University of Oklahoma Athletics
Saturday, January 4
Norman
12 PM
University of Oklahoma
vs
Kansas State
Photo by: Ty Russell
Sooners Open Big 12 Against K-State
January 03, 2020 | Men's Basketball
NORMAN – New year. New decade. New season. After going 9-3 in non-conference play, Oklahoma (9-3, 0-0 Big 12) opens Big 12 play on Saturday at noon inside Lloyd Noble Center against defending Big 12 Co-Champion Kansas State (7-5, 0-0 Big 12).
The Sooners are 5-0 at home while the Wildcats are playing just their second true road game of the season.
OU's high-scoring trio faces off K-State's Xavier Sneed (14.4 points) and Cartier Diarra (12.8) – two key returners from the Wildcats' 2019 Big 12 title team.
This is the second season in a row that the Sooners have opened conference play against the reigning Big 12 champions (OU started its 2019 Big 12 schedule at Kansas).
• Clay Matvick and Bryndon Manzer will call the action on Big 12 Now on ESPN+ streaming service. Information on the new streaming service can be found here.
• Traditional tickets start at $20 can purchased at the OU Athletics Ticket Office (800-456-4668) and SoonerSports.com/Tickets. Lloyd Noble Center's north and east ticket windows will open at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday.
Fans interested in saving on big games should consider a new three game mini plan, offering fans tickets to home games against Kansas (Jan. 14) and Oklahoma State (Feb. 1) along with a Saturday game of your choice (including the K-State game). Packages start at just $70 can be purchased here.
• All students who purchased football season tickets have free access to men's basketball games by scanning their OU student ID. Students who did not purchase football tickets can claim men's basketball season tickets for just $60 on SoonerSports.com/students.
• Single-game student tickets are also available on a first-come, first-serve basis at the student entrance for $5.
• The Sooner Jr. Kids Zone on the southern side of the concourse will include a face painter and balloon artist.
• Oklahoma enters Saturday's matchup with just three scholarship players who have seen action in a Big 12 game. Only Texas Tech has fewer players with Big 12 experience (12). The Sooners return Kristian Doolittle, Brady Manek and Jamal Bieniemy, who all started in a majority of OU's conference games last season. Doolittle (13.9 points) and Manek (12.1 points) led OU's scoring efforts in Big 12 play last season while Bieniemy dished out a team-high 3.6 assists.
• Lon Kruger played for Kansas State from 1970-74 and was named the Big Eight Player of the Year in 1973 and 1974. He also starred on the baseball diamond for Kansas State and was selected in both the NBA and MLB Drafts in 1974. He later coached the Wildcats from 1986-90, racking up an 81-46 (.638) record. Each of his K-State squads qualified for the NCAA Tournament, and the 1988 team was one of the best in the school's history with 24 wins and a trip to the Elite Eight. Kruger's No. 12 hangs in the rafters of Bramlage Coliseum.
• Kansas State, the 2019 Big 12 Co-Champion, swept the Sooners last season.
• OU head coach Lon Kruger is 6-10 against his alma mater while coaching the Sooners.
• Kruger isn't the only member of the OU coaching staff with a K-State connection. Assistant Jim Molinari played his first two seasons at Kansas State (including one with Kruger) before transfering to Illinois Wesleyan.
• Junior forward Kur Kuath will be facing his cousin, K-State forward Makol Mawien. Both Kuath and Mawien were born to South Sudan families who fled their home country at a young age due to civil war. The families fled to Egypt, where Mawien was born, when Kuath was a toddler. They then moved to Utah at a young age as refugees.
• The Sooners were led by a career-high 29 points from junior forward Brady Manek. The forward shot 8-of-13 (4-of-8 from 3-point range) and pulled down seven rebounds. Manek's 29 points are the most by a Sooner this season.
• OU also saw a breakthrough performance by center Kur Kuath. Making his debut in the starting lineup, Kuath scored a career-high 17 points with eight boards and two blocks. Kuath's previous career high was six points.
• The Sooners had been outrebounded in four straight games, but put on a dominant performance on the glass. OU outboarded the Vaqueros 48-28 and limited UTRGV to four offensive rebounds.
• Oklahoma's 21 assists are its most since dishing out 24 against Oklahoma State on Jan. 3, 2018.
• The Sooners are 5-3 in Big 12 openers under Lon Kruger. Two of their three losses came against Kansas.
• OU has won five of its last six Big 12 home openers.
• Oklahoma boasts one of the top scoring groups in the country in Kristian Doolittle (16.7 points per game), Austin Reaves (16.3 points) and Brady Manek (15.4 points). OU is one of only three major conference teams with two players averaging at least 16 points. The Sooners are also one of two major-conference schools with three players scoring at least 15 points per game.
• OU leads the Big 12 in free throw percentage, making 78.9% of its shots from the foul stripe. The Sooners, who shot free throws at a 69.7% rate in 2018-19, rank 10th in the country in 2019-20. Kentucky (79.0%) is the only major-conference team with a better free throw percentage.
