University of Oklahoma Athletics
Hoops Heads to Hilton to Face ISU
February 24, 2019 | Men's Basketball
MONDAY'S GAME BASICS
After earning back-to-back wins over TCU and Texas, Oklahoma (17-10, 5-9 Big 12) continues its march for towards madness with a Big Monday showdown in Ames against Iowa State (19-8, 8-6). The Sooners will look for a marquee win in a building it hasn't left with a victory in since 2011. The Cyclones stole a one-point win in Norman earlier this season, but have lost three of their four games since - including two inside Hilton Coliseum. A Sooner win would be their first three-game winning streak since conference play began.
ON THE AIR
The Big 12 matchup will tip at 7 p.m. CT and 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. Kevin Connors and Chris Spatola will call the action on ESPN2. Fans with proper cable verification can also stream the game on the Watch ESPN app.
THREE POINTERS
• Coming off a 19-point, 8-rebound performance to beat Texas on Saturday, senior guard Christian James approaches another career milestone. With 1,132 points and 494 rebounds, James is six boards away from becoming the seventh guard in OU history to total 1,000 points and 500 rebounds in a Sooner uniform. Should he pull down six more boards, he will join Buddy Hield (2,291 points/661 rebounds), Tim McCalister (2,275/529), John McCullough (1,507/606), Tony Crocker (1,351/545), Isaiah Cousins (1,326/529) and Cameron Clark (1,284/575) as the only OU guards to accomplish the feat.
• After dropping five games in a row, the Sooners have since won back-to-back games at TCU and against Texas. In their last two games, Oklahoma averaged 70.0 points on .491 shooting (.381 from 3-point range) as opposed to the 59.8 points on .376 (.293 from deep) during the five-game losing streak. OU is also averaging 15.5 assists in its last two games, compared to 11.0 in the five games before.
• Of the 11 players in the Big 12 averaging at least 10 points and six rebounds, three play for the Sooners. Oklahoma is the only team in the conference with multiple players averaging 10 and six as its roster features Christian James (15.5 points, 6.9 rebounds), Brady Manek (11.7, 6.4) and Kristian Doolittle (10.1, 6.6). OU leads the Big 12 in rebounding with 38.7 boards per game.
Jamal Bieniemy sealed the Sooner win over Texas with a game-winning block.
SERIES HISTORY: IOWA STATE
• OU leads the overall series against ISU, 116-88, but the Cyclones hold a 52-37 advantage for games played in Ames.
• The Sooners are looking for their first win at Hilton Coliseum since 2011.
• The Cyclones escaped Norman with a one-point win earlier in February, defeating the Sooners 75-74.
LOOKING BACK ON OU'S WIN AT TEXAS
• Oklahoma picked up another critical win in its hunt for the NCAA Tournament by defeating Texas, 69-67, on Saturday in Norman. The win snapped a three-game losing streak to OU's rival from Austin. Oklahoma has won six of its last seven games against Texas in Norman and improves to 55-40 in the all-time series.
• Texas put up a game-winning 3-point attempt as time expired, but the shot was blocked by freshman guard Jamal Bieniemy. The rookie only scored two points in the contest but showed major contributions to the OU win with a career-high eight assists, five rebounds, two steals and two blocks. He committed only one turnover.
• Senior guard Christian James led the Sooners in both scoring and rebounding with 19 points (4-of-8 from 3-point range) and eight boards. Junior forward Kristian Doolittle added 15 points and seven boards while sophomore forward Brady Manek poured in 12 points.
• The Sooners got out to a hot start, shooting 56.7 percent from the field and 6-of-9 (.667) from 3-point range during the first half. Oklahoma put up 42 first-half points - its most in an opening frame during Big 12 play this season. Despite going 0-for-5 from deep in the second half, Oklahoma still found a way to fight past Texas.
• Oklahoma won the rebounding battle 39-31. UT's 31 rebounds are tied for the fewest by an OU opponent this season.
• Junior forward Kristian Doolittle continues to show progress in his game as the season goes along. After averaging 7.2 points and 5.8 boards in the first 12 games of the season, Doolittle has averaged 13.0 points, 7.6 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 0.9 steals during conference games while shooting .472 from the field. During Big 12 play, Doolittle ranks in OU's top-three in points, rebounds, assists, blocks, steals, field goal perecentage and free throw percentage.
• Doolittle has reached double-digit scoring in his last five games, including 21 points on 8-of-11 shooting last week against TCU followed by 15 points to defeat Texas.
• During his sophomore season, Doolittle averaged just 2.9 points and 4.3 rebounds.
