GAME SPECIFICS
Teams: Oklahoma (8-4) vs. No. 22 Gonzaga (9-3)
Date: Thursday, Dec. 31
Tip: 9:05 p.m. CST
Site: Spokane, Wash. (Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena)
Radio: Sooner Radio Network (KOKC 1520 AM in OKC; KMOD 97.5 FM in Tulsa; Sirius 125; XM 102)
TV: ESPN2
Webcast: ESPN360.com
Series: OU leads 1-0
THURSDAY'S GAME BASICS
Playing its first game in 10 days, Oklahoma (8-4) travels to Spokane, Wash., to meet Gonzaga (9-3) Thursday at 9 p.m. CST inside the Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena. The Sooners haven’t played since a Dec. 21 89-74 loss to UTEP in the All-College Classic in Oklahoma City. The Bulldogs, ranked No. 22 in the ESPN/USA Today coaches’ poll, are coming off a 94-52 home win over Eastern Washington on Monday. Thursday’s contest, labeled the Ronald McDonald House Charities Classic, will air on the Sooner Radio Network with Chris Plank and Mike Houck announcing. It will be televised by ESPN2 with Brian Anderson and Stephen Bardo calling the action.
OKLAHOMA'S PROJECTED STARTERS
F 24 Tiny Gallon (6-9, 290, Fr., 11.8 ppg, 8.9 rpg)
G 5 Tony Crocker (6-6, 209, Sr., 14.1 ppg, 7.6 rpg)
G 11 Tommy Mason-Griffin (5-11, 203, Fr., 10.9 ppg, 4.6 apg)
G 13 Willie Warren (6-4, 203, So., 18.7 ppg, 4.9 apg)
G 34 Cade Davis (6-5, 199, Jr., 8.3 ppg, 2.8 rpg)
GONZAGA'S PROJECTED STARTERS
F 20 Elias Harris (6-8, 215, Fr., 13.3 ppg, 6.8 rpg)
C 00 Robert Sacre (7-0, 247, So., 11.8 ppg, 5.3 rpg)
G 3 Demetri Goodson (5-11, 164, So., 7.7 ppg, 1.3 apg)
G 15 Matt Bouldin (6-5, 224, Sr., 15.1 ppg, 4.5 rpg)
G 32 Steven Gray (6-5, 208, Jr., 12.9 ppg, 4.1 rpg)
PREVIEWING GONZAGA
West Coast Conference member Gonzaga improved to 9-3 on the year after knocking off Eastern Washington on Monday by a 94-52 score. The game was the first for the Bulldogs since a 76-41 loss to Duke on Dec. 19 in New York City. Gonzaga is ranked No. 22 in this week’s ESPN/USA Today coaches’ poll and is 26th in the AP version. The Bulldogs’ other two losses came by a combined six points at Michigan State (75-71) and at home to Wake Forest (77-75). Gonzaga beat Colorado, Wisconsin and Cincinnati to claim the EA Sports Maui Invitational title in November. GU is shooting .476 from the field and .371 from behind the arc while limiting opponents to respective .392 and .324 marks.
Senior guard Matt Bouldin, who was named to the John R. Wooden Award preseason watch list, leads four Bulldogs who average double figures in points. Bouldin provides 15.1 points, 4.5 rebounds and a team-high 3.5 assists per game while shooting .400 from 3-point range (22-for-55) and .852 from the free throw line. Over his last three games, he is averaging 6.3 points in 21.7 minutes per outing. Freshman forward Elias Harris, from Speyer, Germany, is averaging 13.3 points on .554 field goal shooting and leads the squad with his 6.8 boards a contest. He has scored at least 22 points three times in the last six games. Junior guard Steven Gray has made 21 3-pointers (shooting .382) and is averaging 12.9 points, 4.1 rebounds and 2.3 assists. Robert Sacre, a 7-0, 247-pound sophomore center, supplies 11.8 points, 5.3 boards and 1.3 blocks per contest. Sacre is shooting .533 from the floor.
Mark Few is in his 11th season as a collegiate head coach, all at Gonzaga. The 1987 Oregon graduate owns a 273-69 record (.798) and entered the season as one of just two active coaches with a career winning percentage above .800 (North Carolina’s Roy Williams was the other). Few led the Bulldogs to a 28-6 record last year and an NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 appearance (the program’s fourth under him).
OU-GONZAGA SERIES HISTORY
In the only previous meeting between the two schools, Oklahoma dealt 18th-ranked Gonzaga a 72-68 loss two seasons ago (Dec. 20, 2007) in the All-College Classic in Oklahoma City. The Sooners overcame .257 first-half field goal shooting by netting 48 points and shooting .654 after intermission to post the win. Jeremy Pargo scored 12 straight Gonzaga points to give his team a 66-63 lead with 2:41 left, but the guard missed his last three attempts, including a potential game-tying 3-pointer that was blocked by Austin Johnson with six seconds remaining. The frontcourt tandem of Blake Griffin (15 points and a game-high 14 rebounds) and Longar Longar (16 points) led the way for OU while guard Tony Crocker hit three treys and contributed 15 points and six boards. Pargo, who led all scorers with 28 points, was the only Bulldog in double figures. Current Gonzaga guard Matt Bouldin had five points and three assists.
