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Posting the pregame notes stuff again for those who might have missed it.
Source: SoonerSports.com
Source: SoonerSports.com
GAME SPECIFICS
Teams: Oklahoma (3-3) vs. Arkansas (2-4)
Date: Wednesday, Dec. 2
Tip: 7:07 p.m. CST
Site: Norman, Okla. (Lloyd Noble Center)
Radio: Sooner Radio Network (KOKC 1520 AM in OKC; KMOD 97.5 FM in Tulsa; Sirius 125)
TV: Sooner Sports Network (KWTV Ch. 9 in OKC; KOTV Ch. 6 in Tulsa; ESPN Full Court)
Webcast: SoonerSports.com (subscription)
Series: Arkansas leads 13-10
WEDNESDAY'S GAME BASICS
Oklahoma (3-3) plays at home for the first time in 18 days Wednesday when it hosts Arkansas (2-4) at 7 p.m. CST. The Sooners snapped a three-game losing streak Saturday, while the Razorbacks are coming off a third straight home loss on Sunday. Wednesday’s contest will air on the Sooner Radio Network (KOKC AM 1520 in OKC; KMOD FM 97.5 in Tulsa; Sirius 125) with Bob Barry Sr. and Mike Houck announcing. The game will be televised on the Sooner Sports Network (KWTV Ch. 9 in OKC; KOTV Ch. 6 in Tulsa; ESPN Full Court) with Bob Carpenter and Charlie Spoonhour calling the action. A live video Webcast will be available on the "All-Access" portion of OU’s official athletics site, SoonerSports.com.
ARKANSAS' PROJECTED STARTERS
F 00 Michael Washington (6-9, 239, Sr., 14.0 ppg, 5.6 rpg)
F 2 Jemal Farmer (6-5, 213, Jr., 13.0 ppg, 6.0 rpg)
F 33 Marshawn Powell (6-7, 220, Fr., 4.3 ppg, 6.7 rpg)
G 15 Rotnei Clarke (6-0, 184, So., 26.7 ppg, 2.0 apg)
G 23 Julysses Nobles (6-1, 170, Fr., 8.5 ppg, 6.7 apg)
OKLAHOMA'S PROJECTED STARTERS
F 24 Tiny Gallon (6-9, 290, Fr., 12.3 ppg, 10.5 rpg)
G 11 Tony Crocker (6-6, 209, Sr., 10.2 ppg, 4.8 rpg)
G 13 Tommy Mason-Griffin (5-11, 203, Fr., 8.8 ppg, 5.2 apg)
G 13 Willie Warren (6-4, 203, So., 20.4 ppg, 6.0 apg)
G 34 Cade Davis (6-5, 199, Jr., 7.3 ppg, 3.0 rpg)
PREVIEWING ARKANSAS
After starting the year with a 130-68 win over Alcorn State, Arkansas has lost four of five games, including its last three at home to Morgan State (97-94), East Tennessee State (94-85) and South Alabama (74-61). Its other two games were a 96-66 loss to Louisville (in St. Louis, Mo.) and an 81-72 overtime home win over Appalachian State. The Razorbacks, who have played shorthanded due to suspensions and injuries, are averaging 86.2 points a game while giving up 83.5. They’re getting outrebounded by an average of 6.7 boards a contest.
Sophomore guard Rotnei Clarke leads four Razorbacks who average double figures in points. Clarke, from Verdigris, Okla., is averaging 26.7 points and 2.0 assists per game. He has made 35 3-pointers (5.8 per game) and is shooting .574 from behind the arc. Clarke hit an SEC-record 13 treys against Alcorn State and scored a school-record 51 points. Freshman forward Marshawn Powell has started all six contests and is averaging 14.3 points and a team-high 6.7 rebounds. He averaged 19.5 points and 8.0 rebounds over the team’s first four games but is averaging 4.0 points and 4.0 boards over the last two. Senior forward Michael Washington is averaging 14.0 points, 5.6 rebounds and 1.6 blocks. Washington started the first five games but missed Sunday’s contest against South Alabama with a back injury. Junior guard/forward Jemal Farmer contributes 13.0 points and 6.0 boards per outing. He scored 28 in the season opener. Freshman guard Julysses Nobles leads the team with his 6.7 assists per outing to go along with his 8.5 scoring average. He has replaced sophomore point guard Courtney Fortson, who has not played this year due to suspension, in the lineup. Fortson was an SEC All-Freshman Team member last year when he averaged 14.8 points and 5.9 assists.
John Pelphrey is in his third season as Arkansas’ head coach and owns a 39-32 (.549) record. In his eighth year overall, the 1992 Kentucky graduate is 119-99 (.546). He coached five seasons at South Alabama prior to taking the Arkansas job.
