Here’s everything you need to know about OU’s game against Iowa State.
Teams: Oklahoma (15-8, 3-5) vs. Iowa State (13-11, 3-6)
Date: Wednesday, Feb. 13
Tip: 7:05 p.m. CST
Site: Norman, Okla. (Lloyd Noble Center)
Radio: Sooner Radio Network (KOKC 1520-AM in OKC; KTBZ 1430-AM in Tulsa; Sirius 122)
TV: ESPN Plus (KOCB Ch. 34/Cox 11 in OKC; KWHB Ch. 47/Cox 7 in Tulsa; ESPN Full Court)
Series: Oklahoma leads 106-77
GAME PREVIEW
Still projected as an NCAA Tournament team despite three straight losses, Oklahoma (15-8, 3-5) plays host to Iowa State (13-11, 3-6) on Wednesday at 7 p.m. CST inside Lloyd Noble Center. The Sooners, who are halfway through their Big 12 schedule, stand in a tie with Nebraska and Texas Tech for sixth place in the league race. Iowa State has also lost three straight contests and is a half game behind OU in the standings. The Cyclones are coming off an overtime loss to Texas. Oklahoma is 10-3 at home this year while Iowa State is 1-6 in true road games.
Wednesday’s game will air on the Sooner Radio Network (KOKC 1520-AM in Oklahoma City; KTBZ 1430-AM in Tulsa; Sirius 122) with Bob Barry Sr. and Mike Houck announcing. It will be televised regionally by ESPN Plus (KOCB Ch. 34/Cox 11 in OKC; KWHB Ch. 47/Cox 7 in Tulsa; ESPN Full Court) with Bob Carpenter and Reid Gettys calling the action.
TICKET INFORMATION
• Tickets for Wednesday’s game are available for as little as $10. They may be purchased online at SoonerSports.com or at the OU Athletics Ticket Office (800-456-4668). Lloyd Noble Center ticket windows will open Wednesday at 5 p.m.
• Family packs are available for Wednesday’s game. For $10, fans get a game ticket, a hot dog, a soft drink and a coupon for a free T-shirt (a minimum purchase of four tickets is required).
• Tickets for OU students are $10 at the door.
IOWA STATE PROJECTED STARTERS
F 13 Rahshon Clark (6-6, 210, Sr., 9.3 ppg, 15.8 rpg)
F 21 Craig Brackins (6-10, 230, Fr., 11.5 ppg, 5.1 rpg)
C 33 Jiri Hubalek (6-11, 240, Sr., 12.7 ppg, 7.2 rpg)
G 4 Wesley Johnson (6-7, 210, So., 13.7 ppg, 3.7 apg)
G 22 Bryan Petersen (6-1, 180, Jr., 4.8 ppg, 2.3 rpg)
OKLAHOMA PROJECTED STARTERS
F 23 Blake Griffin (6-10, 243, Fr., 15.0 ppg, 8.5 rpg)
F 32 Taylor Griffin (6-7, 230, Jr., 6.9 ppg, 4.7 rpg)
G 5 Tony Crocker (6-6, 193, So., 10.8 ppg, 4.2 rpg)
G 15 David Godbold (6-5, 221, Sr., 8.0 ppg, 4.1 rpg)
G 20 Austin Johnson (6-3, 165, Jr., 7.9 ppg, 2.5 apg)
SATURDAY’S COLORADO RECAP
• Oklahoma entered the game holding opponents to .395 field goal shooting on the year, but Colorado shot .606 in a 72-58 win. It was the best shooting performance against an OU team since West Virginia shot .667 on Dec. 22, 2005 (a span of 75 games).
• The Buffaloes also went 7-for-11 (.636) from 3-point range and 25-for-29 (.862) from the free throw line.
• OU turned in a 4-for-26 (.154) effort from 3-point range, its second worst of the season. It pulled down 17 offensive rebounds (their second most of the year) but only converted them into 10 points.
• OU’s 14-point losing margin was its second largest of the season, despite the fact it attempted 27 more field goals than Colorado. The Buffaloes’ 33 field goal attempts matched an OU opponent season low.
• Blake Griffin was the only Sooner to score in double figures. He was 11-for-17 from the field and finished with 25 points, five rebounds and a career-high five assists.
