Sooners and Cyclones meet Saturday at 12:30 p.m. with fourth place in the Big 12 on the line.
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Senior forward Romero Osby |
QUICK PREVIEW
In a battle of Big 12 fourth-place teams, Oklahoma (18-9, 9-6) plays host to Iowa State (19-9, 9-6) on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. CT in Norman. Winner of four of its last six, OU is coming off a 92-86 overtime loss at Texas on Wednesday after leading by 22 with 7:54 remaining. OU is 6-1 in Big 12 home games. Iowa State hasn't played since a 108-96 home overtime defeat at the hands of Kansas on Monday. The Cyclones are 2-5 in Big 12 road games.
ON THE AIR
Saturday's contest will air on the Sooner Radio Network (KOKC 1520 AM in Oklahoma City; KTBZ 1430 AM in Tulsa; Sirius 93; XM 194) with Toby Rowland and Mike Houck announcing. The game will be televised by the Big 12 Network (KOCB Ch. 34 in OKC; KMYT Ch. 41 in Tulsa; ESPN Full Court) with Dave Armstrong and Bryndon Manzer calling the action.
TICKETS
• Tickets are available for $10, $30 and $40 at the OU Athletics Ticket Office (800-456-4668) and online here. Lloyd Noble Center's north and east ticket windows will open at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday.
• OU students may purchase a ticket for $10.
• A men's/women's doubleheader ticket (the OU women host Kansas at 7 p.m.) can be purchased for $20.
PROMOTIONS AND EVENTS
• The game will mark OU's Senior Day. Seniors Casey Arent, Andrew Fitzgerald, Sam Grooms, Romero Osby and Steven Pledger will be honored in a pre-game ceremony.
• Saturday's contest will also mark Military Appreciation Day. The first 1,000 fans in attendance will receive a free OU camouflage hat. Both teams will hold a large American flag during the National Anthem.
FIVE THINGS TO KNOW
• Oklahoma owns a 110-80 all-time record against Iowa State and is 60-22 in the series in Norman. OU had won 12 of 16 overall against the Cyclones but has lost the last three, including an 83-64 decision in Ames on Feb. 4.
• Over its last three games against Iowa State, OU has been outscored 111-33 from 3-point range. The Cyclones won all three contests.
• OU has won four of its last six games, with both of its defeats during the stretch coming in overtime on the road. Over the last five outings, the Sooners are shooting .495 from the field and .440 from 3-point range while holding opponents to .405 and .337 marks.
• Senior forward Romero Osby has led the team (or tied for the lead) in scoring in 10 of its 15 Big 12 games and has scored in double figures in all but one. He is averaging 16.9 points and 7.5 rebounds per game in conference play to rank second and fifth in the league, respectively. Osby also ranks fourth with his .530 field goal percentage in Big 12 play. He is averaging 21.8 points and 9.3 rebounds over the last four games (shooting .583 from the field).
• The Sooners have scored at least 72 points in each of their last six games and are averaging 81.3 points during the span. They averaged 62.5 points over the six games immediately prior to the stretch.
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| Sooner to Watch |
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Steven Pledger | Sr. | Guard
• Averaging 19.3 points on 18-for-35 3-point shooting over the last four outings
• Scored 18 points with three rebounds, three assists and one steal Wednesday at Texas
• Is fourth in the Big 12 with 2.2 treys per contest and seventh with his .375 3-point percentage
• Ranks second on the team by averaging 11.9 points in a team-high 28.4 minutes a game
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PREVIEWING IOWA STATE
• Iowa State comes to Norman with a 19-9 overall record and a 9-6 league mark (tied with OU in fourth place). The Cyclones are 15-1 at home this year and 3-7 in true road games. They have suffered three overtime losses in Big 12 play, including a 108-96 decision on Monday that snapped a 22-game home court winning streak. In Big 12 play, ISU leads the league with its 78.5 points per game and is averaging 88.4 points over the last five outings.
• Iowa State leads the nation in 3-pointers per game (9.9) and in Big 12 play is averaging 10.6 makes per outing. The Cyclones have made at least 10 treys in seven straight contests (averaging 12.4 in those seven games) and canned a school-record 17 against Kansas on Monday. They have made 62 more treys than their opponents in Big 12 play (an average difference of 12.4 points per game).
• Senior guard Will Clyburn is averaging a team-high 14.9 points per game on the year and ranks second on the squad with 7.3 rebounds per contest and third with 2.6 assists. The Utah transfer has attempted a team-high 149 free throws, 61 more than the Cyclone with the next most attempts.
• Fellow senior guard Tyrus McGee, from Stringtown, Okla., averages 13.5 points in just 24.4 minutes per game in a reserve role. He leads the Big 12 with his 2.8 3-pointers per game and with his .459 season 3-point field goal percentage. McGee has shot 50 percent or better from long range in five of the last six games (combined 22-for-40 in those six).