• The Sooners are turning the ball over just 10.6 times per game, which ranks sixth in the nation. Virginia Tech (9.5) and Notre Dame (9.6) are the only major-conference teams turning the ball over less.
• Kristian Doolittle continues to evolve his range an confidence behind the 3-point line. After going 0-of-4 from 3-point range all of 2018-19, Doolittle is shooting 12-of-21 (57.1%) from deep this season.
• Despite being 5-0 at home this season, Oklahoma has led only once at halftime inside Lloyd Noble Center.
• Oklahoma's defense has been buckling down in the second half. In OU's nine wins, opponents are shooting 38.2% from the field and 28.8% from 3-point range in the second half. In the final eight minutes of OU victories, opponents are 10-of-50 (.200) from behind the arc.
• Oklahoma was the only Big 12 team to claim three wins over teams from a major conference in November.
• The Sooners' four wins away from home this season (three neutral-site, one true road) are the most in the Big 12.
• Dating back to last season, Manek has scored in double figures in 25 of his last 28 games – including all 12 games this season.
• Manek is coming off a career performance against UTRGV in which he scored a career-high 29 points on 8-of-13 shooting (4-of-8 from 3-point range) while pulling down seven rebounds. Manek's 29 points are the most by a Sooner this season.
• 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 enters Saturday's game with 926 career points. He has started in 46 straight games for the Sooners.
• 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.
• Oklahoma leads the all-time series, 55-40, with UT holding a narrow lead (23-18) for games played in Austin.
• The Sooners are 8-8 against Texas under Lon Kruger.
• Oklahoma is on the hunt for its first win in Austin since 2015.
• Senior forward Kristian Doolittle had one of the best games of his career during his freshman season against the Longhorns in Austin. Doolittle lit up The Drum with 29 points (10-of-18 from the field, 4-of-5 from 3) and 10 rebounds on Jan. 23, 2017.
The Sooners are 5-0 at home while the Wildcats are playing just their second true road game of the season.
OU's high-scoring trio faces off K-State's Xavier Sneed (14.4 points) and Cartier Diarra (12.8) – two key returners from the Wildcats' 2019 Big 12 title team.
This is the second season in a row that the Sooners have opened conference play against the reigning Big 12 champions (OU started its 2019 Big 12 schedule at Kansas).
ON THE AIR
• Saturday's conference matchup will tip at noon 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.• Clay Matvick and Bryndon Manzer will call the action on Big 12 Now on ESPN+ streaming service. Information on the new streaming service can be found here.
TICKETS
• OU Athletics is offering a "Student for a Day" promotion where can purchase a lower-bowl general admission ticket for sections LN3-LN6 and receive a bonus t-shirt for just $10. Fans can purchase online here or at the Lloyd Noble Center box office on game day.• Traditional tickets start at $20 can purchased at the OU Athletics Ticket Office (800-456-4668) and SoonerSports.com/Tickets. Lloyd Noble Center's north and east ticket windows will open at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday.
Fans interested in saving on big games should consider a new three game mini plan, offering fans tickets to home games against Kansas (Jan. 14) and Oklahoma State (Feb. 1) along with a Saturday game of your choice (including the K-State game). Packages start at just $70 can be purchased here.
• All students who purchased football season tickets have free access to men's basketball games by scanning their OU student ID. Students who did not purchase football tickets can claim men's basketball season tickets for just $60 on SoonerSports.com/students.
• Single-game student tickets are also available on a first-come, first-serve basis at the student entrance for $5.
IN THE BONUS
• Fans are encouraged to #ArriveSooner to avoid delays into the gates with enhanced screenings. OU's clear bag policy will also be in effect. For more gameday tips at Lloyd Noble Center, visit the LNC's information page.• The Sooner Jr. Kids Zone on the southern side of the concourse will include a face painter and balloon artist.
THREE POINTERS
• The Sooners enter conference play with three of the top seven scorers in the Big 12. Kristian Doolittle (16.7 points per game) is fifth in the league, followed closely by Austin Reaves (16.3 points) in sixth. Not far behind the duo is forward Brady Manek, averaging 15.4 points, good for seventh in the league. Oklahoma and Miami are the only major-conference teams with three players averaging at least 15 points.• Oklahoma enters Saturday's matchup with just three scholarship players who have seen action in a Big 12 game. Only Texas Tech has fewer players with Big 12 experience (12). The Sooners return Kristian Doolittle, Brady Manek and Jamal Bieniemy, who all started in a majority of OU's conference games last season. Doolittle (13.9 points) and Manek (12.1 points) led OU's scoring efforts in Big 12 play last season while Bieniemy dished out a team-high 3.6 assists.
• Lon Kruger played for Kansas State from 1970-74 and was named the Big Eight Player of the Year in 1973 and 1974. He also starred on the baseball diamond for Kansas State and was selected in both the NBA and MLB Drafts in 1974. He later coached the Wildcats from 1986-90, racking up an 81-46 (.638) record. Each of his K-State squads qualified for the NCAA Tournament, and the 1988 team was one of the best in the school's history with 24 wins and a trip to the Elite Eight. Kruger's No. 12 hangs in the rafters of Bramlage Coliseum.
