Men's Hoops Hosts No. 18 Alabama on Saturday at Noon

NORMAN — The Oklahoma men's basketball team (11-6, 1-3 SEC) looks to snap a three-game losing streak when it hosts No. 18/18 Alabama (12-5, 2-2) on Saturday at noon CT at Lloyd Noble Center. The Crimson Tide advanced to last year's NCAA Elite Eight.

Saturday's game will be televised by SEC Network with Kevin Fitzgerald (play-by-play) and Mark Wise (analyst) announcing. It will air on the Sooner Sports Radio Network (KRXO 107.7 FM in Oklahoma City; KTBZ 1430 AM in Tulsa; Varsity Radio App) with Toby Rowland and Kevin Henry on the call, as well as on ESPN Radio with Mike Couzens and Bob Valvano announcing.

Oklahoma is 8-1 at home this season, with six of its top seven scorers shooting over 50% from the field in those games (the other is shooting 48%). OU is outshooting opponents 51%-42% from the field and 39%-34% from 3-point range in the nine contests.

Alabama is 2-1 in true road games, winning at St. John's (103-96 in November) and at Mississippi State (97-82 Tuesday). Its road loss came against Vanderbilt (96-90 on Jan. 7).

OU sophomore forward Derrion Reid and fifth-year center Mohamed Wague each played one season at Alabama. Reid saw action in 24 games (three starts; missed 13 due to injury) for the Crimson Tide's Elite Eight squad last season and averaged 6.0 points and 2.8 rebounds in 14.0 minutes per outing. Wague appeared in 33 games (eight starts) on the 2023-24 Final Four team and averaged 3.1 points and 2.5 boards in 8.5 minutes per contest.

Oklahoma vs. #18 Alabama
Date: Saturday, Jan. 17
Tip Time: 12 p.m.
Location: Norman, Okla.
Arena: Lloyd Noble Center

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SCENE SETTERS

• Oklahoma's Porter Moser and Alabama's Nate Oats are two of the six SEC head coaches who have coached in at least one Final Four. The others are Tennessee's Rick Barnes, Ole Miss' Chris Beard, Arkansas' John Calipari and Florida's Todd Golden.

• Each of Alabama's last three teams went to the NCAA Sweet 16 or beyond. In 2022-23 it went 31-6 and reached the Sweet 16. In 2023-24 it posted a 25-12 record and advanced to the Final Four. Last season, the Crimson Tide went 28-9 and reached the Elite Eight.

• In SEC play, Alabama leads the league in scoring offense (91.0 ppg) and 3-pointers per game (11.8), and ranks second in free throw percentage (.763).

• Oklahoma is the only SEC team to start the same lineup every game this season. OU's starters have been guards Xzayvier Brown and Nijel Pack, forwards Tae Davis and Derrion Reid and center Mohamed Wague. Alabama has started 10 different lineups.

• Pack, a first-year Sooner who is in his sixth year overall (only played nine games last season at Miami), scored 24 points Saturday at Texas A&M and now has 2,012 for his career. He is one of just three active players with 2,000 career points (Gonzaga's Graham Ike has 2,284 and Indiana's Tucker DeVries has 2,234).

• Brown is averaging 23.5 points in OU's two home SEC games. He is 15 for 24 from the field (.625) and 7 for 10 (.700) from 3 (vs. Ole Miss [23 points] and Florida [24 points]) in those two outings.

SERIES HISTORY

• Oklahoma is 7-4 all-time vs. Alabama (4-0 in Norman, 1-3 in Tuscaloosa and 2-1 at neutral sites). The previous meetings in Norman came in 1971-72 (79-73), 2005-06 (68-56), 2020-21 (66-61; UA was ranked No. 9) and 2022-23 (93-69; UA was ranked No. 2). The Sooners also won in 1997-98 in Oklahoma City (79-61 in the All-College Tournament championship game) and in 2013-14 in Dallas (82-73 in the Buckets and Boots Classic).

• Alabama's only win in the series away from home came in a top-10 matchup in the 2002-03 season opener at New York's Madison Square Garden. The No. 8 Crimson Tide won 68-62 over No. 3 OU.

LAST TIME VS. ALABAMA IN NORMAN

• The last meeting between Oklahoma and Alabama in Norman marked the Sooners' most impressive win of the Porter Moser era, as OU broke a three-game losing streak and handed the second-ranked Crimson Tide a 93-69 defeat on Jan. 28, 2023, in an SEC/Big 12 Challenge matchup. At 24 points, the margin of defeat for Alabama, which finished 31-6 that year and advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16, was by far its biggest of the season (next largest was 15).

• The win was OU's first over an AP opponent ranked in the top 2 since beating No. 1 Kansas in the 2002 Big 12 Tournament championship game. The Sooners' margin of victory was its largest ever against an AP top-5 team.

• OU led 50-33 at halftime after shooting 68% from the field (6 of 8 from 3-point range) and scoring on 13 of its final 14 possessions. Alabama cut the margin to 11 points in the second half, but the Sooners quickly responded behind a career-high 30 points from point guard Grant Sherfield and a career-high 26 from forward Jalen Hill. Center Tanner Groves added 14 points and 12 boards.

OU NOTES AND NUGGETS

• Oklahoma has scored at least 85 points in 10 of its 17 games (59%), already its most 85-point efforts in a season since 2017-18. For comparison, OU's last four teams scored 85-plus a combined 21 times in 133 games (16%; nine times last year, six in 2023-24, two in 2022-23 and four in 2021-22).