OU-ARKANSAS SERIES HISTORY
Wednesday’s game will mark the 24th between Oklahoma and Arkansas, and the 11th meeting in Norman. Despite winning five of the last six overall meetings, OU trails the all-time series by a 13-10 count. The Sooners lead in Norman, however, 7-3. OU swept a four-game home-and-home series between the 1998-99 and 2001-02 seasons and posted an 83-72 home win two years ago before losing 96-88 in Fayetteville last season.
LAST YEAR AGAINST THE RAZORBACKS
Fourth-ranked Oklahoma took a 12-0 record to Fayetteville last December but came out on the losing end of a 96-88 decision to unranked Arkansas. The Razorbacks ambushed the Sooners, jumping out to a 25-8 lead just 6:45 into the contest. Arkansas shot .633 from the field and hit 5-of-9 (.556) 3-point attempts in the first half to take a 53-38 lead at halftime. The advantage ballooned to 25 points (72-47) midway through the second half before a 16-0 OU run cut the margin to nine. Still trailing 81-69, an 8-0 Sooners run made the score 81-77 with five minutes to play, but OU got no closer. Willie Warren scored a career-high 35 points with the help of 7-for-11 3-point shooting and added four rebounds and four assists to pace OU. Blake Griffin finished with 21 points and 13 rebounds, while Tony Crocker went 6-for-13 from behind the arc to finish with 18 points. Six Razorbacks scored in double figures, led by Michael Washington’s 24 (he also had 11 rebounds). Stefan Welsh scored 19 and Rotnei Clarke 15. OU entered the game allowing opponents to shot just .379 from the field but watched Arkansas post a .517 figure. OU shot .438 from the field, .394 (13-for-33) from 3-point distance and .500 (11-for-22) from the free throw line.
NOTEWORTHY
• Oklahoma has won 72 of its last 74 home non-conference games and five of its last six overall meetings against Arkansas.
• The Sooners lead the Big 12 Conference with their .829 free throw percentage and have made more free throws (116) than their opponents have attempted (106). Only five Big 12 teams are shooting above .700 from the foul line.
• Junior guard Cade Davis started the last two games and responded with 11 points and four rebounds against Houston and career highs of 18 points and four steals against Nicholls State. Davis, who averaged 3.8 points over the team’s first four games coming off the bench, has made his last 14 free throw attempts and is 15-of-16 on the year (.938).
• Sophomore guard Willie Warren, who did not play Saturday versus Nicholls State (coach’s decision), is averaging team highs of 20.4 points and 6.0 assists in his five games. He has scored 62 points from the field and 40 from the free throw line (averaging 8.8 free throw attempts). Warren is 40-for-44 from the foul line for a sparkling .909 percentage.
• Freshman forward Tiny Gallon is averaging a double-double (12.3 points and a Big 12-high 10.5 rebounds). His 15 boards in the season opener were the most in an OU freshman debut since Alvan Adams grabbed 28 caroms in 1972-73. u Freshman guard Steven Pledger is averaging 13.7 points in 25.8 minutes a contest. He is 19-for-40 from long distance (.475) and has hit at least four treys in three games. He has already surpassed the 20-point mark twice this season (21 vs. Mount St. Mary’s and 23 vs. Houston).
• Guards have accounted for 349 of Oklahoma’s 474 points (74 percent).
• The freshman foursome of Pledger (82), Gallon (74), Tommy Mason-Griffin (53) and Andrew Fitzgerald (30) has scored 50 percent of OU’s points.
FEARSOME FRESHMAN FOURSOME
The freshman foursome of Steven Pledger (13.7), Tiny Gallon (12.3), Tommy Mason-Griffin (8.8) and Andrew Fitzgerald (6.0) has combined to score 239 of the team’s 474 points this year, or 50 percent. One of the Big 12’s best 3-point shooters, Pledger has knocked down 19 treys on 40 attempts (.475) and has two games of more than 20 points. Over the last two outings, Pledger is 10-for-19 from behind the arc (.526). Gallon, who is shooting .604 from the field, leads the Big 12 with his 10.5 rebounds per game and ranks second with his three double-doubles (he missed out on another by one rebound). Mason-Griffin ranks fourth in the league with his 5.2 assists per game and has had at least four handouts in each contest. Fitzgerald is shooting .526 from the field and is 10-for-13 from the free throw line (.769).
HEATING UP FROM OUTSIDE
After shooting .286 from 3-point range and averaging 6.0 treys through its first four games, OU is shooting .510 and averaging 12.5 makes from behind the arc over the last two outings. Freshman Steven Pledger has been the main gun, going 10-for-19 (.526) over the last two contests. Fellow freshman Tommy Mason-Griffin is 4-for-6 (.667) and senior Tony Crocker is 4-for-8 (.500) over the same two games. Junior Cade Davis made a season-high four 3-pointers Saturday against Nicholls State on nine attempts.
UP NEXT
OU hosts Arizona in a Big 12/Pac-10 Hardwood Series game on Sunday at 6 p.m. CST (televised by ESPNU). The Sooners, who lead the series 4-1, will be facing a U of A team that is under the first-year direction of head coach Sean Miller (former Xavier head coach).