• For the second straight game, OU played without the services of starting center Longar Longar (broken bone in right leg).
TEAM UPDATE
• The Sooners (3-5) stand in a sixth-place tie with Texas Tech and Nebraska in the Big 12 race, two games out of fifth place (Baylor is 5-3) and a half game in front of Iowa State and Missouri (3-6). OU plays at Texas Tech on Saturday.
• Despite losing their last three games, CollegeRPI.com has the Sooners as a No. 10 seed in the NCAA Tournament (as of Monday) while ESPN.com projects OU as a No. 9 seed.
• During its three-game losing streak, Oklahoma is shooting .380 from the field, .265 from 3-point range and .684 from the free throw line. Opponents are shooting .428, .413 and .843, respectively, during the stretch.
• OU’s guards are shooting a combined .289 from the field and .273 from behind the 3-point arc over the last three games.
• OU’s last three opponents have combined to make 21 more free throws than the Sooners have attempted. OU is 26-for-38 while foes are 59-for-70. Blake Griffin has attempted half of the Sooners’ foul shots over the last three games.
• Over the last two contests, OU is 10-for-50 (.200) from 3-point territory. Texas and Colorado combined to go 16-for-34 (.471).
• Jeff Capel has primarily used a seven-man rotation in league play. David Godbold is averaging a team-high 36.9 minutes per Big 12 game and is followed by Austin Johnson (34.0), Tony Crocker (30.9), Longar Longar (29.3), Blake Griffin (29.1), Taylor Griffin (28.0) and Omar Leary (15.1). Cade Davis has averaged 13.5 minutes the last two games in place of an injured Longar Longar.
• Four Sooners are averaging at least 5.2 rebounds per Big 12 game. Blake Griffin is averaging 8.0 boards and is followed by Taylor Griffin (7.0), David Godbold (5.9) and Longar Longar (5.2).
• OU’s eight Big 12 opponents have shot an incredible .836 from the free throw line against the Sooners (133-for-159).
• Either Blake Griffin (seven times) or Taylor Griffin (six times) has led OU in rebounding in each of the last 13 contests.
FRONTCOURT UPDATE
• Senior center Longar Longar has missed the last two games due to a broken bone in his right leg and is out indefinitely. Longar is the team’s second-leading scorer and rebounder on the year with his 13.2 and 5.9 respective averages. A .530 shooter from the field on the season, he has scored in double figures in 10 of his last 13 games (he scored nine points in each of two of the other three outings). Longar also leads the squad with his 25 blocked shots.
• In his six full Big 12 games, freshman Blake Griffin is averaging 18.2 points, 9.2 rebounds and 3.0 assists while shooting .606 from the field. OU’s leading scorer (15.0) and rebounder (8.5) on the year, he has scored in double figures in 13 of his last 14 games (not including the Jan. 14 Kansas contest when he left five minutes into the game with a sprained MCL in his left knee) and has netted at least 15 points in nine of his last 10 games.
• Three of Griffin’s seven double-doubles have come against ranked opponents. He had 15 points and 14 rebounds in a win over Gonzaga, 18 points and 16 boards in a win at West Virginia and 17 points and 15 rebounds in a victory at Baylor. Griffin also registered 19 points and nine boards against No. 12 Texas last Wednesday. He is coming off a 25-point effort at Colorado.
• Despite not scoring and grabbing just one rebound in his five minutes against Kansas, Griffin ranks ninth in the Big 12 in scoring (15.0 ppg), fourth in rebounding (8.5 rpg) and third in double-doubles (seven). He also leads the league in field goal percentage (.589) and paces OU with his 25 steals.
• The last OU freshman to average as many points as Griffin for an entire season was Jeff Webster (18.3) in 1990-91 and the last OU frosh to average as many rebounds was Wayman Tisdale (10.3) in 1982-83.
• Griffin has twice been named the Phillips 66 Big 12 Player of the Week (Dec. 31 and Jan. 28) and was also named the Jan. 14 Big 12 Rookie of the Week.
• Seeing a major increase in minutes the last few weeks, junior forward Taylor Griffin is averaging 10.4 points and 8.0 rebounds while shooting .793 (23-for-29) from the free throw line over the last seven games. Prior to those seven outings, he was averaging 5.4 points and 3.2 boards while shooting .667 (20-for-30) from the foul line on the year.
