Men's Hoops Goes for Third Straight on Wednesday at Tennessee

Wednesday, February 18

Thompson-Boling Arena • Knoxville, Tenn.

6 p.m.

University of Oklahoma

Tennessee

Kuol Atak in red Oklahoma basketball uniform looking back as he runs down the court

Men's Hoops Goes for Third Straight on Wednesday at Tennessee

February 17, 2026 | Men's Basketball

Watch on ESPN2 Listen Live Stats OU Game Notes

NORMAN — The Oklahoma men's basketball team (13-12, 3-9 SEC) goes for its third straight win when it travels to take on Tennessee (18-7, 8-4) on Wednesday at 6 p.m. CT at Food City Center in Knoxville, Tenn.

Wednesday's game will be televised by ESPN2 with Matt Schumacker (play-by-play) and Richard Hendrix (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.

After losing nine straight games, OU has won its last two (at No. 15 Vanderbilt and vs. Georgia). In those two contests, the Sooners led by double digits for a combined 40:32 of 80 minutes (27:23 at Vandy and 13:09 vs. Georgia). It shot a combined 56% from the field and 50% (23 for 46) from 3-point range.

First-year Sooner Nijel Pack ranks third among active Division I players with 2,144 career points. Over the last six games, Pack is averaging 18.6 points and has made 23 3-pointers on 46 attempts (50%). He is seven treys away from becoming just the 31st Division I player ever to register 400 makes.

Oklahoma at Tennessee
Date: Wednesday, Feb. 18
Tip Time: 6 p.m. CT
Location: Knoxville, Tenn.
Arena: Food City Center

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OU GAME NOTES

SCENE SETTERS

• Oklahoma is 3-9 in SEC play but has held a halftime lead in six of the 12 games, including in five of the last eight. In fact, it has held a double-digit lead in five of the last eight outings. The Sooners have been outscored in the second half in nine of the last 11 contests, however.

• OU is the only SEC team and one of just seven out of 361 nationally to start the same lineup every game this season. Its starters have been guards Xzayvier Brown and Nijel Pack, forwards Tae Davis and Derrion Reid and center Mohamed Wague. Tennessee has started eight different lineups.

• Tennessee, which spent 11 weeks this season in the AP poll (peaked at No. 13 on Dec. 1) and is receiving votes in both major polls this week, is 18-7 on the year and 8-4 in the SEC. After a 2-3 start to league play, UT has six of its last seven games, with its only loss during the stretch coming by three points at Kentucky on Feb. 7. The Volunteers' only home loss this season also came to Kentucky (80-78 on Jan. 17).

• The resurgence of guard Dayton Forsythe has helped key the Sooners' recent turnaround. After a 10-game stretch in which he averaged 1.3 points and went 2 for 31 from the field and 0 for 12 from behind the arc, the sophomore is averaging 9.3 points over the last four contests on 55% field goal and 50% (5 for 10) 3-point shooting. During OU's two-game winning streak, he is averaging 12.5 points (8 for 13 from the floor) in 21.3 minutes.

• OU head coach Porter Moser led No. 11 seed Loyola-Chicago to a 63-62 NCAA Tournament second-round win over No. 5 seed Tennessee, coached by Rick Barnes, in 2018. Sooners assistant coach Clayton Custer, that season's Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year, hit a 15-foot pull-up with 3.6 seconds left for the victory in Dallas. Loyola then beat Nevada and Kansas State to reach the Final Four.

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

SERIES HISTORY

• Oklahoma is 0-2 all-time against Tennessee. The first matchup was a 55-49 outcome on Dec. 13, 1968, at Stokely Athletics Center in Knoxville as part of the Volunteer Classic. OU, which was under the direction of second-year head coach John MacLeod, finished 7-19 that season, while Tennessee, coached by Ray Mears, posted a 21-7 record.

• Last season in Norman (Feb. 8), Oklahoma held No. 4 Tennessee to opponent season lows of 48 field goal attempts, five free throw tries and five offensive rebounds, but the Sooners shot a season-low .321 from the field and allowed the Vols to post a .604 field goal mark in a 70-52 home loss. OU trailed 13-12 five minutes into the game but was outscored 32-13 the rest of the half as UT made 15 of its first 17 shots and its first five 3-point attempts. The Sooners cut their 20-point halftime deficit to 15 by the 16:30 mark of the second half but the Vols quickly pushed the margin back to 20 and eventually went up by as many as 28 with 5:30 to go. Senior forward Jalon Moore, who finished with 12 points in 31 minutes, was the only OU player to score in double figures.

FAMILIAR FOE

• Oklahoma faced Rick Barnes-coached Texas teams 40 times from the 1998-99 through 2014-15 seasons when both programs were in the Big 12 Conference and won 19 of the matchups. The Sooners went 6-11 in road games against the Longhorns with Barnes on the sideline. The 40 meetings included six in the Big 12 Tournament, with both programs winning three times. The only Big 12 Tourney championship game featuring Oklahoma vs. Texas resulted in a 54-45 OU win in 2001 in Kansas City. It was the first of three straight Big 12 Tournament titles for the Sooners. OU also beat Barnes' 1990-91 Providence squad in a postseason NIT quarterfinals road game, 83-74.