SERIES HISTORY
• The Sooners lead the all-time series, 108-101, and hold a 63-28 lead over the Wildcats in Norman. The Sooners have won four of their last six contests with K-State in Norman.• Kansas State, the 2019 Big 12 Co-Champion, swept the Sooners last season.
• OU head coach Lon Kruger is 6-10 against his alma mater while coaching the Sooners.
• Kruger isn't the only member of the OU coaching staff with a K-State connection. Assistant Jim Molinari played his first two seasons at Kansas State (including one with Kruger) before transfering to Illinois Wesleyan.
• Junior forward Kur Kuath will be facing his cousin, K-State forward Makol Mawien. Both Kuath and Mawien were born to South Sudan families who fled their home country at a young age due to civil war. The families fled to Egypt, where Mawien was born, when Kuath was a toddler. They then moved to Utah at a young age as refugees.
LOOKING BACK AT OU'S WIN OVER UTRGV
• Oklahoma won its 16th straight home non-conference game on Monday by defeating UTRGV, 91-72.• The Sooners were led by a career-high 29 points from junior forward Brady Manek. The forward shot 8-of-13 (4-of-8 from 3-point range) and pulled down seven rebounds. Manek's 29 points are the most by a Sooner this season.
• OU also saw a breakthrough performance by center Kur Kuath. Making his debut in the starting lineup, Kuath scored a career-high 17 points with eight boards and two blocks. Kuath's previous career high was six points.
• The Sooners had been outrebounded in four straight games, but put on a dominant performance on the glass. OU outboarded the Vaqueros 48-28 and limited UTRGV to four offensive rebounds.
• Oklahoma's 21 assists are its most since dishing out 24 against Oklahoma State on Jan. 3, 2018.
QUICK HITS
• This is the second season in a row that the Sooners have opened conference play against the reigning Big 12 champions. OU started its 2019 Big 12 schedule at Kansas.• The Sooners are 5-3 in Big 12 openers under Lon Kruger. Two of their three losses came against Kansas.
• OU has won five of its last six Big 12 home openers.
• Oklahoma boasts one of the top scoring groups in the country in Kristian Doolittle (16.7 points per game), Austin Reaves (16.3 points) and Brady Manek (15.4 points). OU is one of only three major conference teams with two players averaging at least 16 points. The Sooners are also one of two major-conference schools with three players scoring at least 15 points per game.
• OU leads the Big 12 in free throw percentage, making 78.9% of its shots from the foul stripe. The Sooners, who shot free throws at a 69.7% rate in 2018-19, rank 10th in the country in 2019-20. Kentucky (79.0%) is the only major-conference team with a better free throw percentage.
• The Sooners are turning the ball over just 10.6 times per game, which ranks sixth in the nation. Virginia Tech (9.5) and Notre Dame (9.6) are the only major-conference teams turning the ball over less.
• Kristian Doolittle continues to evolve his range an confidence behind the 3-point line. After going 0-of-4 from 3-point range all of 2018-19, Doolittle is shooting 12-of-21 (57.1%) from deep this season.
• Despite being 5-0 at home this season, Oklahoma has led only once at halftime inside Lloyd Noble Center.
• Oklahoma's defense has been buckling down in the second half. In OU's nine wins, opponents are shooting 38.2% from the field and 28.8% from 3-point range in the second half. In the final eight minutes of OU victories, opponents are 10-of-50 (.200) from behind the arc.
• Oklahoma was the only Big 12 team to claim three wins over teams from a major conference in November.
• The Sooners' four wins away from home this season (three neutral-site, one true road) are the most in the Big 12.
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 36-15 when Manek scores in double figures, 22-5 when he scores at least 15 points and 10-3 when he hit four or more 3-pointers.• Dating back to last season, Manek has scored in double figures in 25 of his last 28 games – including all 12 games this season.
• Manek is coming off a career performance against UTRGV in which he scored a career-high 29 points on 8-of-13 shooting (4-of-8 from 3-point range) while pulling down seven rebounds. Manek's 29 points are the most by a Sooner this season.
• 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 enters Saturday's game with 926 career points. He has started in 46 straight games for the Sooners.
• 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: TEXAS
• The Sooners hit the road for the first time in conference play are headed for hostile territory. Oklahoma faces rival Texas on Wednesday at 8 p.m. CT inside Frank Erwin Center in Austin, Texas. The matchup will air on ESPN2.• Oklahoma leads the all-time series, 55-40, with UT holding a narrow lead (23-18) for games played in Austin.
• The Sooners are 8-8 against Texas under Lon Kruger.
• Oklahoma is on the hunt for its first win in Austin since 2015.
• Senior forward Kristian Doolittle had one of the best games of his career during his freshman season against the Longhorns in Austin. Doolittle lit up The Drum with 29 points (10-of-18 from the field, 4-of-5 from 3) and 10 rebounds on Jan. 23, 2017.
Players Mentioned
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