Sooners Stay Up Late to Face Oregon State

PORTLAND, Ore. – Coming off a comeback neutral-site win over Minnesota, Oklahoma (2-0, 0-0 Big 12) is set for another non-conference matchup in enemy territory. The Sooners will take part in the Phil Knight Invitational, a one-day event to honor Nike co-founder Phil Knight. OU will take on Oregon State (2-0, 0-0 Pac-12) at Moda Center in Portland, Ore., on Tuesday. Tip off will occur no earlier than 10:35 p.m. CT.

The Beavers make the 84-mile trip to Portland coming off an 80-74 victory over Iowa State. OSU has been led by sharpshooting forward Tres Tinkle, son of head coach Wayne Tinkle. Tinkle has combined to score 52 points in his first two games and has shot 9-of-13 (69.2%) from 3-point range. The Sooners have limited their opponents to 21.3% shooting from long range thus far, but will be facing one of the toughest shooting threats of their early season schedule.

The West Coast contest will follow the matchup between Oregon and Memphis, also part of PKI, earlier in the evening.

ON THE AIR

Dan Shulman and Jay Bilas will call the action on ESPN2. Fans with proper cable authentication can also stream the game through the Watch ESPN App.

The game will air on the Sooner Radio Network (107.7 FM The Franchise in Oklahoma City; KTBZ 1430 AM in Tulsa; Tune In Radio App) with Tom Dore and Kevin Henry announcing.

THREE POINTERS

The Sooners have won their first two games by a combined 27 points but are yet to lead at halftime. Oklahoma has had to overcome slow starts in both their matchups, entering the halftime break tied against UTSA and down six to Minnesota. The Sooners have shot 59% (36-of-61) during the two second halves while holding opponents to 32.4% clip (23-of-71), including 6-of-32 (18.8%) from 3-point range. In OU's win over Minnesota on Saturday, the Sooners closed the game on a 28-11 run over the final 12 minutes.

Oklahoma has seen strong performances from junior guard Austin Reaves during his first two games in the Crimson and Cream. A transfer from Wichita State, Reaves sat out the 2018-19 season but has quickly made up for lost time. Through two games he is averaging 17.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and 3.5 assists. Reaves has been able to produce his numbers despite struggling from behind the arc. A proven shooter, Reaves led the American Athletic Conference in 3-point percentage during conference play in 2017-18 by shooting at a .451 clip (37-for-82). He's connected on only two of his 12 3-point attempts so far in 2019-20.

A follow-up event to 2017's PK80 tournament, PKI will continue to honor Nike co-founder and 2012 Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductee Phil Knight and his contributions to college basketball. In addition to the Sooners' showdown with the Beavers, the one-day event also features a matchup between Memphis and Oregon. The Sooners were one of 16 Nike schools selected to compete in the prestigious PK80 event in 2017 and won two of their three games in Portland.

SERIES HISTORY VS. OREGON STATE

Oklahoma owns a 4-0 all-time record against Oregon State. The Sooners are facing the Beavers for the first time since the 2000-01 season.

The Sooners are 2-0 against OSU when facing off at a neutral site, including a win in the Elite Eight of the 1947 NCAA Tournament that sent OU to its second Final Four appearance. The win came in Kansas City and was followed by a victory over Texas in the national semifinals. The Sooners fell in the 1947 NCAA Championship at Madison Square Garden to Bob Cousy and Holy Cross.

The Sooners are 6-1 against Pac-12 opponents during the Kruger era and have won five straight games against the conference.

Oklahoma is 12-4 when playing in an NBA arena under Kruger.

LOOKING BACK AT OU'S WIN OVER MINNESOTA

Oklahoma picked up its first away-from-home victory on Saturday by coming back to top Minnesota, 71-62, in Sioux Falls, S.D. The game was played at the Sanford Pentagon.

The Sooners trailed by eight (51-43) with 12 minutes remaining, but turned their deficit into a double-digit lead thanks to a 23-4 over the next 10 minutes. Oklahoma took a 66-55 lead with 1:52 remaining.

During OU's 23-4 run the Sooners forced three Minnesota turnovers and held the Gophers to 2-of-10 shooting.

Oklahoma was led by its three returners as Jamal Bieniemy, Kristian Doolittle and Brady Manek combined for 36 points.

Bieniemy took over in the second half, scoring 13 points on 4-of-5 shooting after halftime. He finished the night with 15 points.

Manek recorded his first double-double of the season with a game-high 17 points and 10 rebounds. The junior shot 6-of-12 from the field and 3-of-6 from deep.

Doolittle picked up a double-double of his own with 10 points and 10 boards in his season debut.

NON-CONFERENCE DOMINANCE

Oklahoma has been dominant in non-conference play in recent seasons, boasting a combined 24-3 record in its last 27 non-league regular-season games. In non-conference play since 2017-18, Oklahoma is 10-3 against major conference schools (ACC, Big East, Big Ten, Pac-12, SEC) and 13-3 in games played away from Norman.

Oklahoma is 24-2 in games played in November and December since the start of the 2017-18 season.

The Sooners have won 13 straight home non-conference matchups (10 straight at Lloyd Noble Center). OU's last non-conference home loss came in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge to Florida on Jan. 28, 2017.

Oklahoma has won 137 of its last 144 non-conference games in Norman and is 45-4 at Lloyd Noble Center against non-conference opponents under Kruger.

OU was the only school in the country with a win over a team from every major conference during the 2018-19 regular season.

Reaves

Austin Reaves is averaging 17 points in his first two games with the Sooners.

BRADY SCORES IN BUNCHES

The Sooners almost always have team success on nights that junior forward Brady Manek is rolling. During his career, OU is 29-12 when Manek scores in double figures, 18-4 when he scores at least 15 points and 8-2 when he hit four or more 3-pointers.

Dating back to last season, Manek has scored in double figures in 15 of his last 18 games.

Manek entered his junior year as the Sooners' leading returning scorer. With 741 career points coming into the season, he is just the 10th player in OU history to reach 700 career points by the end of a sophomore season. In the last 27 years, only four Sooners have scored more total points as underclassmen (freshman + sophomore seasons) than Manek: Blake Griffin (1,278), Trae Young (876), Willie Warren (868) and Buddy Hield (756).

Manek is one of 20 players the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame named to its watch list for the 2020 Karl Malone Power Forward of the Year Award. Named after two-time NBA MVP Karl Malone, the annual honor recognizes the top power forwards in Division I men's college basketball. Manek is one of only two Big 12 players (Baylor's Tristan Clark) named to the watch list.

Manek was named an All-Big 12 Honorable Mention selection during his sophomore campaign (2018-19). He averaged 12.2 points and 5.9 rebounds while shooting .469 from the field and .358 from behind the arc.

UP NEXT: WILLIAM & MARY

Oklahoma is back at home for two home games in a four-day stretch as part of the College Basketball Hall of Fame Classic's campus rounds. The Sooners will host William & Mary on Monday, Nov. 18 followed by Maryland Eastern Shore on Thursday, Nov. 21.

The Sooners matchup against William & Mary will tip off at 6 p.m. CT inside Lloyd Noble Center. The game will be produced by Sooner Sports TV and air on Fox Sports Oklahoma.

Monday will be the first ever meeting between Oklahoma and William & Mary. Oklahoma is 6-0 all-time against current members of the Colonial Athletic Association.