Completed Event: Men's Basketball at Tennessee on February 18, 2026 , Loss , 66, to, 89
Final
Men's Basketball
66
at Tennessee
89
University of Oklahoma Athletics
Wednesday, April 1
7 p.m. CT
University of Oklahoma
vs
Colorado
Photo by: Morgan Givens/University of Oklahoma
OU Meets Old Foe Colorado in College Basketball Crown First Round
March 31, 2026 | Men's Basketball
NORMAN — Oklahoma (19-15, 7-11 SEC) takes on Colorado (17-15, 7-11 Big 12) in the quarterfinals of the College Basketball Crown on Wednesday at 7 p.m. CT inside MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The winner will play Baylor or Minnesota in Saturday's semifinals. The other side of the bracket features Creighton, Rutgers, Stanford and West Virginia.
Wednesday's game will be televised by FS1 with Tim Brando, Jim Jackson and Allison Williams announcing. It will air on the Sooner Sports Radio Network (KRXO 107.7 FM in Oklahoma City; KMOD 97.5 FM in Tulsa; Varsity Radio App) with Toby Rowland and Kevin Henry on the call.
Oklahoma has won eight of its last 11, including six of its last seven. In the eight victories, OU led for 285:56 of 365 minutes and by double digits for a combined 134:47. Five Sooners averaged between 11.4 and 19.1 points per game in the eight wins and OU shot a combined 52% from the field and 45% (84 for 188) from 3-point range.
The first team left out of the NCAA Tournament, Oklahoma went 2-1 in the SEC Tournament as the No. 11 seed, posting an 86-74 first-round win over No. 14 seed South Carolina and an 83-63 second-round victory over No. 6 seed Texas A&M before falling 82-79 to No. 3 seed Arkansas in the quarterfinals. OU outshot its three opponents 49%-41% from the field and averaged just 7.7 turnovers per outing.
The Sooners led the SEC in league play with their 39% 3-point field goal mark and ranked fourth with their 9.6 treys per outing. Over the last 10 games, they are shooting 42% (98 for 234) from behind the arc. On the season, OU is averaging 9.7 treys per outing (the school record is 10.3 in 2015-16).
Nijel Pack, a first-year Sooner who is in his sixth year overall, leads active Division I players (ranks 19th all-time) with 426 career 3-pointers and third with 2,307 points. Pack paces the SEC with his .452 3-point field goal percentage (ranks fourth nationally) and with his 3.3 treys per game. Over the last 10 outings, he is a sizzling 37 for 71 (52%) from long range.
• Colorado owns a 17-15 record and tied for 11th place in the 16-team Big 12 Conference with a 7-11 mark. The Buffaloes, who won their first eight games of the season and 10 of their first 11, were victors in three of their last five league games before falling to Oklahoma State, 92-83, in the conference tournament first round in Kansas City, Mo. CU is under the direction of 16th-year head coach Tad Boyle, who is 329-219 with the Buffs.
• Oklahoma is playing its first game in Las Vegas since No. 16 Washington beat the No. 15 Sooners 69-67 in the 2014-15 season in the MGM Grand Showcase at MGM Grand Garden Arena. OU fell behind 37-17 and trailed 40-27 at halftime before pulling to within one with 57 seconds left in the game. Buddy Hield, who was named consensus national player of the year the following season, and Isaiah Cousins led OU with 17 points each.
• OU is the only Power Five team and one of just three out of 361 squads nationally to start the same lineup every game this season (the others are Merrimac and Stephen F. Austin). The Sooners' starters have been guards Xzayvier Brown and Nijel Pack, forwards Tae Davis and Derrion Reid and center Mohamed Wague. Colorado has started seven lineups.
• First-year Sooners Pack (21.0), Reid (17.3), Davis (16.3) and Brown (11.3) all averaged double figures in points per game over OU's three SEC Tournament games in Nashville.
• Over the last seven games (6-1 record), the Sooners have trailed for only 40:54 out of 285 minutes (0:15 vs. Auburn, 1:08 at LSU, 0:31 vs. Missouri, 7:43 at Texas; 16:07 vs. South Carolina; 0:00 vs. Texas A&M; 15:10 vs. Arkansas).
• Oklahoma has outshot each of its last seven opponents from the field (combined 50%-42%) after outshooting foes just four times in its first 14 SEC games. OU has held each of its last eight opponents to sub-50% field goal shooting.
