SATURDAY'S GAME BASICS
Oklahoma (6-2) heads 23 miles north to downtown Oklahoma City for the 2016 All-College Classic at Chesapeake Energy Arena. The Sooners will face Wichita State (8-2) in the first meeting between the two schools in over 40 years. Played in Oklahoma City since 1935, the All-College Classic is considered the naiton’s oldest college basketball tournament still in competition (now featured as a single-game showcase).
OU has won four of its last five games while the Shockers’ lone two losses have come to Louisville and Michigan State.
ON THE AIR
The matchup will tip off at 3 p.m. CT and air on the Sooner Radio Network (KRXO 107.7 FM “The Franchise” in Oklahoma City; KTBZ 1430 AM in Tulsa) with Toby Rowland and Kevin Henry announcing. The game will be televised nationally on ESPN2 with Rich Hollenberg and Mark Adams calling the action.
FIVE THINGS TO KNOW
• Oklahoma owns a 13-5 record when playing at Chesapeake Energy Arena and is 4-0 in the Lon Kruger era. Under Kruger, the Sooners have won two All-College Classic games at ‘The Peake’ (2012 vs. Texas A&M, 2011 vs. Houston) and won first and second round 2016 NCAA Tournament games against CSU-Bakersfield and VCU.
• OU has benefited from a dramatic increase in scoring from starting guards Christian James and Rashard Odomes. After averaging 2.9 points per game in 2015-16, James is the second leading scorer for the Sooners through eight games, scoring 12.0 points per game on .522 shooting from the field and a Big 12-leading .615 from 3-point range. Tallying just 35 total points in 2015-16 (1.9 per game), Odomes has already doubled his total points output with 80 on the season (averaging 10.0 per game).
• Junior forward Khadeem Lattin enters Saturday boasting 2.1 blocks and 1.9 steals per game. A 2015-16 Big 12 All-Defensive Team selection, Lattin is the only Big 12 player ranked in the conference’s top 10 for both blocks and steals. He has tallied multiple steals and multiple blocks in four of his last five games.
• The Sooners’ four scholarship freshmen each scored eight or more points in Wednesday’s win over Oral Roberts. Kristian Doolittle, Matt Freeman, Kameron McGusty and Jordan Shepherd have combined to average 23.0 points per contest in OU’s first eight games.
• After a prolific season of 3-point shooting in 2015-16 that included hitting a program-record 382-of-906 (.422) shots from behind the arc, the Sooners are off to another hot start from deep. Oklahoma ranks 13th nationally and second in the Big 12 in 3-point field goal percentage (.419), sinking an average of 7.8 treys per game. OU has been paced by Jordan Woodard (18 made 3-pointers) and Christian James (16 made 3-pointers). James currently leads the Big 12 by shooting his 3-point attempts at a 61.5 percent clip.
SERIES HISTORY
• Oklahoma owns a 4-1 all-time record agaisnt the Shockers, with their sole loss coming in the most recent meeting (Dec. 20, 1975). Oklahoma won the lone game played in Norman in 1974.
• The Sooners are 30-19 all-time against current Missouri Valley Conference schools. OU has played in only one previous contest against a MVC school under Kruger, falling to Northern Iowa in overtime, 73-67, earlier this season in the semifinals of the Tire Pros Invitational in Orlando, Fla.