• Starting in place of his injured younger brother on Jan. 19 against Texas Tech, Taylor Griffin tied a then-career high with 16 points and grabbed a then-season-high 12 rebounds. On Jan. 28 against Oklahoma State, he was 7-for-8 from the field and scored a career-high 20 points and pulled down a game-high six boards. Last Wednesday against Texas, he netted 12 points and grabbed a career-high 15 boards as he started in place of an injured Longar.
BACKCOURT UPDATE
• Senior guard David Godbold has scored in double figures in four of the last six games. On Feb. 2, he turned in a career-high 22-point outing at Texas A&M in which he was 6-for-10 from 3-point range.
• Godbold shot .233 from 3-point range in OU’s first 14 games (10-for-43) but is shooting .380 over the last nine (19-for-50).
• After averaging 4.5 points in OU’s first six games, Godbold is averaging 9.3 over the last 17. In eight Big 12 games, Godbold is averaging 11.0 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.9 assists. He ranks third in the Big 12 (conference games only) with his .354 3-point percentage and his 2.1 treys per contest.
• Godbold has played at least 38 minutes in each of the last four outings. OU’s leader among current players in games played (111) and started (63), he played all 50 minutes of OU’s double-overtime win at West Virginia on Dec. 29.
• Sophomore guard Tony Crocker, OU’s best 3-point shooter at .447 (42-for-90), has made at least three treys in a game nine times and is 32-for-53 (.604) in those contests. He has already made seven more 3-pointers this year than he did all of last season (35) when he shot a team-high .357 from behind the arc.
• Crocker is averaging 7.3 points over the last four games on 9-for-30 field goal shooting after scoring in double figures in the team’s previous five contests. He is averaging 3.3 turnovers over the last six outings.
• Crocker, who scored a career-high 26 points at TCU on Dec. 2 (he netted 20 points in the first half with the help of 6-for-7 3-point shooting), ranks third on the team in scoring (10.8 ppg) and fourth in rebounding (4.2 rpg).
• Junior guard Austin Johnson averaged 12.1 points over an eight-game stretch from late November to early January, but is averaging 5.6 points over the last nine contests. He was held scoreless in 38 minutes against Texas last Wednesday and finished with four points at Colorado on Saturday.
• Johnson has struggled from the field over the past three games. While averaging 3.3 points in those outings, he is 3-for-17 (.176) from the floor and 3-for-14 (.214) from behind the arc.
• Junior guard Omar Leary is averaging 4.8 points in 18.2 minutes per game. He started eight of the team’s first 10 contests but has come off the bench in each of the last 13. Leary has made 22 treys and is a .393 shooter from behind the arc (he has missed his last six attempts).
• In eight Big 12 games, Leary is averaging 2.1 points in 15.1 minutes per outing.
• Freshman Cade Davis played 10 minutes last Wednesday against Texas and 17 on Saturday at Colorado after not playing in OU’s three previous games. Davis has played in half of the team’s league games and is averaging 3.3 points in 16 games on the year.
PREVIEWING IOWA STATE
• Iowa State enters Wednesday’s game with a 13-11 overall record and a 3-6 Big 12 mark (tied for ninth place). The Cyclones are 1-6 in road games this season (0-4 in league play). Their only road win was a 71-64 overtime triumph at Oregon State on Nov. 30.
• ISU has lost three straight games and is coming off a 71-65 home overtime loss to No. 12 Texas on Saturday. The Cyclones failed to hold onto a 13-point second-half lead despite holding the Longhorns to .357 field goal shooting on the day. They were outscored 9-3 in the overtime period as they went 1-for-9 from the field (1-for-7 on 3-pointers).
• Iowa State ranks second in Big 12 play in field goal percentage defense (.422) but ranks last in both field goal percentage (.387) and 3-point field goal percentage (.290).
• Sophomore guard/forward Wesley Johnson leads the team with his 13.7 points per game and is also averaging 3.7 rebounds and 1.7 assists. Johnson has made a team-high 34 3-pointers and is shooting .340 from behind the arc. His season high of 24 points came in a Jan. 19 home win over Oklahoma State.