• Wague is coming off the most productive eight-game stretch of his career, averaging 10.3 points, 7.9 rebounds, 2.0 blocked shots and 1.1 steals while going 30 for 40 (75%) from the free throw line against Texas A&M (twice), Auburn, LSU, Missouri, Texas, South Carolina and Arkansas. Included for the fifth-year center was a 12-point, 13-rebound performance against the Aggies (Feb. 21) and 18 points, nine boards and career highs of four blocks and four steals vs. Auburn (Feb. 24). He entered the eight-game stretch averaging 6.2 points, 6.4 rebounds, 1.3 blocks and 0.5 steals while shooting 60% from the foul line on the season.
• The Sooners will be without sophomore guard Dayton Forsythe for the Crown, as he had successful right ankle surgery on March 25. Forsythe played in 28 games off the bench this season, averaging 5.3 points in 17.3 minutes per outing. He scored in double figures six times on the year, including in four of OU's last 11 games.
• Going back to the 1981-82 season, OU is 46-7 (.868) in its last 53 games against Colorado. The last meeting resulted in a 67-60 Sooners win on Jan. 22, 2011, in Norman. Cade Davis led OU with 15 points and eight rebounds for Jeff Capel's squad. That marked Tad Boyle's first season as the Buffaloes' head coach.
• OU holds a 15-5 series lead in neutral-site meetings, including an 8-0 mark in Big Eight/Big 12 Tourney games (7-0 in Kansas City and 1-0 in Dallas).
• OU trailed by 13 at halftime and by 14 in the second half before rallying with the help of its zone defense. The Buffs made just one 3-pointer on 16 attempts after halftime as the Sooners engineered the 24-point turnaround. It marked Oklahoma's third win over CU on the season and 24th straight in the series overall.
• Redshirt freshman Jeff Webster (7-for-10 field goal and 10-for-10 free throw shooting) paced OU with 24 points, while senior forward Kermit Holmes recorded 17 points and 16 rebounds. Guard Terry Evans and forward Roland Ware came off the bench to contribute 16 and 14 points, respectively. Colorado senior center Shaun Vandiver scored a game-high 31 points and grabbed 11 boards in his last career game.
• The Sooners went on to lose to Stanford in the NIT championship game, 78-72. Brent Price, who was held to eight points against Colorado, scored a game-high 26 points, while Bryan Sallier, who was scoreless against the Buffs, netted 24 vs. the Cardinal.
• Pack leads active Division I players and ranks 19th all-time with 426 career 3-point field goals. The only player to ever wear an OU uniform who has made more career treys is Umoja Gibson (428; was a Sooner during the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons). Pack needs five 3-point makes to move into the top 15 all-time.
• Pack leads the SEC with his .452 season 3-point field goal percentage and 3.3 treys per game. Nationally, he ranks fourth and 13th, respectively.
• Pack has scored 20-plus points in three of the last four games and five of the last seven (22 vs. Auburn, 21 at LSU, 23 at Texas, 24 vs. South Carolina and 20 vs. Texas A&M).
• Pack has made at least one 3-pointer in 32 of 34 games, at least three in 22 contests and at least five in 10 outings. His 10 games of at least five treys are tied for fourth most among Power Five players (Texas Tech's Donovan Atwell leads with 12) and pace the SEC (next most is eight).
• 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, 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 155 of his 156 career games.
• After averaging 8.5 points over a recent four-game span, Brown is averaging 14.5 over the last six, with 20- and 21-point efforts at LSU and Texas.
• Brown shot 34% from 3-point range in OU's first 26 games but is shooting 44% (14 for 32) over the last eight outings. He made two treys in seven of those eight contests.
• Brown ranks second in the SEC by shooting 88% from the free throw line (92 for 104). He assembled a streak of 27 makes (ended Jan. 13 vs. Florida).
• Brown logged a team-high-tying eight outings of 20-plus points in SEC play.
• After scoring at least 20 points in 14 of 35 games last year at Saint Joseph's, Brown has a team-high 13 games of 20-plus in 34 outings this season. He has 33 career games of at least 20.
• The Sooners have scored at least 85 points in 16 of their 34 games (47%). It's their most 85-point efforts since registering 17 such outings in 1992-93 (33 years ago). For even more perspective, OU's last four teams scored 85-plus a combined 21 times in 133 games (16%).