• The Sooners' 84.1 scoring average is their highest through a season's first 17 games since 2017-18 and fifth highest in the last 32 years. Similarly, OU's 10.1 3-pointers per game are its third most through 17 contests in the 40-year 3-point era.

• OU's top four scorers are all transfers in their first year in the program. Nijel Pack and Xzayvier Brown each average a team-high 15.7 points per game, while Tae Davis (12.7) and Derrion Reid (11.4) also average double figures. Mohamed Wague rounds out the starting five with his 7.1 points per contest.

• Brown has scored at least 18 points in six of the last eight games and is averaging 18.6 in those eight contests on 53% field goal, 45% (18-for-40) 3-point and 97% (29-for-30) free throw shooting. Included were a 23-point effort in a win over Ole Miss and a season-high 24-point performance against No. 19 Florida on Tuesday.

• Brown leads the SEC by shooting 93.0% from the free throw line (53 for 57). His streak of 27 makes ended last game vs. Florida.

• The Sooners have outscored 13 of their 17 opponents after halftime. Nebraska, Kansas City, Mississippi State and Texas A&M are the only teams to outscore OU in the second half. The Sooners are +39 points in the first half this season (+2.3 average) and +129 in the second (+7.6 average).

• Reid's six highest-scoring games of his career have come in his last 12 outings, as he tallied 16 points against Alcorn State, 15 vs. Marquette, 18 at Wake Forest, 15 vs. Kansas City, a career-high 22 against Stetson and 19 Saturday at Texas A&M (to go along with a career-high 11 rebounds).

• Wague (3.2) and Davis (2.9) rank third and fourth in the SEC in offensive rebounds per game. Davis had 11 offensive boards against Arkansas-Pine Bluff, OU's most in a contest since at least the 1995-96 season. He recently surpassed 1,000 career points and 500 rebounds (has 1,099 and 541).

• Wague's three highest career point totals have come this season (16 in the opener vs. Saint Francis, 20 vs. Oral Roberts and 15 vs. Stetson), as have his two highest rebound totals (14 at Wake Forest and 15 vs. Ole Miss in the SEC opener). He is shooting a team-high 62% from the floor.

• Redshirt freshman forward Kuol Atak ranks third on the team with his 26 3-point makes (shooting .400) despite averaging just 12.8 minutes over his 16 games. He is 19 for 39 (.487) from long distance in home games, including 10 for 19 (.526) over the last three outings at Lloyd Noble Center.

• Long Beach State transfer Jadon Jones, who is in his second year with OU and first season playing, ranks seventh on the team with his 6.3 points per game off the bench in an average of 20.4 minutes over his 13 outings. Jones missed all of last season due to injury, as well as the first four games this year. The 2021-22 Big West Conference Defensive Player of the Year has drawn eight fouls this season while attempting a 3-pointer. He has also made 18 treys.

• Nine of the 15 players on OU's roster are new in 2025-26, and three more were on last year's team but redshirted.

PACK MENTALITY

• First-year Sooner guard Nijel Pack surpassed the 2,000-point mark Saturday at Texas A&M and now has 2,012 for his career. For perspective, only six OU players who spent their whole career in Norman reached 2,000 points (Wayman Tisdale, 2,661; Buddy Hield, 2,291; Jeff Webster, 2,281; Tim McCalister, 2,275; Darryl "Choo" Kennedy, 2,097; and Stacey King, 2008).

• Pack ranks fourth in the SEC and 23rd nationally with his 3.2 3-point field goals per game and fourth in the league and 15th in the country with his .451 3-point field goal percentage.

• Pack has made at least one 3-pointer in 16 of 17 games, at least three in 11 contests and at least four in eight outings. He buried at least three treys in six consecutive games between Nov. 11 and Dec. 2, the first Sooner to accomplish the feat since consensus national player of the year Buddy Hield during OU's 2015-16 Final Four campaign.

• Through Thursday, Pack ranks second nationally in 3-pointers among active career players (368; High Point's Chase Johnston has 387), third in points (2,012) and 29th in assists (418).

• A sixth-year collegian, Pack spent his first two seasons at Kansas State (he was a first-team All-Big 12 pick as a sophomore when he averaged 17.4 points and made 95 3-pointers and shot a league-high .436 from behind the arc) and the last three at Miami, Fla. (he helped the Hurricanes to their first Final Four his junior season and was named the Midwest Region Most Outstanding Player). He has started 138 of his 139 career games.

ELATONTSEV CATCHES FIRE VS. FLORIDA

• OU announced Dec. 28 the signing of 23-year-old Kirill Elatontsev (pronounced kee-REEL EE-el-uh-tahn-suv) a center from Russia who is averaging 5.0 points and 2.6 rebounds in his 12.4 minutes per contest over his first five games.

• On Tuesday vs. No. 19 Florida, Elatontsev scored 17 points on 4-for-4 field goal shooting (all 3-pointers) and 5-for-6 free throw shooting. He had totaled two points over OU's first three league games and attempted just one 3-pointer in his first four overall outings. He also added four rebounds, two assists and a steal in his 17 minutes.

• From Krasnoyarsk, Russia, the 6-11, 240-pound Elatontsev has one semester of eligibility remaining. He most recently played for Lokomotiv Kuban in the VTB United League, which is regarded as the top tier of Russian professional club basketball. In February 2024 he was called up to the Russian National Team.

UP NEXT

• OU plays at South Carolina on Tuesday at 6 p.m. CT. The game will be televised by SEC Network. Tickets are available for as little as $15 here.