• Senior center Jiri Hubalek is averaging 12.7 points and a team-high 7.2 rebounds per contest. He scored a team-high 24 points against Texas and has led the team in scoring in each of the last four games. He is averaging 20.0 points over the last three. Hubalek has attempted a team-high 106 free throws (shooting .736). No other Cyclone has attempted more than 73.
• Freshman forward Craig Brackins contributes 11.5 points, 5.1 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.1 blocked shots. Brackins, who set Iowa State freshman records for points (33) and 3-pointers (eight on 10 attempts) against Baylor on Jan. 12, was named the Big 12 Rookie of the Week after averaging 14.5 points and 4.5 rebounds in wins over Missouri and Oklahoma State.
• Senior forward Rahshon Clark is shooting .509 from the floor while averaging 9.3 points, 5.8 boards and 1.2 rejections. He had nine points and 14 rebounds on Saturday versus Texas.
• Greg McDermott is in his second season as Iowa State’s head coach and owns a 28-27 (.509) record there. He is in his 14th season overall and sports a 249-154 (.618) career mark.
SERIES WITH THE CYCLONES
• Oklahoma owns a 106-77 all-time record against Iowa State and is 58-21 versus the Cyclones in games played in Norman.
• The Sooners have won eight of the last 12 overall meetings, including each of the last five at Lloyd Noble Center.
• Two of the last five games in Norman resulted in one-point OU victories (1998 and 2006) while the 2000 contest at Lloyd Noble went to double-overtime before the Sooners won 80-75.
• OU is 8-5 against Iowa State since the inception of the Big 12 (that includes a 1-1 record in the league tournament).
• In the last meeting in Norman two seasons ago, Oklahoma rallied from a seven-point deficit with a minute remaining to steal an 83-82 win. It was the first of four straight one-point victories for the Sooners. Michael Neal finished with a career-high 29 points and scored all of his 17 second-half points in the game’s final 7:02. His three free throws with 8.4 seconds left were the game’s final points.
LAST YEAR AGAINST IOWA STATE
Oklahoma entered its lone regular season contest against Iowa State last year riding a four-game winning streak, but a poor first half in Ames ended up costing the Sooners a fifth straight win. OU shot .300 from the field and committed 12 turnovers in the opening 20 minutes as it trailed 32-17 at intermission. Iowa State pushed its lead to 18 points (39-21) before OU rallied to get within four (53-49 with 54 seconds left). The Sooners missed their next five shots, however, and ISU prevailed 58-51. Jiri Hubalek scored a career-high 26 points for the Cyclones on 11-for-16 shooting and grabbed nine rebounds. Longar Longar led OU with 20 points (all in the second half) and 12 rebounds. He was 8-for-12 from the field.
The Sooners avenged the loss three weeks later in the first round of the Big 12 Championship in Oklahoma City, 68-63. Nate Carter, who was held to two points and four rebounds in Ames, responded with 22 points and nine rebounds to lead the OU charge. Carter was 12-for-13 from the free throw line. Freshman guard Tony Crocker started in place of Michael Neal (stomach virus) and contributed 15 points with the help of 3-for-4 3-point shooting. David Godbold and Taylor Griffin each added 11 points for OU. The Sooners won despite making a then-season-low 18 field goals. They lived at the free throw line, though, going 27-for-34 on the day. Iowa State, whose only lead of the game (56-55) lasted for 29 seconds, was led by Mike Taylor’s 18 points and Wesley Johnson’s 11. Hubalek finished with eight (18 less than in the first meeting). The loss ended Iowa State’s season.
GRIFFIN GETTING TO THE LINE
Freshman forward Blake Griffin has seemed to develop quite a knack for getting to the foul line over his last eight outings. Through OU’s first 13 games, Griffin attempted 50 free throws (3.8 per contest) with a single-game high of six. Over the last eight games, however, Griffin has attempted 81 free throws (10.1 per contest). Included were games of 18 attempts against Mount St. Mary’s, 13 versus Kansas State and 15 against Oklahoma State.
MORE ON OU’S FRESHMAN PHENOM
• The last Sooner, regardless of class, to average as many rebounds as Blake Griffin is averaging this year (8.5) was then-senior and now-Denver Nugget Eduardo Najera in 1999-2000 (9.2 rpg).
