Sooners and Cardinal Clash in KC

NORMAN – Off to its second 5-0 start of the Lon Kruger era, RV/RV Oklahoma (5-0, 0-0 Big 12) begins a stretch of five straight games away from home when it heads to Kansas City for the 2019 National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame Classic.

The four-team tournament pits Crimson versus Cardinal when Oklahoma faces undefeated Stanford (6-0, 0-0 Pac-12) at 8:30 p.m. CT on Monday. The Sooners look for their seventh straight win over a Pac-12 school while Stanford plays its first game away from Palo Alto this season.

Tickets are available at SprintCenter.com.

ON THE AIR

Monday's opening round 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 Toby Rowland and Kevin Henry announcing.

Jason Benetti and Jon Sundvold will call the action on ESPN2. Fans with proper cable authentication can stream the game through the Watch ESPN app.

THREE POINTERS

• Oklahoma is set to take part in the 2019 National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame Classic Powered by ShotTracker in Kansas City, Mo. OU is 18-7 during in-season tournament games under Lon Kruger. The Sooners have a long history of playing in Kansas City as part of postseason and holiday conference tournaments, including four NCAA Tournaments and two Final Fours (1947 and 1988). This will be OU's first appearance in the Hall of Fame Classic (founded in 2001). A Big 12 team has won the event in six of the last eight seasons, including each of the last three editions.

• OU's only senior, Kristian Doolittle is picking up where he left off at the end of last season. The reigning Big 12 Most Improved Player and honorable mention selection to the All-Big 12 Preseason Team, Doolittle is averaging 16.5 points, 10.0 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.5 steals through four games. He is the only Big 12 player averaging a double-double. The senior is coming off an 18-point performance against Maryland Eastern Shore in which he went 7-for-7 from the field.

• Junior guard Austin Reaves has led the Sooners' scoring efforts during his first five 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 five games he is averaging 16.6 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.8 assists. His 16.5 points per game ranks fifth in the Big 12 and second among the conference's newcomers.

SERIES HISTORY AGAINST STANFORD

• OU is facing Stanford for the first time since the 1997 NCAA Tournament. The Cardinal lead the all-time series 2-1. OU's lone win over Stanford came in Kansas City when the Cardinal was invited to play in the 1951 Big Seven Holiday Tournament.

• The Sooners are 7-1 against Pac-12 opponents during the Kruger era and have won six straight games against the conference. Oklahoma defeated Oregon State earlier this on season on Nov. 12 in Portland, Ore.

LOOKING BACK AT OU'S WIN OVER EASTERN SHORE

• The Sooners trailed the Hawks, 38-37, at halftime before outscoring Eastern Shore, 54-26, in the second frame. Oklahoma shot 66.7% in the second half (18-of-27) while holding the Hawks to 33.3% (10-of-30).

• Senior forward Kristian Doolittle went without a miss en route to 18 points on 7-of-7 shooting from the field and 3-for-3 from the charity stripe. Doolittle added six rebounds, three steals, three assists. His performance is just the third time during the Big 12 era that a Sooner shot 100% from the field on at least seven attempts, joining Buddy Hield (10-for-10 against Oklahoma State in 2015) and Longar Longar (7-for-7 against Coppin State in 2006).

• Five Sooners reached double figures in the win, including junior forward Brady Manek with 16 points and seven boards. Junior guard Austin Reaves shot 6-of-9 to record 14 points and freshman guard De'Vion Harmon totaled 10 points, six rebounds and five assists. Freshman forward Victor Iwuakor boasted a career-high 13 points.

• Oklahoma shot a season-best 55.2% (32-58) from the field and scored its most points of the year.

QUICK HITS

• The undefeated Sooners are off to their second best start of the Lon Kruger era. OU is off to a 5-0 start for the first time since beginning the 2015-16 campaign 12-0.

• The Sooners are 2-0 outside of Norman. Despite OU's games occurring on neutral courts, they were both played in enemy territory. Oklahoma defeated Minnesota in Sioux Falls, S.D. (15 miles from the Minnesota border) and Oregon State in Portland, Ore.

• OU leads the Big 12 in free throw percentage, making 81.1% of their shots from the foul stripe. The Sooners shot their free throws at a 69.7% rate in 2018-19. Freshman guard De'Vion Harmon has started his collegiate career by going a perfect 12-of-12 from the foul line. Senior forward Kristian Doolittle is also perfect at the line this season, going 13-for-13 thus far.

• The Sooners are turning the ball over just 9.8 times per game, which ranks 11th among all Division I teams and fifth among schools from major conferences.

