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GAME PREVIEW
Oklahoma (5-3) wraps up a three-game homestand Wednesday when it hosts Centenary (4-3) at 7 p.m. CST. The Sooners have won three straight games while the Gents have won four of their last six. Wednesday’s contest will air on the Sooner Radio Network with Bob Barry Sr. and Mike Houck announcing. It will be televised by the Sooner Sports Network with Bob Carpenter and Charlie Spoonhour calling the action.
TICKET INFORMATION
Reserved seats are available for $10, $20 and $30 at the OU Athletics Ticket Office and here. Lloyd Noble Center’s north and east ticket windows will open at 5 p.m. on Wednesday.
PROMOTIONS
One lucky fan at Wednesday's game will have the chance to win $1,200 in the "Holiday Cash Grab."
PREVIEWING CENTENARY
Located in Shreveport, La., and with an enrollment of 973, high-scoring Centenary enters Wednesday’s game with a 4-3 overall record and a 1-1 mark in Summit League play. The Gents, who are averaging 82.6 points per contest on the year, have scored at least 80 points in each of their last five games and are averaging 89.0 during the stretch. They are shooting .431 from the field, .310 from 3-point range (7.0 makes per game) and .792 from the free throw line, while opponents have combined to shoot .455 from the field and .257 from behind the arc (3.9 makes per game). Centenary is getting outrebounded by 7.6 boards per contest.
Sophomore guard David Perez is one of our Gents averaging at least 9.7 points per contest. The 6-3, 195-pounder is averaging 22.0 points, 3.1 rebounds and 2.6 assists, and has made a team-high 17 3-pointers (shooting .327). A .935 free throw shooter, Perez has scored at least 15 points in all seven games and has tallied at least 20 points five times. Junior Roman Tubner averages 16.9 points, 3.4 rebounds and a team-high 4.1 assists per outing. The point guard leads the squad with 60 free throw attempts (shooting .800) and two games ago scored a career-high 30 points against Southern Utah. Two more guards, freshman Daman Starring and sophomore Maxx Nakwaasah, contribute 9.7 points per contest apiece. Starring also averages 3.7 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game while Nakwaasah adds a team-high 5.7 rebounds a contest. All four players shoot better than .800 from the free throw line.
Greg Gary is in his second season as Centenary’s head coach and owns a 12-26 (.316) record. A 1992 Tulane graduate, Gary directed the Gents to an 8-23 record last year.
OU-CENTENARY SERIES HISTORY
Wednesday’s game will mark the fifth between Oklahoma and Centenary, with all four previous meetings won by the Sooners. OU posted victories in 1967-68 (91-73 in Norman), 1968-69 (45-38 in Shreveport), 1987-88 (152-84 in Norman) and 1996-97 (89-45 in Norman).
CENTENARY'S PROJECTED STARTERS
F 30 Jerrald Bonham (6-8, 210, Sr., 8.7 ppg, 5.7 rpg)
G 14 Roman Tubner (6-0, 190, Jr., 16.9 ppg, 4.1 apg)
G 20 David Perez (6-3, 195, So., 22.0 ppg, 3.1 rpg)
G 22 Daman Starring (6-4, 190, Fr., 9.7 ppg, 3.7 rpg)
G 44 Maxx Nakwaasah (6-3, 205, So., 9.7 ppg, 5.7 rpg)
OKLAHOMA'S PROJECTED STARTERS
F 24 Tiny Gallon (6-9, 290, Fr., 11.8 ppg, 9.5 rpg)
G 5 Tony Crocker (6-6, 209, Sr., 11.3 ppg, 6.3 rpg)
G 11 Tommy Mason-Griffin (5-11, 203, Fr., 9.5 ppg, 5.0 apg)
G 13 Willie Warren (6-4, 203, So., 20.0 ppg, 5.4 apg)
G 34 Cade Davis (6-5, 199, Jr., 7.9 ppg, 2.9 rpg)
NOTEWORTHY
• Oklahoma has won 74 of its last 76 home non-conference games, including each of its last 16.
