OU Closes Regular Season at TCU

^RV Oklahoma

TCU

Saturday, March 7 / 5 p.m. CT / Fort Worth, Texas

Tickets / ESPN2 / Radio / Live Stats / Game Notes

NORMAN – RV/NR Oklahoma (18-12, 8-9 Big 12) closes out the regular season on Saturday when it travels to Fort Worth to face TCU (16-14, 7-10 Big 12) in a battle for postseason positioning.

The Sooners look to bounce back after a last-second loss to their rival Texas on Tuesday while TCU is one week removed from knocking off then-No. 2 Baylor at Schollmaier Arena.

Two of the top four scorers in the Big 12 will go head-to-head when TCU's Desmond Bane (16.4 points, 2.9 3-pointers) faces off with OU's Kristian Doolittle (15.8 points, 8.9 rebounds). The Sooners are looking for their third straight win in Fort Worth and sixth straight victory over the Horned Frogs.

ON THE AIR

Saturday's matchup 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.

ESPN2 will carry the television broadcast with Chuckie Kempf and Tim Welsh on the call. Fans with proper cable verification can stream the game using the Watch ESPN app.

THREE POINTERS

• Oklahoma boasts the top scoring trio in the Big 12 and one of the best in the country in senior forward Kristian Doolittle (15.8 points per game), junior forward Brady Manek (14.7) and junior guard Austin Reaves (13.8). All three Sooners rank in the top 10 of the Big 12's scoring race. The Sooners are 10-3 in games that all three players reach double-digit scoring.

• Senior forward Kristian Doolittle enters his final regular season game scoring at least 18 points in seven of his last eight games. During that eight-game stretch, he is averaging 20.1 points and 8.6 rebounds. Doolittle is coming off a 20-point, 10-rebound performance against Texas on Tuesday. He leads the Big 12 in 20-point double-doubles (four). Kansas big man Udoka Azubuike (three) is the only other Big 12 player with at least three 20-point, 10-rebound games. Doolittle ranks fourth in the Big 12 in both scoring (15.8 points per game) and rebounding (8.9).

• Oklahoma is in pursuit of its seventh NCAA Tournament bid in the last eight years. OU has reached the Big Dance six times since 2013. Duke, Kansas, Michigan State, North Carolina and Villanova are the only major-conference schools who have made it to more NCAA Tournaments in that span. A win on Saturday would go a long way in helping the Sooners' resume for Selection Sunday. Since 2015, every Big 12 team that has finished with a .500-or-better Big 12 record has made the NCAA Tournament.

OKLAHOMA VS. TCU: SERIES HISTORY

• OU owns a 24-4 all-time record against the Horned Frogs and has won 16 of the last 19 meetings, including the last five in a row. OU leads the series 13-3 since the Frogs joined the Big 12 in 2012.

• Oklahoma leads the series 10-2 for games played in Fort Worth. OU has won five of its last six games at TCU with the only loss in that span coming in 2017.

• The Sooners won the first meeting of the year, 83-63, in Norman. Junior forward Brady Manek sunk a career-best seven 3-pointers and scored a career-high 31 points - the most by a Big 12 player this season.

• Oklahoma won its last meeting in Fort Worth, 71-62, in 2019 behind Kristian Doolittle's 21 points (8-of-11 shooting), 10 rebounds and five assists. 03/03/2020 Oklahoma vs Texas men's basketball. Photo by Ty Russell

03/03/2020 Oklahoma vs Texas men's basketball. Photo by Ty Russell

QUICK HITS

• Oklahoma is 2-6 in Big 12 road games this season. A win would give the Sooners their most conference road wins since 2015-16 (four).

• Any member of OU's "Big Three" could go off on any night. Kristian Doolittle (seven), Austin Reaves (six) and Brady Manek (four) all boast at least four games of scoring over 20 points. Manek is the only Big 12 player to reach 30 points in multiple games this season.