• Forwards Georges Niang and Melvin Ejim average 11.6 and 10.8 points per game, respectively. Niang, a freshman, is shooting a team-best .511 from the field and contributes 4.6 rebounds an outing. Ejim, a junior, leads the Big 12 with his 9.6 boards per game.
OU-IOWA STATE SERIES HISTORY
Oklahoma owns a 110-80 all-time series lead against Iowa State and is 60-22 in games played in Norman. The Sooners had won five straight games in the series and 12 of 16, but the Cyclones have won the last three. OU is 12-8 against Iowa State since the start of the Big 12 Conference (7-1 at Lloyd Noble Center).
FEB. 4 VS. THE CYCLONES
• Oklahoma gave up a then-season-high 83 points in a 19-point road loss at Iowa State on Feb. 4. The Cyclones outscored the Sooners by 24 points from 3-point range, going 11-for-27 while holding OU to a 3-for-16 performance. It was ISU's 20th straight home win.
• The Cyclones broke open an 8-8 game by going on a 9-2 run to take a 17-10 lead with 14:28 left in the first half and never trailed afterward. They led by as many as 25 (58-33).
• Senior Andrew Fitzgerald led the Sooners in scoring for the first time this year with his season-high-tying 12-point effort off the bench. Fitzgerald was 5-for-11 from the field and pulled down a team-high seven rebounds in his 18 minutes.
• Freshman Isaiah Cousins matched a career high with 10 points in a reserve role. His 25 minutes were his most in 14 games.
• Junior Cameron Clark also netted 10 points off the bench on 5-for-8 shooting, just his third double-digit scoring game of the year. Fitzgerald, Cousins and Clark combined to go 13-for-26 (.500) from the field while the rest of the team went 13-for-45 (.289).
• The Sooners posted a 42-33 rebounding advantage over the Big 12 leader in rebounding margin entering the game. Iowa State came into the contest outboarding its foes by 6.7 per contest. OU's 21 offensive rebounds were a season high. The Sooners notched a 23-9 advantage in second-chance points.
OU TEAM UPDATE
• As of Thursday, Oklahoma is ranked 27th out of 347 Division I teams in the CBSSports.com RPI (third best in Big 12 behind No. 4 Kansas and No. 21 Kansas State), with a strength of schedule ranked No. 9 (second best in Big 12). OU was projected on Thursday by USA Today as a No. 7 NCAA Tournament seed.
• The Sooners have shot better from the field than their opponent in 12 of 15 conference outings, including each of the last six. OU is shooting .456 in Big 12 play (ranks second) while holding foes to a combined .410 mark (ranks fourth in field goal percentage defense).
• Oklahoma owns a .439 season field goal percentage but is shooting .495 over the last five games. It has held opponents to a .405 mark during the stretch.
• OU leads the Big 12 with its .744 season free throw shooting mark and owns a .754 mark in league play (ranks second behind Iowa State). The Sooners own three of the conference's top four free throw performances of the year (1.000 vs. TCU, .947 vs. Texas A&M and .938 vs. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi). They are shooting .797 from the charity stripe over the last six outings.
• In its seven Big 12 home games, OU is shooting .840 from the free throw line and outscoring its opponents by 8.9 points a game there. In eight league road games, the Sooners are shooting .655 and are being outscored by an average of 4.5 points at the stripe.
• In Big 12 play, opponents have made 106 3-pointers to the Sooners' 74. That's a difference of 96 points, or 6.4 per game. In eight conference road games, opponents have made 65 treys to OU's 41 (a difference of 9.0 points per game).
• The Sooners have played 15 games away from home and just 12 in Norman. The 12 home games are the fewest among the 75 teams in the six "power" conferences (ACC, Big East, Big 12, Big Ten, Pac-12 and SEC). Eight Big 12 teams have played at least 15 home games.
• With 18 wins, OU has already surpassed its victory total from each of the last three years. The Sooners won 13 games in 2009-10, 14 in 2010-11 and 15 last season. OU's nine Big 12 wins are also its most since 2009 (won four in 2010 and five each of the last two years).
• Five of OU's nine losses have come to teams ranked in the top 15 of this week's AP poll (Gonzaga, Kansas, Kansas State [twice] and Oklahoma State own a combined average record of 24-4). Three of the other four losses came by one point (Stephen F. Austin), three points (at Arkansas) or in overtime (at Texas). Stephen F. Austin is 23-3 and leads the nation in scoring defense.
• Oklahoma's bench has outscored opponent reserves by 128 points this season, or 4.7 a game. The OU bench has outscored its counterpart in eight of the last nine games and in 11 of 15 conference outings.
UP NEXT
The Sooners play at home again on Wednesday when they host West Virginia at 7 p.m. CT. The game will be televised by ESPN2.