• The Sooners have committed single-digit turnovers 19 times, their most such outings for an entire season in at least 40 years. They average just 9.9 turnovers per contest. Over the past 50 seasons, the fewest turnovers OU averaged per game was 11.0 in 2020-21.
• OU's top four scorers are all transfers in their first year in the program. Nijel Pack averages a team-high 16.5 points per game, while Xzayvier Brown (15.3), Tae Davis (12.5) and Derrion Reid (11.8) also average double figures. Mohamed Wague rounds out the starting five with his 7.1 per contest.
• Long Beach State transfer Jadon Jones shot 30% from 3-point range over his first 19 outings, but over the last 11 games is 17 for 38 (45%) from behind the arc. The sixth-year player has drawn 14 fouls while attempting a 3-pointer this season. The 2021-22 Big West Conference Defensive Player of the Year has 25 steals and 17 blocks over the past 17 games.
• 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 4.3 points and 2.4 rebounds in 14.1 minutes per contest over his 22 games. He is shooting 54% from the field, 34% (11 for 32) from 3-point range and 73% (19 for 26) from the foul line.
• Redshirt freshman forward Kuol Atak ranks third on the team with his 38 3-point makes (shooting 43%) despite playing in just 21 of 34 games and averaging only 12.2 minutes in those contests. Twice this season he has made six treys in a game. Atak, who is 27 for 52 (52%) from long distance in home outings, has played in just five of OU's last 17 games (none of the last seven).
Wednesday's game will be televised by FS1 with Tim Brando, Jim Jackson and Allison Williams announcing. It will air on the Sooner Sports Radio Network (KRXO 107.7 FM in Oklahoma City; KMOD 97.5 FM in Tulsa; Varsity Radio App) with Toby Rowland and Kevin Henry on the call.
Oklahoma has won eight of its last 11, including six of its last seven. In the eight victories, OU led for 285:56 of 365 minutes and by double digits for a combined 134:47. Five Sooners averaged between 11.4 and 19.1 points per game in the eight wins and OU shot a combined 52% from the field and 45% (84 for 188) from 3-point range.
The first team left out of the NCAA Tournament, Oklahoma went 2-1 in the SEC Tournament as the No. 11 seed, posting an 86-74 first-round win over No. 14 seed South Carolina and an 83-63 second-round victory over No. 6 seed Texas A&M before falling 82-79 to No. 3 seed Arkansas in the quarterfinals. OU outshot its three opponents 49%-41% from the field and averaged just 7.7 turnovers per outing.
The Sooners led the SEC in league play with their 39% 3-point field goal mark and ranked fourth with their 9.6 treys per outing. Over the last 10 games, they are shooting 42% (98 for 234) from behind the arc. On the season, OU is averaging 9.7 treys per outing (the school record is 10.3 in 2015-16).
Nijel Pack, a first-year Sooner who is in his sixth year overall, leads active Division I players (ranks 19th all-time) with 426 career 3-pointers and third with 2,307 points. Pack paces the SEC with his .452 3-point field goal percentage (ranks fourth nationally) and with his 3.3 treys per game. Over the last 10 outings, he is a sizzling 37 for 71 (52%) from long range.
SCENE SETTERS
• Oklahoma is making its third postseason appearance under fifth-year head coach Porter Moser. The Sooners went 1-1 in the NIT in his first season (2021-22) and lost a first-round NCAA Tournament contest last season as a No. 9 seed to two-time defending champion Connecticut.• Colorado owns a 17-15 record and tied for 11th place in the 16-team Big 12 Conference with a 7-11 mark. The Buffaloes, who won their first eight games of the season and 10 of their first 11, were victors in three of their last five league games before falling to Oklahoma State, 92-83, in the conference tournament first round in Kansas City, Mo. CU is under the direction of 16th-year head coach Tad Boyle, who is 329-219 with the Buffs.
• Oklahoma is playing its first game in Las Vegas since No. 16 Washington beat the No. 15 Sooners 69-67 in the 2014-15 season in the MGM Grand Showcase at MGM Grand Garden Arena. OU fell behind 37-17 and trailed 40-27 at halftime before pulling to within one with 57 seconds left in the game. Buddy Hield, who was named consensus national player of the year the following season, and Isaiah Cousins led OU with 17 points each.
