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University of Oklahoma Athletics
Sooners at Kansas for Big Monday
February 18, 2018 | Men's Basketball
13/13 Kansas
23/23 Oklahoma
February 19 | 8 p.m. | Lawrence, Kan.
MONDAY'S GAME BASICS
What helps a team get back on track in a grinding Big 12 schedule? How about a win inside Allen Fieldhouse against first-place Kansas. No. 23/23 Oklahoma (16-10, 6-8 Big 12) will attempt to do just that when the Sooners visit No. 13/13 Kansas (21-6, 10-4 Big 12) on Big Monday. The Sooners look for their first win in Lawrence since 1993. OU edged the Jayhawks during their first meeting of the season behind an efficient night from freshman guard Trae Young. With only four regular-season games remaining, the Sooners and the nation's second-highest-scoring offense looks to stop a five-game skid and finish the regular season strong.
ON THE AIR
The Big Monday matchup will tip at 8 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 ESPN with Bob Wischusen, Dick Vitale and Holly Rowe calling the action.
THREE POINTERS
• Junior guard Christian James enters Monday's game with two 20-point performances in his last three outings. James had not reached 20 points in a Sooner uniform until OU's game at Iowa State on Feb. 10, where he produced 22 points and nine boards. He followed up his performance with a career-high 23 points last Tuesday at Texas Tech. James is averaging 18.7 points and 5.0 rebounds over the last three games.
• With exactly 100 made 3-pointers, freshman guard Trae Young is both the first OU and Big 12 freshman to sink triple-digit 3-pointers in a rookie season. He is in pursuit of the NCAA freshman record (122), set by Davidson's Steph Curry in 2006-07. Young has also been proficient at the foul line, sinking 208 free throws. He is four made foul shots shy of the OU program record for made free throws in a season (any class), currently held by Stacey King with 211 in 1988-89.
• Senior forward Khadeem Lattin is one block shy of tying Al Beal for the most blocked shots in a career at Oklahoma. Through 124 career games, Lattin has swatted 229 shots - the second most in program history and eighth most in Big 12 history. His 2.2 blocks per game this season rank third in the Big 12.
The Sooners are in search of their first win in Allen Fieldhouse since 1993.
SERIES HISTORY VS. KANSAS
• Kansas is the only Big 12 team with a winning all-time record against the Sooners, leading the series 146-67. The Jayhawks are 75-16 against the Sooners in Lawrence.
• Oklahoma will be looking for its first win in Allen Fieldhouse since 1993. The Jayhawks have defeated the Sooners in 16 straight games in Lawrence.
• The Sooners defeated the Jayhawks in the first meeting of the season, 85-80, in Norman. Oklahoma has not gone 2-0 against KU in the regular season since 1989.
PLAY FAST, SCORE BUCKETS
• Oklahoma boasts a 16-10 record behind the second-highest-scoring offense in the nation. The Sooners average 87.5 points per game and have scored at least 90 points in 12 of their 26 games - including six games in triple digits. Oklahoma, who ranked 331 (of 351 teams) in assists per game last season (10.6), is 56th in the country (third in the Big 12) with 15.7 assists per contest this year. The Sooners also rank 24th in made 3-point field goals per game with 9.9 treys.
• The Sooners aren't just scoring in bunches - they're playing fast. Oklahoma is fourth in the nation and first among major conferences in KenPom.com's adjusted tempo rankings (possesions per 40 minutes adjusted to the opponenet) with 76.3. Oklahoma's average possession is 13.9 seconds long, the fastest among major conferences and second-fastest overall.
• Oklahoma is 8-1 when shooting above 50 percent and 7-0 when it hands out at least 20 assists.
• Oklahoma has scored 45 or more points in 21 of its 52 halves this season and has scored at least 40 points before halftime in all but seven contests.
• The Sooners have scored at least 100 points in six games – their most in a season since the 1992-93 season, when Oklahoma reached the century mark in nine games. Oklahoma's six triple-digit games are the second-most in a season by an Big 12 team since the conference was formed in 1996. The 2001-02 Kansas squad (12 games) is the only team with more.
OH, TO BE YOUNG...
• Oklahoma's offensive efforts have been led by the scoring and passing of freshman guard Trae Young. In 26 games, the Norman native has put together 12 double-doubles, 22 20-plus-point games, nine 30-plus-point games and four 40-plus-point games. Young is averaging 29.0 points, 9.2 assists, 4.0 rebounds and 1.7 steals while shooting .432 from the field and .369 from 3-point range. He leads the nation in scoring and averages over 10 points more than any other Big 12 player (Texas Tech's Keenan Evans is second with 18.2). Young's 9.4 assists also lead the country. No player in recorded NCAA history has finished a season leading the country in both scoring and assists.
• Just 26 games into his collegiate career, Young already owns the program record for total assists (240), 3-pointers (100) and made foul shots (208) in a freshman season. Among all-time freshman leaders at OU, Young also ranks second in points (754), third in made shots (223) and fourth in steals (45).
• Young's collegiate career only consists of 26 games, but he has reached 40 points on four occasions, most recently scoring 44 against Baylor on Jan. 30. Young produced a career-high 48 points against Oklahoma State on Jan. 20. Young's 48 points are tied for the most ever by a Big 12 player (Iowa State's Melvin Ejim also scored 48 in 2014) and is the second-highest-scoring game by a Division-I player this season. His 48 points are the fifth-most in Oklahoma program history and the second-most by an OU freshman. Young also scored 43 points on Nov. 26 against Oregon and again on Jan. 13 versus TCU. He is the 15th Sooner to score 40 points in a game, but just the second to do so as a freshman. Wayman Tisdale is the only Sooner freshman to score more in a game (51) in the 1982-83 season. Young is also the fourth player in program history to score 40 points in a game multiple times, joining Tisdale (five), Stacey King (two), and Jeff Webster (two).
UP NEXT: KANSAS STATE
• Next up, Oklahoma returns home to face Kansas State on Saturday at 5 p.m. CT on ESPN2. The Sooners lead the all-time series, 107-99, and hold a 62-27 lead over the Wildcats in Norman. The Sooners have won three of their last contests with K-State in Norman.
• Oklahoma head coach Lon Kruger is 5-8 against his alma mater while coaching the Sooners.
• Kansas State won the first meeting of the season, 87-69, in Manhattan. The last time the two teams met in Norman, OU won by 30 (81-51) in Kruger's 600th career victory.
Players Mentioned
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