• OU is 4-0 all-time against Centenary (3-0 in Norman). It has won the four games by an average of 34 points.
• The Sooners rank first in the Big 12 Conference and fifth nationally with their .795 free throw percentage. They have made more free throws (147) than their opponents have attempted (128).
• Sophomore guard Willie Warren is averaging team highs of 20.0 points (ranks third in Big 12) and 5.4 assists (ranks second). He leads the league with his 8.3 free throw attempts (shooting .810 from the foul line).
• Over his last three games (against Houston, Arkansas and Arizona), Warren is averaging 21.0 points and is shooting .759 (22-for-29) from the field and .667 (4-for-6) from 3-point range.
• Senior guard Tony Crocker is averaging 12.8 points, 8.5 rebounds and 3.0 assists over the past three games. He’s 7-of-15 (.467) from 3-point range during the stretch.
• Crocker has 1,098 career points to rank him 30th in school history. He needs just 10 points to move up three spots and tie Kevin Bookout for 27th.
• Junior guard Cade Davis has started the last four games and is averaging 12.0 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.5 steals in those contests. He is 10-of-25 (.400) from 3-point range and 12-of-12 from the free throw line during the stretch. Davis, who averaged 3.8 points over the team’s first four games coming off the bench, has made his last 16 free throw attempts and is 17-of-18 on the year (.944).
• Freshman forward Tiny Gallon is nearly averaging a double-double (11.8 points and 9.5 rebounds). His 9.5 boards per outing rank fourth in the Big 12 and his 15 caroms in the season opener were the most in an OU freshman debut since Alvan Adams grabbed 28 in 1972-73.
• Freshman point guard Tommy Mason-Griffin is averaging 11.0 points and 5.0 assists over the last four contests. He’s made at least two treys in each of those four games (9-for-17 combined for a .529 mark).
• Freshman guard Steven Pledger is averaging 11.3 points a game. He’s made a team-high 20 treys (shooting .408) and has hit at least four 3-balls in three different outings.
• Guards have accounted for 464 of Oklahoma’s 620 points (75 percent).
• The freshman foursome of Gallon (94), Pledger (88), Tommy Mason-Griffin (76) and Andrew Fitzgerald (30) has scored 46 percent of OU’s points.
HOME NON-CONFERENCE DOMINATION
The Sooners have dominated home non-conference games over the last decade, winning 74 of their last 76 non-league contests inside Lloyd Noble Center going back to Jan. 3, 2000 (good for a .974 winning percentage). Included was a streak of 49 non-conference home victories that was snapped by Villanova on Dec. 6, 2006. The current string stands at 16 games.
FEARSOME FRESHMAN FOURSOME
The freshman foursome of Tiny Gallon (11.8 ppg), Steven Pledger (11.3), Tommy Mason-Griffin (9.5) and Andrew Fitzgerald (4.3) has combined to score 288 of the team’s 620 points this year, or 46 percent. Gallon, who is shooting .600 from the field, ranks third in the Big 12 in rebounds per game and ranks second with his three double-doubles (he missed out on another by one rebound). Among the Big 12’s leaders in 3-point makes, Pledger has knocked down 20 treys on 49 attempts (.407) and has two games of more than 20 points. Mason-Griffin ranks fifth in the league with his 5.0 assists per game and leads the team with his .429 3-point shooting percentage. Fitzgerald is shooting .500 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 .446 and averaging 10.3 makes from behind the arc over the last four outings. Freshman Steven Pledger has been the main gun, going 11-for-28 (.393) over the last four contests. Fellow freshman Tommy Mason-Griffin is 9-for-17 (.529), senior Tony Crocker is 7-for-15 (.467) and junior Cade Davis is 10-for-25 (.400) over the same four games.
UP NEXT
OU plays at Utah on Saturday at 3 p.m. CST (televised by Versus). The Sooners lead the series 2-1 and won last year in Norman (70-52).
