Sooners Face TCU in Big 12 Opener Sunday

Oklahoma

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Sunday, Dec. 6 / 3 p.m. CT / Schollmaier Arena / Fort Worth, Texas

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NORMAN – Just three days after opening their season with a 39-point win over UTSA, the Sooners are thrust into conference play with an early Big 12 opener in Fort Worth. Oklahoma (1-0, 0-0 Big 12) and TCU (4-0, 0-0 Big 12) will be the first Big 12 matchup of the year, as part of the league's scheduling initiative to have each team play two conference games in December.

Coming off a 29-point performance against UTSA on Thursday, senior Brady Manek looks to remain hot against the Horned Frogs. In his career, Manek is 6-0 against TCU with a career scoring average of 14.5 points against the Frogs.

R.J. Nembhard (15.0 points) and big man Kevin Samuel (10.5 points, 12.0 rebounds) have the Frogs off to a 4-0 start.

ON THE AIR

Sunday's Big 12 opener will tip at 3 p.m. CT and air on the Sooner Radio Network (KRXO 107.7 FM "The Franchise" in Oklahoma City; KTBZ 1430 AM in Tulsa; Tune In Radio App) with Toby Rowland and Kevin Henry announcing. Ted Emrich and Tim Welsh will call the action on ESPN2.

THREE POINTERS

• The undefeated Horned Frogs have four games under their belt, while Oklahoma has only played one contest due to a week-long pause of team activities following positive COVID-19 tests. The Sooners were the third-to-last "power five" team to open their season. Luckily for Oklahoma, head coach Lon Kruger returns a veteran-heavy team which returns over 70% of its scoring from last season's squad that claimed the No. 3 seed in the Big 12 Championship. In Thursday's opener, Kruger utilized a starting lineup with four seniors (Austin Reaves, Alondes Williams, Brady Manek and Kur Kuath). It was the first time since the 1992-93 season that Oklahoma started at least four seniors in the first game of the season.

• The Sooners enter their league opener coming off a 105-66 victory over UTSA on Thursday. It was just the fifth time Oklahoma reached triple digits in a season opener and a fitting tribute to the late Billy Tubbs, who treasured the 100-point milestone in his "Billy Ball" high-scoring offense (Tubbs' teams scored over 100 points on 129 occasions). Senior walk-on Read Streller hit the 100th point off an assist from freshman Trey Phipps. Phipps' father, Conley Phipps, played for Tubbs from 1985-87. The opener was OU's first game since Tubbs' passing on Nov. 1, 2020.

• The Sooners are 6-3 in Big 12 openers under Kruger (two of the three losses came against Kansas). Since the start of the 2017-18 season, Oklahoma is 32-5 in games played in November and December.

SERIES HISTORY VS. TCU

• OU owns a 25-4 all-time record against the Horned Frogs and has won 17 of the last 20 meetings, including the last six in a row. No member of the OU roster has lost to TCU in their collegiate career.

• OU leads the series 14-3 since the Frogs joined the Big 12 in 2012.

• Oklahoma leads the series 11-2 for games played in Fort Worth. OU has won six of its last seven games at TCU with the only loss in that span coming in 2017. Oklahoma has never lost to the Frogs when playing in Norman

• The Sooners won the first meeting of 2019-20, 83-63, in Norman. Forward Brady Manek sunk seven 3-pointers and scored a career-high 31 points.

• Oklahoma closed the 2019-20 regular season with an epic comeback over the Horned Frogs. The Sooners overcame an 18-point halftime deficit to fight back and win 78-76 thanks to the game-winning bucket by Austin Reaves with 0.5 seconds remaining. Reaves scored 41 points that night (25 in the second half) - the most by a Big 12 player since Trae Young scored 44 against Baylor on Jan. 30, 2018.

LOOKING BACK AT THURSDAY'S WIN

• Forward Brady Manek had an electric start to his senior season by scoring 29 points and sinking 8-of-13 3-pointers. His 29 points were two shy of his career high and are the second most by a Big 12 player this season. His eight treys are a career best and the most in a single game by a major-conference player so far this year. During his career, the Sooners are 9-2 when he scores at least 20 points and 14-4 when he hits four or more 3-pointers.

• Sophomore guard De'Vion Harmon had a strong season debut and an efficient shooting night, sinking 7-of-11 (3-of-6 from 3-point range) to score 22 points. He also dished out four assists, pulled down five boards and swiped a pair of steals.