• OU is the only Power Five team and one of just three out of 361 squads nationally to start the same lineup every game this season (the others are Merrimac and Stephen F. Austin). The Sooners' starters have been guards Xzayvier Brown and Nijel Pack, forwards Tae Davis and Derrion Reid and center Mohamed Wague. Colorado has started seven lineups.
• First-year Sooners Pack (21.0), Reid (17.3), Davis (16.3) and Brown (11.3) all averaged double figures in points per game over OU's three SEC Tournament games in Nashville.
• Over the last seven games (6-1 record), the Sooners have trailed for only 40:54 out of 285 minutes (0:15 vs. Auburn, 1:08 at LSU, 0:31 vs. Missouri, 7:43 at Texas; 16:07 vs. South Carolina; 0:00 vs. Texas A&M; 15:10 vs. Arkansas).
• Oklahoma has outshot each of its last seven opponents from the field (combined 50%-42%) after outshooting foes just four times in its first 14 SEC games. OU has held each of its last eight opponents to sub-50% field goal shooting.
• Wague is coming off the most productive eight-game stretch of his career, averaging 10.3 points, 7.9 rebounds, 2.0 blocked shots and 1.1 steals while going 30 for 40 (75%) from the free throw line against Texas A&M (twice), Auburn, LSU, Missouri, Texas, South Carolina and Arkansas. Included for the fifth-year center was a 12-point, 13-rebound performance against the Aggies (Feb. 21) and 18 points, nine boards and career highs of four blocks and four steals vs. Auburn (Feb. 24). He entered the eight-game stretch averaging 6.2 points, 6.4 rebounds, 1.3 blocks and 0.5 steals while shooting 60% from the foul line on the season.
• The Sooners will be without sophomore guard Dayton Forsythe for the Crown, as he had successful right ankle surgery on March 25. Forsythe played in 28 games off the bench this season, averaging 5.3 points in 17.3 minutes per outing. He scored in double figures six times on the year, including in four of OU's last 11 games.
OU-COLORADO SERIES HISTORY
• Oklahoma owns an 88-49 (.642) all-time record against Colorado. The teams first played in the 1938-39 season and last met during the 2010-11 campaign, the Buffaloes' last year in the Big 12 before moving to the Pac-12.• Going back to the 1981-82 season, OU is 46-7 (.868) in its last 53 games against Colorado. The last meeting resulted in a 67-60 Sooners win on Jan. 22, 2011, in Norman. Cade Davis led OU with 15 points and eight rebounds for Jeff Capel's squad. That marked Tad Boyle's first season as the Buffaloes' head coach.
• OU holds a 15-5 series lead in neutral-site meetings, including an 8-0 mark in Big Eight/Big 12 Tourney games (7-0 in Kansas City and 1-0 in Dallas).
PREVIOUSLY VS. CU IN THE POSTSEASON
• Wednesday's game will mark the second postseason matchup between Oklahoma and Colorado, with Billy Tubbs' Sooners posting an 88-78 win over Joe Harrington's Buffaloes in the 1991 NIT semifinals at Madison Square Garden in New York City.• OU trailed by 13 at halftime and by 14 in the second half before rallying with the help of its zone defense. The Buffs made just one 3-pointer on 16 attempts after halftime as the Sooners engineered the 24-point turnaround. It marked Oklahoma's third win over CU on the season and 24th straight in the series overall.
• Redshirt freshman Jeff Webster (7-for-10 field goal and 10-for-10 free throw shooting) paced OU with 24 points, while senior forward Kermit Holmes recorded 17 points and 16 rebounds. Guard Terry Evans and forward Roland Ware came off the bench to contribute 16 and 14 points, respectively. Colorado senior center Shaun Vandiver scored a game-high 31 points and grabbed 11 boards in his last career game.
• The Sooners went on to lose to Stanford in the NIT championship game, 78-72. Brent Price, who was held to eight points against Colorado, scored a game-high 26 points, while Bryan Sallier, who was scoreless against the Buffs, netted 24 vs. the Cardinal.
PACK MENTALITY
• First-year Oklahoma guard Nijel Pack surpassed the 2,000-points mark Jan. 11 at Texas A&M and has 2,307 for his career to rank third nationally among active players.• Pack leads active Division I players and ranks 19th all-time with 426 career 3-point field goals. The only player to ever wear an OU uniform who has made more career treys is Umoja Gibson (428; was a Sooner during the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons). Pack needs five 3-point makes to move into the top 15 all-time.
