OU looks for 21st win before beginning postseason play at the Big 12 Championship.
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Senior Forward Romero Osby |
QUICK PREVIEW
Oklahoma (20-9, 11-6) engages in its final game of the regular season
when it plays at TCU (10-20, 1-16) on Saturday at 4 p.m. CT in Fort Worth, Texas.
Winners of six of their last eight, the Sooners are coming off an 83-70 home
victory over West Virginia on Wednesday. They are 8-7 away from home this season.
TCU lost 79-68 at Kansas State on Tuesday, its eighth straight defeat. The Horned
Frogs are 8-9 at home on the year.
ON THE AIR
Saturday's contest will air on the Sooner Radio Network (KOKC 1520 AM in Oklahoma
City; KTBZ 1430 AM in Tulsa) with Toby Rowland and Mike Houck
announcing. The game will be televised by FS Southwest with Brian Estridge
and John Denton calling the action.
FIVE THINGS TO KNOW
• Oklahoma could be the No. 3, No. 4 or No. 5 seed in next week's Big
12 Championship in Kansas City. If OU beats TCU and if Kansas State wins at
Oklahoma State, the Sooners will be the No. 3 seed. If OU and Kansas (at Baylor)
lose, and ISU and KSU win, the Sooners will be the No. 5 seed. Otherwise, the
Sooners will be the No. 4 seed.
• Over the last eight games, the Sooners have trailed for a total of just 24
minutes and 24 seconds (out of 330 minutes). They were never behind in four
of those games (TCU, Baylor, Iowa State and West Virginia), and trailed for
2:00 against Kansas, 16:01 at Oklahoma State and 5:09 at Texas. Over the last
five games, OU has trailed for just 6:23 of 205 minutes.
• Oklahoma tied an NCAA record two games ago for most free throw attempts without
a miss by going 34-for-34 against Iowa State. The Sooners lead the Big 12 and
rank 11th nationally with their .760 season free throw mark (school record is
.767 in 2001-02) and are shooting a league-best .779 in Big 12 play. In Big
12 home games, OU shot a gaudy .857 from the foul line. Over its final three
home games (vs. Baylor, ISU and West Virginia), the Sooners went 94-for-106
(.887) at the stripe.
• The Sooners have scored at least 72 points in each of their last eight games
and have registered at least 83 in each of their last five. They are averaging
82.1 points over the last eight contests after averaging 62.5 over the six games
immediately prior to the stretch. Over the last five outings, OU is averaging
86.6 points.
• Senior forward Romero Osby has led the team (or tied for the lead)
in scoring in 12 of its 17 Big 12 games and has scored in double figures in
all but one. In Big 12 play, he leads the league in field goals (103) while
ranking second in scoring (17.7 ppg) and field goal percentage (.539), and fifth
in rebounding (7.5 rpg) and free throw percentage (.783). Over the last six
games, he is averaging 22.5 points and 8.7 rebounds while shooting .589 from
the field. Osby is the only player in the Big 12 who is shooting at least 50
percent from the field (.528), 50 percent from 3-point range (.500) and 80 percent
from the foul line (.804).
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| Sooner to Watch |
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Steven Pledger | Sr. | Guard
• Coming off a 23-point, 8-rebound performance
Wednesday vs. West Virginia
• Averaging 12.3 points per contest, the second-highest
total on the team
• Ranks 3rd in Big 12 with 2.4 treys per game and
4th with 38.5% 3-point field goal mark
• Averaging 19.0 points the last 6 outings and
has scored at least 14 in each
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PREVIEWING TCU
• After posting a 9-4 non-conference record, TCU has gone 1-16 in its inaugural
season of Big 12 play for a 10-20 overall mark. The Horned Frogs' lone league
victory came Feb. 6 at home over then-No. 5 Kansas, 62-55. They are 8-9 in home
games this year (1-7 in Big 12 play). TCU is coming off a 79-68 loss at Kansas
State on Saturday.
• Sophomore guard Kyan Anderson leads the team with his 12.1 points,
3.3 assists and 1.4 steals per game, and has made a team-high 52 3-pointers
(shooting .354 from long range). A starter in all 30 games, he is averaging
a team-high 33.6 minutes an outing. Anderson is coming off a 29-point effort
at Kansas State in which he was 10-for-15 from the field and 5-for-8 from long
distance.
• Senior forward Garlon Green ranks second on the team with his 9.6 points
per outing and contributes 3.5 rebounds a contest. He ranks second on the squad
with 23 3-pointers and is shooting .319 from long distance. Green scored 31
points in a December win at Rice and 20 in the victory over Kansas.
• Senior forward Adrick McKinney averages 7.6 points (ranks third on
squad) and a team-high 6.6 rebounds a game.
• Trent Johnson is in his first year as TCU's head coach. He is in his
14th year overall and owns a 236-205 record. Johnson also coached at Nevada,
Stanford and LSU.