• Making his second career start, senior forward Kur Kuath recorded 10 points with three boards and a block.

• Sharpshooting freshman Trey Phipps knocked down four 3-pointers in his collegiate debut, good for 12 points. He added a team-best five assists.

HERE'S THE STORY OF A MAN NAMED BRADY

• The Sooners almost always have team success on nights that junior forward Brady Manek is rolling. During his career, OU is 44-19 when Manek scores in double figures, 29-8 when he scores at least 15 points, 9-2 when he scores at least 20 and 14-4 when he hit four or more 3-pointers.

• Manek has scored in double figures in 38 of his last 47 games.

• Manek was the only Big 12 player with multiple 30-point games in 2019-20.

• Manek boasts 1,217 career points – the 29th most in program history. He has started in 66 straight games for the Sooners.

• The sharpshooter has sunk 195 3-pointers in his career – the seventh most in program history.

• He is the only player in program history to accumulate at least 1,000 points, 500 rebounds, 150 3-pointers and 75 blocks.

• Manek has also totaled 84 blocks in his career. Closing in on the century mark, he has the opportunity to become the first player in Big 12 history to total 200 3-pointers and 100 blocks in a career. Only seven major-conference players have assembled such a 3-pointer/shot-blocking combo in the last 25 years.

• Manek is one of 20 players the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame named to its watch list for the 2021 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.

• During his junior season, Manek averaged 14.4 points, 6.2 rebounds and 1.2 blocks while sinking 71 3-pointers at a 38% clip. He was an All-Big 12 Third selection and ranked third in the Big 12 in field goal percentage, eighth in scoring, ninth in blocks and 12th in rebounding.

• The senior is all excelling in the classroom. A management major, Manek has received Academic All-Big 12 First Team honors in both 2019 and 2020. He was also one of 41 NCAA Division I men's basketball student-athletes named to a 2020 CoSIDA Academic All-District Team. He is expected to graduate in December and begin graduate school in the spring.

REAVES ACHIEVES

• Senior guard Austin Reaves was one of six league players named to the Preseason All-Big 12 Team. The honors were voted on by the league's head coaches, who are not allowed to vote for their own players.

• Reaves finished sixth in the Big 12 in scoring last season with 14.7 points while also averaging 5.3 points and 3.0 assists. He also ranked second in the league in free throw shooting, making his foul shots at an 84.8% clip (seventh best in OU history).

• Reaves was one of only two Big 12 players to average at least 14 points, five boards and three assists in 2019-20. Baylor's Jared Butler, voted the Preseason Big 12 Player of the Year, is the only returning Big 12 player who averaged more points than Reaves last season.

• Reaves ended his 2019-20 season by fueling the largest road second-half comeback in Big 12 history. The guard willed the Sooners back from an 18-point halftime deficit at TCU on March 7 by scoring 41 points (25 in the second half) and sinking the game-winning bucket with 0.5 seconds remaining.

• In addition to his 41 points, he added five rebounds, six assists and three blocks while going 15-of-16 from the foul line, joining Ben Simmons of LSU as the only Division I players in the last 20 years to have at least 40 points, five rebounds, five assists & three blocks in a game. His 41 points are the most by a Big 12 player since Trae Young in 2017-18.

• The guard has found success despite only shooting 25.9% from 3-point range in 2019-20. 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).

UP NEXT: XAVIER

• The Sooners play their second straight road game when they head to Cincinnati, Ohio on Wednesday to face Xavier in the 2020 edition of the Big 12/Big East Battle. The matchup tips at 7 p.m. CT on FS1.

• Wednesday will be the third all-time meeting between the Sooners and Musketeers and the first time the schools have faced off on campus. Oklahoma has won the previous two meetings, including a 78-65 victory in the second round of the 2002 NCAA Tournament. The Sooners went on to reach the Final Four during that postseason run.

• The Sooners are 5-3 against current Big East opponents during the Lon Kruger era, and have won four of its last six games against the conference. Oklahoma is 18-17 all-time against current members of the Big East.

• Oklahoma has been dominant in non-conference play over the last three seasons, boasting a combined 33-6 record in its last 39 non-league regular-season games. In non-conference play since 2017-18, Oklahoma is 13-5 against major conference schools (ACC, Big East, Big Ten, Pac-12, SEC) and 17-6 in games played away from Norman.