WEDNESDAY'S GAME BASICS
No. 2/2 Oklahoma travels to Stillwater, Okla., to take on in-state rival Oklahoma State in the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Oklahoma Bedlam Series Wednesday at 8 p.m. CT inside Gallagher-Iba Arena. OU, which is 13-1 overall and 2-1 in conference, is in its fifth season under head coach Lon Kruger. The Cowboys are 9-6 this season (1-2 Big 12) and are under the leadership of Travis Ford, now in his eighth campaign in Stillwater.
OKLAHOMA-OKLAHOMA STATE HISTORY
OU leads the all-time series 134-95. OSU owns a 62-44 mark in Stillwater (51-26 record inside GIA).Oklahoma has won five straight in the series, including a perfect 3-0 mark last season. Last season’s results vs. OSU: Jan. 17 in Norman (82-65), Jan. 31 in Stillwater (64-56), March 12 in Kansas City at the Big 12 Tournament (64-49, quarterfinals).
ON THE AIR
Wednesday’s contest will air on the Sooner Radio Network (KRXO 107.7 FM “The Franchise” in Oklahoma City; KTBZ 1430 AM in Tulsa) with Toby Rowland and Scott Thompson announcing. The in-state clash will be televised by ESPNU with Clay Matvick and Tim Welsh calling the action.
GAMEDAY STORYLINES
SCENE SETTER: No. 2/2 Oklahoma travels to Stillwater, Okla., to take on in-state rival Oklahoma State in the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Oklahoma Bedlam Series Wednesday at 8 p.m. CT inside Gallagher-Iba Arena. OU, which is 13-1 overall and 2-1 in conference, is in its fifth season under head coach Lon Kruger. The Cowboys are 9-6 this season (1-2 Big 12) and are under the direction of Travis Ford, now in his eighth campaign in Stillwater. OU has won five straight in the series.
SERVING TREYS: Oklahoma currently ranks first in the country in 3-point field goal percentage (.457) by hitting 148-319 of its shots from downtown this season. Oklahoma’s all-time record for 3-point field goal percentage in a campaign is .414 (1986-87). OU has connected on at least 10 treys in nine games this year. OU’s starting five is averaging a combined 50.0 percent shooting from long distance.
ON THE OFFENSIVE: The Sooners enter Wednesday’s game ranked in the top 15 in both scoring offense with 88.3 points per game (third) and scoring margin (+17.2, 11th) by holding opponents to just 71.1 points per contest. Oklahoma has scored at least 80 points in eight straight games and in 12 of 14 contests this season.
BUDDY BUCKETS: Senior Buddy Hield is currently averaging 26.6 points per game, which ranks first in the Big 12 and second nationally. He has scored at least 20 points in eight straight games and his 52.0 percent (53-102) shooting from downtown ranks fourth in the country (3.8 3FGM per game). The Bahamas native has six games of at least 30 points this season, including five such games in the past eight contests.
STEADFAST SOONERS: Oklahoma isn’t short on experience or leadership this season. OU’s quartet of Isaiah Cousins, Buddy Hield, Ryan Spangler and Jordan Woodard have each started every game (82 total) for OU the past three seasons, tallying 328 combined starts during that span. With the addition of Khadeem Lattin (14 starts), Oklahoma boasts a starting five with 369 combined career starts.
SCOUTING OKLAHOMA STATE
The Cowboys enter Wednesday’s contest on a two-game losing streak. OSU lost to both Baylor (79-62) and West Virginia (77-60) by 17 points. The last time the Cowboys lost back-to-back games by more than 15 points was in 2011-12. OSU hasn’t lost three straight by 15 or more since 1985-86.
The Cowboys field a solid defensive unit that ranks second in the Big 12 and 35th nationally in scoring defense at 64.4 points per game. OSU is holding its opponents to 38.7 percent shooting, which also ranks second in the league and 25th in the country. The Cowboys defense starts at the rim, where they rank second in the Big 12 and 32nd in the NCAA with 5.33 blocked shots per game. The Cowboys have held their Big 12 opponents to 38.5 percent shooting, which leads the league.
Freshman Jawun Evans is only a game removed from a career-high nine assist performance at Baylor, which is tied for the third best performance by an OSU freshman in school history. The Dallas native ranks sixth in the Big 12 with 4.67 assists per game, which is sixth among all freshmen nationwide. At 3.9 rebounds per game, Evans is also second in rebounding among Big 12 point guards behind only K-State’s Justin Edwards (5.8 RPG).
The Cowboys rank second the league and 37th nationally with a free throw mark of 73.7 percent. Jeff Newberry leads the OSU efforts from the free throw line. At 53-of-64 (.828), Newberry ranks eighth in the league from the stripe.
Senior Phil Forte injured his elbow in the first half of the win over Towson, which snapped his streak of consecutive games played at 102. Forte was a Preseason All-Big 12 Honorable Mention honoree.
Head coach Travis Ford enters his eighth season with the Cowboys, and ranks third in school history in both total wins (152) and win percentage (61.0 percent). Ford ranks behind only Eddie Sutton and Henry Iba in both categories.
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