• Griffin holds OU’s top three scoring performances this season. He netted 27 against Kansas State (Jan. 12), 26 versus Mount St. Mary’s (Jan. 7) and 25 at Colorado (Saturday). He also holds six of OU’s top seven rebounding marks this year.
• Griffin is just 31 points shy of matching Nate Carter’s team high of 360 points last season. Carter played in 31 games as a senior last year while Griffin has played in just 22 this season.
• A testament to his overall ability, Griffin has 17 assists over the past five games for a 3.4 average. No other Sooner has more than 12 assists over the same period. Griffin has nine handouts over the last two games.
OU’S BIG 12 HISTORY
Oklahoma boasts a 120-64 (.652) record in Big 12 Conference regular season games, third best in the league (Kansas is 153-33 while Texas is 130-55). No other team has won more than 109 conference contests. The Sooners earned a regular season league title in 2005 and also won Big 12 Tournament crowns in 2001, 2002 and 2003.
ROAD SCHOLAR
Junior Austin Johnson performed considerably better in home games than road contests during his first two years as a Sooner. That trend has reversed itself this season. In OU’s seven road games this year, Johnson is averaging 9.4 points, 3.1 rebounds and 3.6 assists while shooting .484 from 3-point range (15-for-31). In 13 home games, the combo guard is averaging 7.0 points, 2.5 boards and 2.3 assists while shooting .208 from long range (10-for-48). Johnson has made more than one trey at home just twice season (two against Arkansas and Oklahoma State), but has made at least two in five of the team’s seven road contests.
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN WINNING AND LOSING
The following notes compare Oklahoma’s stats in its 15 wins and eight losses…
• In its 15 wins, OU is outrebounding its opponents by 6.7 a game. In its eight losses, it is getting outboarded by 2.5.
• OU is shooting .494 from the field and .395 from 3-point range in its wins. In losses, it is shooting .390 and .268, respectively.
• OU’s assist-to-turnover ratio in its victories is +1.2 (232 assists and 198 turnovers). The ratio in losses is 0.8 (82 and 103).
• Tony Crocker is averaging 12.7 points, 4.8 rebounds and 2.9 assists while shooting .537 in the Sooners’ wins. In losses, those numbers fall to 7.3 points, 3.1 boards, 1.5 assists and .313 (20-for-64), respectively. Crocker is also shooting .541 from 3-point range in OU’s victories (33-for-61), but just .273 in defeats (9-for-33).
OU BASKETBALL TRADITION
• This is the 101st season of Oklahoma varsity basketball (the program’s first game was Nov. 26, 1907).
• OU owns a 1,459-932 (.610) all-time record, ranking it 30th in NCAA Division I in wins and 39th in winning percentage.
• Oklahoma has participated in four NCAA Final Fours (1939, 1947, 1988 and 2002) and in two NCAA championship games (it lost to Holy Cross in 1947 and to Kansas in 1988).
• OU has made 24 NCAA Tournament appearances and seven postseason NIT showings. Its 20 NCAA Tournament appearances over the last 25 years rank as the ninth most in the nation.
• No team in the country has made more postseason appearances over the last 25 years than Oklahoma (24).
• The Sooners have won 13 regular season conference championships (most recently in 2005) and seven conference tournament titles (including the 2001, 2002 and 2003 crowns).
• The Sooners posted the eighth best NCAA Division I winning percentage (.731) in the 1980s and entered this season with the 11th best winning percentage (.736) since 2000.
• Nineteen different Sooners have earned All-America honors a total of 29 times. They have earned consensus first-team All-America acclaim eight times and consensus second-team honors on four occasions.
• Wayman Tisdale was a three-time consensus first-team All-American during his three seasons at OU (1983-85).
• Oklahoma players have earned first-team all-conference accolades a total of 71 times.
• The Sooners own a winning record against 10 of the other 11 members of the Big 12 Conference (Kansas is the only league team with a series lead against OU).
• OU has played its home games in four different venues: the OU Gymnasium (1907-1919), the R.O.T.C. Armory (1919-1928), the OU Field House (1928-75) and Lloyd Noble Center (1975-present).
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