• Oklahoma is the only Big 12 school with multiple players ranked in the top six of the league's scoring leaders. Junior guard Austin Reaves is ranked fifth with 16.6 points per game and senior forward Kristian Doolittle is sixth with 16.5.

Victor Iwuakor

Victor Iwuakor is coming off a career-best 13 points on Thursday against Maryland Eastern Shore.

SECOND-HALF SOONERS

• The Sooners have won their first five matchups by a combined 67 points but have only led once at halftime. Oklahoma is 3-0 when trailing at halftime and 1-0 when tied at the midway break. The Sooners have shot 55.8% during the five second halves - including 21-of-47 (44.7%) from 3-point range - and are outscoring opponents by an average of 15.0 points. Defensively, OU is holding opponents to 36.6% shooting (27.3% from 3-point range) after halftime.

DOOLITTLE DOOING IT ALL

• The only senior on the Sooner roster, forward Kristian Doolittle continues to show progress in his game throughout his career in Norman. Doolittle is the only Big 12 player averaging a double-double with numbers of 16.5 points, 10.0 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.5 steals through four games. He has scored at least 18 points in each of his last three games.

• Doolittle's shot was flawless on Thursday in an OU win over Maryland Eastern Shore. Doolittle scored 18 points on 7-of-7 shooting from the field and 3-for-3 from the charity stripe. Doolittle's performance is just the third time during the Big 12 era that a Sooner shot 100% from the field on at least seven attempts, joining Buddy Hield (10-for-10 against Oklahoma State in 2015) and Longar Longar (7-for-7 against Coppin State in 2006). Of that trio, Doolittle was the only one to shoot 100% from the foul line in the same game.

• Doolittle was honored with the Big 12 Player of the Week award on Monday for the first time in his career. He earned the recognition after totaling 19 points, 16 rebounds and four assists against Oregon State on Nov. 12.

• Dating back to last season, Doolittle is averaging 16.5 points and 9.3 rebounds in his last 13 games. He has registered six double-doubles in that span, highlighted by 24 points and 11 rebounds against Kansas on March 5, 19 points with 15 boards versus Ole Miss in the NCAA Tournament on March 22 and 19 points with 16 rebounds against Oregon State on Nov. 12.

• Winner of the Big 12's inaugural Most Improved Player award last season, Doolittle led the Sooners throughout conference play in 2018-19 with team-high Big 12 averages of 13.9 points and 7.8 rebounds to go with 2.1 assists. He was the only Big 12 player to average at least 13.0 points, 7.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists in league competition. His numbers in conference play came after averaging only 2.9 points and 4.3 rebounds in 2017-18 and 7.2 points and 5.8 boards the non-conference stretch of 2018-19.

• An All-Big 12 Third Team selection in 2018-19, Doolittle finished the season with averages of 11.3 points, 7.1 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 29.1 minutes. He led the team in rebounds and ranked third in points and second in field goal percentage (.502).

• Opposing conference coaches expect Doolittle to continue improving, naming him an honorable mention selection on the Preseason All-Big 12 Team.

NEXT UP: BUTLER OR MISSOURI

• The Sooners will face either Butler or Missouri in the second round of the four-team tournament on Tuesday night. The third-place game tips off at 6 p.m. CT on ESPNews while the championship begins at 8:30 p.m. CT on ESPN2. Tuesday night's game is OU's only back-to-back of the 2019-20 regular season.

• Oklahoma owns a 3-2 series advantage over Butler, most recently facing the Bulldogs in the semifinals of the 2014 Battle 4 Atlantis. The Sooners are 5-2 against current BIG EAST opponents during the Lon Kruger era, and have won four of their last five games against the conference. Oklahoma is 15-15 all-time against current members of the BIG EAST.

• A battle with Missouri would be the 211th meeting between the old conference foes. The Sooners are 113-97 all-time against the Tigers and have faced the former conference foe just once (2014) since Mizzou left for the SEC.

• Tickets are available at SprintCenter.com.

ON THE AIR

THREE POINTERS

SERIES HISTORY AGAINST STANFORD

LOOKING BACK AT OU'S WIN OVER EASTERN SHORE

QUICK HITS

SECOND-HALF SOONERS

DOOLITTLE DOOING IT ALL

NEXT UP: BUTLER OR MISSOURI

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Kristian Doolittle

De'Vion Harmon

Victor Iwuakor

Brady Manek

Austin Reaves

Sponsors

University of Oklahoma Athletics