OU Hosts Texas in Crucial Big 12 Game Saturday

Saturday, January 29

Norman

2 PM

University of Oklahoma

Texas

Tickets

Photo by: Ty Russell

OU Hosts Texas in Crucial Big 12 Game Saturday

January 28, 2022 | Women's Basketball

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The Sooners and Longhorns will fight for first place in the Big 12 on Saturday.

By: OU Athletics Communications

¹⁸ Oklahoma

⁹Texas

Saturday, Jan. 29 / 2 p.m. CT / Norman / Lloyd Noble Center

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NORMAN – The Red River Showdown returns to Norman Saturday when No. 18 Oklahoma (17-3, 6-2) hosts No. 9 Texas (15-3, 5-2) at Lloyd Noble Center. The two sides are jockeying for first place in the Big 12 Conference as the Sooners currently share first with Iowa State (17-3, 6-2) as the Longhorns sit a half-game back.

The game tips at 2 p.m. and will air on Bally Sports Oklahoma as the Sooners look for their first win over a top-10 opponent since knocking off the then-No. 8 Longhorns in 2017.

Doors to the arena open one hour before tip and the Lloyd Noble Center's clear-bag policy is in effect.

THE STARTING FIVE

There are four teams in the country with 12+ wins over top-100 NET opponents: No. 1 South Carolina (14), No. 3 NC State (11), No. 4 Tennessee (12) and the 18th-ranked Sooners (11). The Sooners rank fourth in the country with three NET top-25 wins, 11th nationally with two wins over teams ranked 26-50 in the NET and rank second with seven wins over teams 51-100 in the NET. OU is an unblemished 5-0 vs. teams outside the top 100. OU has posted victories over three teams ranked higher than it in the NET rankings: No. 10 BYU, No. 18 Utah and No. 22 Baylor.
Oklahoma's high-powered offensive attack is one of the best in the country and on pace to be the best in program history. OU's 87.0 points per game rank second nationally and first in the league as 20.3 assists per game power the attack. In addition, Taylor Robertson (17.9 PPG) and Madi Williams (18.1) make Oklahoma the only team in the Big 12 with two scorers that average 17.5 PPG or more.
Big 12 teams currently average a NET ranking of 47.3 which is second in the country to only the SEC's 43.8. Nine of the Big 12's 10 teams sit inside the top 80 in the NET with seven teams inside the top 55.
The Sooners have used the Sooner Magic to comeback from double-digit deficits four times this season, including twice vs. ranked opponents. Down 19 points in the second half of the Utah game, the Sooners outscored the Utes 32-14 in the fourth quarter to secure the fourth-largest comeback in program history. That performance followed the win over then-No. 16 BYU when OU erased a 10-point deficit to knock off the Cougars in overtime. The Sooners came back from 16 points down at Kansas to post the fourth-largest comeback ever vs. a Big 12 opponent. Most recently, OU erased multiple 10-point deficits to knock off No. 14 Baylor in Norman on Jan. 12.
The Sooners appear in the latest version of Charlie Creme's ESPN Bracketology as a No. 5 seed after starting the year as one of the "Last Four In" and a No. 11 seed. A staple of the NCAA postseason, Oklahoma has appeared in 21 NCAA Tournaments, including 19 since the turn of the century. The Sooners' 21 appearances in the tournament are the second most in the Big 12 Conference and tied for 23rd most in NCAA history.

LAST TIME OUT

Liz Scott poured in a career-high 22 points as the 18th-ranked Oklahoma women's basketball team claimed a wire-to-wire Bedlam victory on Wednesday night, dispatching the Cowgirls 84-58 at Lloyd Noble Center. The win snapped a four-game Bedlam losing streak for Oklahoma (17-3, 6-2), which notched its first victory over Oklahoma State (6-11, 1-7) in over two years. Scott's career night was aided by a career-high 10 made free throws on 12 attempts. The junior post added six rebounds and a steal and didn't log a single turnover. Williams finished with 13 points and a team-high seven rebounds, doing most of her work in the first half. Skylar Vann joined the two in double figures, tallying 12 points on 5-of-9 shooting. In her return to the floor, freshman point guard Kelbie Washington logged a +40 mark in 22 minutes with six points, six assists and four steals.

SERIES HISTORY

Saturday's matchup is the 63 all-time meeting in the Red River Rivalry series. The Longhorns hold a 36-26 advantage over the Sooners, including a 15-12 series lead in Norman. OU won the most recent meeting, knocking Texas in overtime in Austin last season, 68-63. Before that win, Oklahoma had dropped the previous seven contests, with the most recent coming when OU upset then-No. 8 Texas 74-73 in Norman to mark the most recent home win. That victory over the eighth-ranked Horns on Feb. 18, 2017, is the Sooners' last win over a top-10 team. OU head coach Jennie Baranczyk is 0-1 all-time vs. Texas, dropping a 101-80 contest on Dec. 18, 2020, while she was the head coach at Drake. The last time the two teams met when both were ranked inside the AP Top 20 was when the Sooners won that matchup in 2017 over No. 8 Texas, and OU was ranked 19th.

UP NEXT

The gauntlet of the Big 12 Conference continues for the Sooners who, after Saturday's showdown with No. 9 Texas, head to Waco, Texas, for a matchup with No. 11 Baylor on Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2022. The Sooners got the best of the Bears in Norman on Jan. 12, defeating BU 83-77 and snapping a 13-game losing streak vs. Baylor. The game is slated for a 7 p.m. tip and will air on ESPN+.