PACK MENTALITY

• First-year Oklahoma guard Nijel Pack surpassed the 2,000-point mark Jan. 11 at Texas A&M and has 2,144 for his career to rank third nationally among active players.

• Pack ranks second among all active Division I players and 34th all-time with 393 career 3-point field goals. Entering the week, only 30 players have ever made 400 3-pointers.

• Pack scored over 20 points in each of OU's final three games of January (25 at Missouri, 22 vs. Arkansas and 23 vs. Texas), matching his longest career streak of 20-plus outings (also in 2022-23 with Miami and 2021-22 with Kansas State).

• Pack ranks second in the SEC with his 3.2 treys per game and third with his .432 3FG percentage.

• Pack has made at least one 3-pointer in 23 of 25 games, at least three in 16 contests and at least four in 11 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.

• 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 146 of his 147 career games.

OU'S 'X' FACTOR

• Junior guard Xzayvier Brown has scored at least 13 points in 14 of the last 16 games and at least 18 points in 11 of those 16 outings. He is averaging 17.8 in the 16 contests on 49% field goal, 40% (34-for-86) 3-point and 92% (55-for-60) free throw shooting. Included were six 20-point games in SEC play (23 in a win over Ole Miss, a season-high 24 against No. 19 Florida, 21 vs. No. 18 Alabama, 22 at South Carolina, 21 at Kentucky and 20 in a victory at No. 15 Vanderbilt).

• Junior guard Xzayvier Brown has scored at least 13 points in 14 of the last 16 games and has six outings of at least 20 points in SEC play (23 vs. Ole Miss, 24 vs. Florida, 21 vs. Alabama, 22 at South Carolina, 21 at Kentucky, 20 at Vanderbilt). He is averaging 17.8 points per game over the last 16.

• Brown ranks second in the SEC by shooting 91% from the free throw line (79 for 87). His streak of 27 makes ended Jan. 13 vs. Florida.

• After scoring at least 20 points in 14 of 35 games last year at Saint Joseph's, Brown has a team-high 11 games of 20-plus in 25 outings this season (Nijel Pack ranks second with six such efforts). Brown has 31 career games of at least 20.

HEY, THAT'S OFFENSIVE

• Oklahoma's 83.4 scoring average is its highest through a season's first 25 games since 2017-18 and fifth highest in the last 32 years. Similarly, OU's 9.9 3-pointers per game are its third most through 25 contests in the 40-year 3-point era.

• The Sooners have scored at least 85 points in 13 of their 25 games (52%), already their most 85-point efforts in a season since 2017-18 (15). For comparison, OU's last four teams scored 85-plus a combined 21 times in 133 games (16%).

• OU has committed single-digit turnovers 13 times, already its most such outings for an entire season in at least 40 years. The Sooners average just 10.0 turnovers per contest.

MORE OU NOTES AND NUGGETS

• Oklahoma has led for over 20 minutes in five of the last six games. It led for 22:38 in an 88-87 loss at Missouri, for 23:36 in an 83-79 loss to Arkansas, for 30:21 in a 79-69 loss to Texas, for 39:45 in a 92-91 win at Vanderbilt and for 20:57 in a 94-78 win over Georgia on Saturday.

• The Sooners are averaging 27.0 bench points in their three SEC wins and 13.2 bench points in their nine league losses.

• OU's top four scorers are all transfers in their first year in the program. Xzayvier Brown averages a team-high 16.1 points per game, while Nijel Pack (16.0), Tae Davis (13.0) and Derrion Reid (11.5) also average double figures. Mohamed Wague rounds out the starting five with his 6.4 per contest.

• Wague ranks second in the SEC in offensive rebound per game (3.1), 10th in blocks per game (1.3) and 13th in rebounds per contest (6.6)Davis (2.4) rank second and 11th in the SEC in offensive rebounds per game.

• Davis surpassed 1,000 career points and 500 rebounds this season and is one of just seven SEC players to have at least 1,200/550 for his career (he has 1,207 and 576).

• Davis went 41 for 66 (62%) from the free throw line over OU's first 17 games but is 27 for 32 (84%) over the last eight.

• OU announced on Dec. 28 the signing of 23-year-old Kirill Elatontsev (kee-REEL EE-el-uh-tahn-suv), a 6-11, 240-pound center from Russia who is averaging 5.1 points and 2.8 rebounds in 16.5 minutes per contest over his 13 games. He is shooting 58% from the field, 45% (9 for 20) from 3-point range and 69% (11 for 16) from the foul line.

• Long Beach State transfer Jadon Jones is averaging 5.5 points in 18.5 minutes per game over his 21 outings. He has also drawn 12 fouls while attempting a 3-pointer. The 2021-22 Big West Conference Defensive Player of the Year has 11 steals and eight blocks over the past eight games.

• Redshirt freshman forward Kuol Atak ranks third on the team with his 35 3-point makes (shooting 44%) despite playing in just 19 of 25 games and averaging only 12.6 minutes in those contests. He is 25 for 46 (54%) from long distance in home contests, including 16 for 26 (62%) over his last four outings at Lloyd Noble Center. He has played in just three of OU's last eight games (no points in one minute at South Carolina on Jan. 20, nine points in 16 minutes at Kentucky on Feb. 4 and 18 points on 6-for-7 3-point shooting Saturday vs. Georgia).