• Freshman guard Jamal Bieniemy is expected to make his 11th appearance in the OU starting lineup on Monday. In his 10 previous starts, the rookie point guard has totaled 40 assists and only 12 turnovers in 323 minutes. OU's only scholarship freshman, Bieniemy boasts a season assist/turnover ratio of 3.2, which ranks second in the Big 12 and third among Division I freshmen.
• The lone Sooner rookie is climbing in the OU freshmen record book. His 88 assists rank ninth all time among Sooner freshmen while his 40 steals are the seventh most by an OU frosh. If Bieniemy can incresase his totals to 100 assists and 50 steals, he would be just the fourth Sooner to produce such numbers in a freshman season.
QUICK HITS
• Sometimes the key to victory can be as simple as making shots. Oklahoma is 17-0 when it holds a better shooting percentage than its opponents and 0-9 when the Sooners have worse shooting percentage (0-1 when the percentages are equal). Oklahoma is shooting .468 (.369 from 3-point range) in its 17 wins and .396 (.304 from deep) in its 10 losses. The Sooners are 11-2 when they shoots above 45 percent.
• Oklahoma is the only school in the country with a win over a team from every major conference (Power Five + Big East).
• OU sits at No. 39 in the NCAA's new NET Rankings. Oklahoma is the only team in the country that has not played a "Quadrant 4" game. OU's average opponent NET Ranking of 64 is the second best in the country, and the evaluation tool ranks OU's schedule as the 16th toughest in the country. OU is 14-2 in "Quadrant 2 and 3" games and 3-8 in "Quadrant 1" games.
• The Sooners are 11-3 when limiting opponents to under 70 points and 4-1 when opponents score less than 60.
• Oklahoma is 16-3 when it scores at least 30 points in the first half.
• The Sooners are 13-1 when outrebounding their opponents. In its 16 wins, Oklahoma is winning the rebounding margin by an average of 5.0 boards.
• OU opponents are shooting 39.7 percent from the field – the second lowest opponent field goal percentage in the conference and 20th nationally. The Sooners rank 18th in KenPom.com's adjusted defensive efficiency.
• Oklahoma is 15th in the nation and first in the conference in defensive rebounding with 28.9 defensive boards per game. OU's 38.7 total rebounds per game rank first in the Big 12 and 36th nationally.
• OU has three players ranked in the top 10 in rebounding in the Big 12: Christian James (sixth, 6.9), Kristian Doolittle (eighth, 6.6) and Brady Manek (ninth, 6.4). TCU is the only other school with multiple players (two) ranked in the top 10.
• Oklahoma is 15-4 when outscoring its opponents in the paint. OU is averaging 34.4 paint points per game.
• Christian James ranks fifth in the Big 12 in scoring (15.5) and sixth in rebounding (6.9). He is the only Big 12 guard averaging at least 15.0 points and 6.5 rebounds.
• Sophomore forward Brady Manek has scored in double figures in eight of his last nine games (averaging 12.9 points during that stretch). One of the most consistent scorers during his two seasons in Norman, Manek boasts 640 career points. With at least five games remaining this season, Manek is 60 points shy of hitting 700 career points. Only four Sooners have recorded 700 total points in their freshman and sophomore seasons during the Big 12 era: Blake Griffin (1,278), Trae Young (876), Willie Warren (868) and Buddy Hield (756).
• Oklahoma is the only Big 12 team with multiple players possessing at least five double-doubles. James leads the Sooners with six games of at least 10 points and 10 rebounds while Manek has produced five. Neither Manek or James owned a double-double in their career prior to this season. James and Manek are two of only four Big 12 players with season averages of at least 11.0 points and 6.5 rebounds.
• The Sooners almost always have team success on nights that Manek is rolling. During his career, OU is 24-10 when Manek scores in double figures, 14-3 when he scores at least 15 points and 8-2 when he hit four or more 3-pointers.
• Junior forward Matt Freeman has been making the most of his minutes in the last three games. During that stretch, he's scored at least five points in each game - totaling 17 points in 34 minutes of action since Feb. 11. He's shooting 3-of-7 from 3-point range in that time.
UP NEXT: WEST VIRGINIA
• The Sooners are at home for the second-to-last time on Saturday when they host West Virginia at Lloyd Noble Center. The 1 p.m. CT contest will air on an ESPN network that is to be determined.
• OU holds a narrow 9-8 lead in the all-time series with the Mountaineers and is 4-2 when facing WVU in Norman. West Virginia has stolen two straight wins at the LNC and has won four straight over the Sooners. Oklahoma is looking for its first win over WVU since Jan. 18, 2017 (in Morgantown).
• The Mountaineers won the first meeting of the year, 79-71, in Morgantown on Feb. 2.