• Pack leads the SEC with his .452 season 3-point field goal percentage and 3.3 treys per game. Nationally, he ranks fourth and 13th, respectively.
• Pack has scored 20-plus points in three of the last four games and five of the last seven (22 vs. Auburn, 21 at LSU, 23 at Texas, 24 vs. South Carolina and 20 vs. Texas A&M).
• Pack has made at least one 3-pointer in 32 of 34 games, at least three in 22 contests and at least five in 10 outings. His 10 games of at least five treys are tied for fourth most among Power Five players (Texas Tech's Donovan Atwell leads with 12) and pace the SEC (next most is eight).
• 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, 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 155 of his 156 career games.
OU's 'X' FACTOR
• Junior guard Xzayvier Brown averaged 18.7 points over a 15-game span from Dec. 13 through Feb. 7 and ranks second on the team with his 15.3 points per contest on the season. He also leads the team with 3.2 assists and 1.3 steals per outing.• After averaging 8.5 points over a recent four-game span, Brown is averaging 14.5 over the last six, with 20- and 21-point efforts at LSU and Texas.
• Brown shot 34% from 3-point range in OU's first 26 games but is shooting 44% (14 for 32) over the last eight outings. He made two treys in seven of those eight contests.
• Brown ranks second in the SEC by shooting 88% from the free throw line (92 for 104). He assembled a streak of 27 makes (ended Jan. 13 vs. Florida).
• Brown logged a team-high-tying eight outings of 20-plus points in SEC play.
• After scoring at least 20 points in 14 of 35 games last year at Saint Joseph's, Brown has a team-high 13 games of 20-plus in 34 outings this season. He has 33 career games of at least 20.
MORE OU NOTES AND NUGGETS
• Oklahoma has led for over 20 minutes in 12 of the last 15 games and has been ahead for 363 out of 490 minutes (74% of game play) in those 12 contests.• The Sooners have scored at least 85 points in 16 of their 34 games (47%). It's their most 85-point efforts since registering 17 such outings in 1992-93 (33 years ago). For even more perspective, OU's last four teams scored 85-plus a combined 21 times in 133 games (16%).
• The Sooners have committed single-digit turnovers 19 times, their most such outings for an entire season in at least 40 years. They average just 9.9 turnovers per contest. Over the past 50 seasons, the fewest turnovers OU averaged per game was 11.0 in 2020-21.
• OU's top four scorers are all transfers in their first year in the program. Nijel Pack averages a team-high 16.5 points per game, while Xzayvier Brown (15.3), Tae Davis (12.5) and Derrion Reid (11.8) also average double figures. Mohamed Wague rounds out the starting five with his 7.1 per contest.
• Long Beach State transfer Jadon Jones shot 30% from 3-point range over his first 19 outings, but over the last 11 games is 17 for 38 (45%) from behind the arc. The sixth-year player has drawn 14 fouls while attempting a 3-pointer this season. The 2021-22 Big West Conference Defensive Player of the Year has 25 steals and 17 blocks over the past 17 games.
• 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 4.3 points and 2.4 rebounds in 14.1 minutes per contest over his 22 games. He is shooting 54% from the field, 34% (11 for 32) from 3-point range and 73% (19 for 26) from the foul line.
• Redshirt freshman forward Kuol Atak ranks third on the team with his 38 3-point makes (shooting 43%) despite playing in just 21 of 34 games and averaging only 12.2 minutes in those contests. Twice this season he has made six treys in a game. Atak, who is 27 for 52 (52%) from long distance in home outings, has played in just five of OU's last 17 games (none of the last seven).
UP NEXT
• If OU beats Colorado, it will play the Baylor-Minnesota winner in Saturday's 12:30 p.m. CT semifinal at T-Mobile Arena (televised by FOX).
Players Mentioned
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/ Men's BasketballPorter Moser Media Availability - 3/30/26
Monday, March 30
Xzayvier Brown and Nijel Pack Media Availability - 3/30/26
Monday, March 30
Porter Moser, Nijel Pack, and Tae Davis Postgame vs Arkansas
Friday, March 13
Porter Moser, Nijel Pack and Derrion Reid Postgame vs. Texas A&M
Thursday, March 12