• OU boasts a pair of players from Oklahoma who have etched their names into OU's 1,000-point club. Senior forward Kristian Doolittle is the 47th Sooner to score 1,000 points in an OU uniform, eclipsing the milestone in a win over Oklahoma State on Feb. 1. He joins teammate Brady Manek in the premier circle of Sooner scorers with Manek reaching his 1,000 points on Jan. 18 against TCU. Both rank in the top 35 among OU's top career scorers. Both players are quickly approaching the top 30 of OU's all time scoring list.

• Brady Manek is one of the league's top 3-point shooter during Big 12 play, making 39 treys (2.3 per game) during conference play - good for third in the Big 12. Manek is fifth in the Big 12 in 3-point percentage, making his long shots at 37.1% clip during league play.

• Junior guard Austin Reaves is third in scoring among Big 12 newcomers with 13.9 points per game.

• Oklahoma is 6-1 this season when sophomore guard Jamal Bieniemy scores at least 10 points.

• Sometimes the key to victory is as simple as making shots. The Sooners are 16-1 this season when they have a better field goal percentage than their opponents. Their only loss when owning a better field goal percentage was on the road at then-No. 1 Baylor.

• The Sooners have shown discipline in keeping their opponents off the charity stripe. Oklahoma commits only 13.3 personal fouls per game – the second fewest in the country. OU opponents are shooting an average of 12.3 foul shots per game, compared to OU's 18.0 free throw attempts.

• OU leads the Big 12 in free throw percentage, making 76.5% of its shots from the foul stripe. The Sooners, who shot free throws at a 69.7% rate in 2018-19, rank 22nd in the country in 2019-20 (fifth among major-conference teams).

• The Sooners discipline is on display on the offensive end as well. Oklahoma is turning the ball over just 11.1 times per game, which ranks sixth in the nation among major-conference teams.

• OU is 17-7 when holding its opponents to under 80 points.

• The Sooners are 3-1 in games decided by two or fewer points.

• Oklahoma is 11-1 when it outrebounds its opponent.

DOOLITTLE DOOING LOTS

• The only senior on the Sooner roster, forward Kristian Doolittle continues to show progress in his game throughout his career in Norman. Doolittle is fourth in the Big 12 in both points (15.8 per game) and rebounds (8.9).

• Doolittle became the 47th Sooner to score 1,000 career points in an OU uniform, reaching the milestone on Feb. 1 against Oklahoma State. With 1,153 career points, Doolittle ranks 34th in program history.

• Boasting 779 career rebounds, Doolittle is just the 15th player in OU history to total at least 1,000 points and 700 rebounds in a career with the Sooners. Should he reach 1,200 points and 800 rebounds, he would become just the 10th Sooner to produce such numbers in a career.

• The senior went all of last season without a 3-pointer and only attempted four shots from behind the arc. He has made 27 from deep this season.

• Doolittle has earned Big 12 Player of the Week honors three times season – tied with Devon Dotson of Kansas for the most in the league. The senior most recently earned the honor on Feb. 17 after totaling 47 points and 19 rebounds over two games, including a 21-point, 12-rebound performance at Kansas. He was also recognized on Dec. 23 (averaged 16.5 points and 11.5 rebounds) and on Nov. 18 (after totaling 19 points, 16 rebounds and four assists against Oregon State).

NEXT UP: BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIP

• Oklahoma heads to Kansas City for the 2020 Big 12 Championship. With such a tight race in the middle of the conference standings, the Sooners could land has high as the third seed or as low as the seventh seed.

• OU is 22-20 all-time in the Big 12 Championship, but has not won a game in the conference tournament since 2016.

• Oklahoma has won three tournament titles at the Big 12 Championship – 2001, 2002 and 2003.

ON THE AIR

THREE POINTERS

OKLAHOMA VS. TCU: SERIES HISTORY

QUICK HITS

DOOLITTLE DOOING LOTS

NEXT UP: BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIP

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Jamal Bieniemy

Kristian Doolittle

Brady Manek

Austin Reaves

Sponsors

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