assists, 4.0 rebounds, 2.0 steals and 1.0 blocks. He enters Friday's contest with two double-doubles and two 20-point games through three games.

• Of the 16 head coaches in the loaded PK80 field, Oklahoma's Lon Kruger and Portland's Terry Porter are the only two with experience as NBA head coaches. Kruger led the Atlanta Hawks in 2000-03 and Porter led the Milwaukee Bucks (2003-05) and Phoenix Suns (2008-08).

Lattin

Senior Khadeem Lattin had his first double-double of the year on Thursday.

OKLAHOMA'S LAST TIME OUT

• The Sooners fell to Arkansas, 92-83, on Thursday in the opening round of PK80.

• After Arkansas shot 19-of-40 (.475) from the field and 7-of-10 (.700) from 3-point range in the opening half, OU's defense held the Razorbacks to just nine made field goals in the second half. Arkansas went 9-of-25 (.360) from the field in the second frame but continued to score by getting to the foul line. The Hogs shot 22-of-27 (.815) from the charity stripe in the second half.

• Oklahoma trailed, 50-45, at halftime, but tied the game on two occasions in the second half. The Sooners trailed by two points (83-81) with 1:04 remaining before Arkansas closed the game on a 9-2 run.

• Freshman guard Trae Young led the game with 28 points – the second most by a freshman during the Kruger era. Young added five assists, three rebounds and a pair of steals. Three games into his collegiate career, the Norman native is averaging 21.7 points, 9.3 assists, 4.0 rebounds, 2.0 steals and 1.0 blocks.

• Coming off a career-high 20-point performance against Ball State, senior forward Khadeem Lattin recorded his first double-double of the season with 10 points and 10 boards. Lattin has pulled down seven or more boards in all three games this season and leads the Sooners with 8.3 rebounds per game.

• Junior guard Christian James put together his third straight game of double-digit scoring with 13 points, three assists and three rebounds. James is OU's second-leading scorer through three games at 13.3 points per contest.

SERIES HISTORY VS. PORTLAND

• Friday is the first meeting between the two programs. The Sooners are 1-1 in the Lon Kruger era and 15-8 all-time against current members of the West Coast Conference.

UP NEXT

• Oklahoma continues play in Portland with its final game at PK80. The Sooners will play either DePaul or Oregon at Veterans Memorial Coliseum on Sunday.

• OU is 1-3 all-time against DePaul with all three losses combing before 1987. The Sooners and Demons most recently met at the 1992 Maui Classic in Lahaina, Hawaii, where Oklahoma won 108-94.

• Should Oklahoma and Oregon meet, it will be a rematch of the 2016 Elite Eight showdown that advanced the Sooners to their fifth Final Four. The Sooners downed Oregon, 80-68, behind 37 points from Buddy Hield.

• Both the Sooners and Ducks have been to one of the past two Final Fours, with Oklahoma advancing in 2016 and Oregon making it in 2017.

• Oregon leads the all-time series 2-1, with the pair of Ducks wins coming in 1939 and 1940.

• 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. Kruger (603) and Altman (600) combine for 1,203 career college wins as head coaches.