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Source: SoonerSports.com
Teams: Oklahoma (13-12, 4-7) vs. Kansas State (21-4, 8-3)
Date: Saturday, Feb. 20
Tip: 5:05 p.m. CST
Site: Norman, Okla. (Lloyd Noble Center)
Radio: Sooner Radio Network (KOKC 1520 AM in OKC; KTBZ 1430 AM in Tulsa; Sirius 127; XM 103)
TV: ESPNU
Webcast: None
Series: OU leads 102-89
SATURDAY'S GAME BASICS
Oklahoma (13-12 overall, 4-7 Big 12) looks to break a three-game losing streak when it hosts No. 7/7 Kansas State (21-4, 8-3) Saturday at 5 p.m. CST. The Sooners, who are 11-1 at home this season (4-1 in Big 12 play), haven’t won since beating then-No. 9 Texas on Feb. 6 (80-71). The Wildcats have won four straight games overall and their last four on the road. They are 5-1 in true road contests on the year. Saturday’s game will air on the Sooner Radio Network with Bob Barry Sr. and Mike Houck calling the action. It will be televised by ESPNU with Clay Matvick and Stephen Howard announcing.
TICKET INFORMATION
A limited number of tickets are available for $10 and $25 at the OU Athletics Ticket Office (800-456-4668) and online at SoonerSports.com. Lloyd Noble Center's north and east box offices will open Saturday at 3 p.m.
PROMOTIONS
• Saturday will mark "Military Appreciation Night" at Lloyd Noble Center. The first 1,000 fans in attendance will receive a free OU camouflage hat.
• Also, the first 2,000 fans in attendance will receive a free OU men's basketball trading card set. The team will sign autographs after the game on the upper concourse.
PREVIEWING KANSAS STATE
Kansas State (21-4 overall, 8-3 Big 12) is ranked No. 7 in both major top-25 polls this week. The AP ranking is the program’s highest since 1962. The Wildcats stand alone in second place in the Big 12 race, three games behind Kansas and one game in front of Baylor, Missouri and Texas A&M. They have won four consecutive games and are coming off a 91-87 home victory over Nebraska on Wednesday. K-State is 5-1 in true road games on the season and has won four straight away from home since losing at Missouri in the Big 12 opener.
Junior guard Jacob Pullen leads three Wildcats who average double figures in points. Pullen ranks third in the conference with his 18.5 scoring average, second with his 71 3-point makes (2.8 per game) and eighth in 3-point percentage (.394). He adds 3.8 assists and 1.6 steals per outing. Senior guard Denis Clemente averages 15.6 points and a team-high 4.0 assists per contest. He has drained 57 treys on the year and is shooting .333 from behind the arc. Clemente is coming off a 21-point game against Nebraska in which he nailed four treys. Sophomore forward Jamar Samuels supplies 11.7 points and 5.1 rebounds a game off the bench, and is shooting a team-high .596 from the floor. Junior forward Curtis Kelly averages 11.4 points and team highs of 6.3 rebounds and 2.0 blocks (ranks fourth in league).
Frank Martin is 64-28 (.696) in his third year as a collegiate head coach, all at Kansas State.
OU-KANSAS STATE SERIES HISTORY
Oklahoma owns a 102-89 series advantage against Kansas State and has won nine of the last 11 meetings. OU is 58-24 against the Wildcats in Norman and is 20-7 at Lloyd Noble Center. Since the start of the Big 12 in 1996-97, OU is 10-4 against Kansas State (5-1 in Norman). Jeff Capel is 1-2 against KSU as OU’s head coach (0-1 in Norman).
LAST YEAR AGAINST THE WILDCATS
• Blake Griffin made 13 field goals and finished with 29 points, 15 rebounds and three assists to lead the Sooners to a 61-53 road victory over Kansas State in last year’s Big 12 opener.
• The Sooners held the Wildcats to 28.5 points below their season average at the time and to 10 points below their previous season low (63 versus Iowa). K-State’s 53 points tied as the second fewest surrendered by OU in a regular season conference game during the Jeff Capel era. Oklahoma also held Kansas State to a then-season-low .327 field goal mark. The Wildcats shot just .257 (9-for-35) in the second half.
• Trailing 26-19, the Sooners went on a 10-0 run over the final 2:57 of the first half. K-State was scoreless the last five minutes of the stanza.
• Willie Warren was 4-for-6 from the field and 2-for-2 from 3-point range to finish with 10 points. It was the fifth straight double-digit scoring game for the then-freshman.
• Junior Tony Crocker was held to seven points, but his career-high-tying four steals were a factor defensively as Kansas State committed a season-high-tying 20 turnovers (it entered the game averaging 13.4 turnovers).
• The Sooners outscored the Wildcats 42-14 in the paint. Thirty-seven of those OU points came from Blake and Taylor Griffin.
NOTEWORTHY
• Oklahoma holds a 102-89 series lead against Kansas State and is 58-24 in Norman. OU has won nine of the last 11 overall meetings.
• In OU’s last three games (all losses), opponents are averaging 82.0 points and shooting .494 from the field, .500 from 3-point range and .870 from the foul line.
• Due to injuries, an illness and suspensions, the Sooners have used six different starting lineups in their 11 Big 12 games.
• OU ranks first in the Big 12 and 12th nationally with its 8.4 3-point makes per game. The school record for average 3-pointers per contest in a season is 8.5 in 1998-99. Five Sooners have made at least 25 treys (Texas, with four, is the only other Big 12 school that has more than three players with at least 25 makes each).
• Oklahoma is the only team in the Big 12 with five players who each average double figures in scoring.
• OU ranks second in the Big 12 and 30th nationally with its .738 free throw mark.
• Over the last eight games, Tommy Mason-Griffin is averaging 22.0 points and 4.0 assists. He is 29-for-60 (.483) from 3-point range during the stretch.
• Mason-Griffin has made at least one 3-pointer in 24 of 25 games, and at least two treys in all 11 Big 12 outings. He ranks second in the league in 3-point field goal percentage (.451), fourth in assists (4.5 apg) and fourth in 3-point makes per game (2.4).
• In OU’s 11 league contests, Mason-Griffin is shooting .481 from 3-point range (37-for-77). The rest of the team is shooting .274 (49-for-179).
• Mason-Griffin did not lead OU in scoring in any of its first 17 games. He has done it six times in the last eight outings.
• Junior guard Cade Davis is averaging 15.3 points and 4.3 rebounds over the last six outings. He is 18-for-45 (.400) from behind the arc during the stretch and has made at least three treys in five of the last eight games.
• Senior forward Ryan Wright is averaging 5.4 points and 5.5 rebounds in Big 12 play after averaging 3.2 points and 3.7 boards in non-conference action. He has started six of the last seven contests and 11 on the year.
• Senior guard Tony Crocker, who has started his last 90 games, has recorded his only seven career double-doubles over his last 18 outings. Crocker leads all Big 12 guards in rebounding (6.4 rpg) and double-doubles.
• Crocker is just the second Sooner to ever record 1,000 points, 500 boards and 150 3-pointers in a career (Ryan Minor is the other).
• Sophomore guard Willie Warren, who has missed three Big 12 games (ankle, illness), is averaging 18.5 points over his last two games after averaging 7.0 over his previous three. He has attempted 15 free throws over the last two contests.