OU-TCU SERIES HISTORY
Oklahoma owns a 12-1 all-time record against TCU and is 5-0 in Fort Worth. The
Sooners have won the last four meetings, including a 90-66 outcome in Fort Worth
on Dec. 7, 2007. TCU's lone win in the series came on Dec. 27, 1986, in the
All-College Tournament in Oklahoma City. The unranked Horned Frogs posted a
95-82 win over the sixth-ranked Sooners.
FEB. 11 VS. THE HORNED FROGS
• The Sooners' 75-48 home win over TCU on Feb. 11 represented their largest
margin of victory (27) in a conference game in five seasons (also beat Texas
A&M by 27 points, 64-37, on March 1, 2008, in Norman).
• OU held TCU scoreless for the game's first 8:08 until the Horned Frogs made
a free throw. TCU's first field goal didn't come until 11:11 had elapsed (the
Sooners opened with a 15-1 lead).
• After TCU scored seven points in a span of 1:30 to make it 18-8, Oklahoma
closed the half on an 18-3 run. OU's 36-11 halftime lead marked its largest
of the season. The Sooners extended their lead to as many as 36 points in the
second half (53-17).
• TCU's 11 first-half points were the fewest by an OU opponent in five seasons
(Texas A&M scored just 10 points on March 1, 2008).
• TCU entered the game holding opponents to a .419 field goal percentage on
the year, but the Sooners recorded a .500 figure on the night. It was OU's third-best
shooting performance of the season.
• Forwards Amath M'Baye and Romero Osby were the only Sooners
who scored in double figures, with 12 and 11 points, respectively, on combined
9-for-16 shooting. OU's bench outscored TCU's 34-11.
OKLAHOMA TEAM UPDATE
• As of Friday, Oklahoma is ranked 23rd out of 347 Division I teams in the CBSSports.com
RPI (third best in Big 12 behind No. 5 Kansas and No. 21 Kansas State), with
a strength of schedule ranked No. 9 (best in Big 12). OU was projected on Friday
by USA Today as a No. 7 NCAA Tournament seed.
• In Big 12 play, OU ranks in the top three of the league in scoring offense
(second at 73.9 ppg), field goal percentage (third at .457), 3-point field goal
percentage (third at .370), free throw percentage (first at .779) and rebounding
margin (second at +2.6).
• The Sooners finished their home schedule by going nearly a month without trailing
at Lloyd Noble Center. The last time they were behind at home was Feb. 9 vs.
Kansas (14-13 with 14:27 left in first half). In four home games since, they
never trailed against TCU, Baylor, Iowa State or West Virginia. OU was ahead
or tied for each of its final 194 minutes and 26 seconds at home.
• Oklahoma has won six of its last eight games, with both of its defeats during
the stretch coming in overtime on the road (Oklahoma State and Texas). The Sooners
did not trail in the second half of either defeat.
• The Sooners have led at halftime in each of the last eight games. In each
of the last seven outings, the halftime advantage has been at least eight points
(average halftime lead over the last seven games is 15.0 points). It has led
by double figures at half in each of the last four outings.
• OU has shot better from the field than its opponent in 13 of 17 conference
outings, including seven of the last eight. The Sooners are shooting .457 in
Big 12 play while holding foes to a combined .418 mark.
• Oklahoma shot .437 from the field over its first 10 conference games but is
shooting .488 over the last seven contests.
• OU leads the Big 12 with its .760 season free throw percentage and owns a
league-best .779 mark in conference play. The Sooners own four of the Big 12's
top five free throw performances of the year (1.000 [34-for-34] vs. Iowa State,
1.000 [14-for-14] vs. TCU, .947 vs. Texas A&M and .938 vs. Texas A&M-Corpus
Christi). They are shooting .828 from the charity stripe over the last eight
outings.
• In its nine Big 12 home games, OU shot .857 from the free throw line and outscored
its opponents by 10.8 points a game there. In eight Big 12 road games, OU is
shooting .655 and is being outscored by an average of 4.5 points at the stripe.
• In the first half of the Big 12 season, opponents made 67 3-pointers to OU's
34 (difference of 11.0 points per game) and the Sooners posted a 5-4 record.
In eight league games since, opponents have made 60 treys to OU's 56 (difference
of just 1.5 points a contest) and the Sooners have gone 6-2. OU is outshooting
its opponents .427 to .357 from 3-point range over the last eight contests.
• OU's 11 conference wins are more than it compiled over the two previous seasons
combined (won five each of the last two years).
• Five of OU's nine losses have come to teams ranked in the top 13 of this week's
AP poll (Gonzaga, Kansas, Kansas State [twice] and Oklahoma State own a combined
average record of 26-5). 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 25-3 and leads the nation in scoring defense.
• The Sooners have already won two more games away from home this year (8-7
record) than they did over the last two seasons combined (6-25 record). Their
eight wins away from home rank second in the league (Kansas has won nine). OU
is 5-6 in true road games this season after going 1-9 each of the last two years.
UP NEXT
OU will play a Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship quarterfinals game next Thursday
in Kansas City, Mo.
