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From SoonerSports.com
Teams: Oklahoma (8-6) vs. No. 16/16 Texas A&M (13-1)
Date: Saturday, Jan. 8
Tip: 3:01 p.m. CT
Site: Norman, Okla. (Lloyd Noble Center)
Radio: Sooner Radio Network (KRXO 107.7 FM in OKC; KTBZ 1430 AM in Tulsa; Sirius 113)
TV: Big 12 Network (KOCB Ch. 34 in OKC; KQCW Ch. 19 in Tulsa; ESPN Full Court)
Webcast: ESPN3.com
Series: OU leads 28-6
SATURDAY'S GAME BASICS
Winner of five of its last six games, Oklahoma (8-6) begins Big 12 Conference play by hosting No. 16/16 Texas A&M (13-1) on Saturday at 3 p.m. CST inside Lloyd Noble Center. The Aggies have won 10 straight contests. Saturday’s game will air on the Sooner Radio Network (KRXO 107.7 FM in Oklahoma City; KTBZ 1430 AM in Tulsa; Sirius 113) with Bob Barry Sr. and Mike Houck announcing. The contest will be televised by the Big 12 Network (KOCB Ch. 34 in Oklahoma City; KQCW Ch. 19 in Tulsa; ESPN Full Court) with Mitch Holthus and Stephen Howard calling the action.
TEXAS A&M'S PROJECTED STARTERS
F 10 David Loubeau (6-8, 230, Jr., 11.5 ppg, 5.2 rpg)
F 22 Khris Middleton (6-7,215, So., 15.4 ppg, 4.8 rpg)
F 45 Nathan Walkup (6-7, 210, Sr., 10.1 ppg, 6.4 rpg)
G 11 B.J. Holmes (5-11, 175, Sr., 9.3 ppg, 3.6 apg)
G 23 Naji Hibbert (6-6, 200, So., 7.1 ppg, 2.9 rpg)
OKLAHOMA'S PROJECTED STARTERS
F 4 Andrew Fitzgerald (6-8, 231, So., 13.6 ppg, 5.4 rpg)
G 2 Steven Pledger (6-4, 212, So., 11.9 ppg, 1.9 apg)
G 14 Carl Blair (6-2, 209, So., 6.1 ppg, 4.1 apg)
G 21 Cameron Clark (6-6, 189, Fr., 9.0 ppg, 5.1 rpg)
G 34 Cade Davis (6-5, 209, Sr., 13.1 ppg, 4.9 rpg)
PREVIEWING TEXAS A&M
• Ranked No. 16 in both major polls, 13-1 Texas A&M enters Saturday’s game on a 10-game winning streak. The Aggies’ lone loss came in their fourth game of the season, a 67-65 defeat (Nov. 25) at the hands of Boston College in the first round of the Old Spice Classic in Orlando, Fla. A&M’s lone true road game was an 86-65 win over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Nov. 15.
• Texas A&M is shooting .451 from the field (ranks 10th in the Big 12), .345 from 3-point range (ranks ninth) and .723 from the free throw line (ranks second). Its +12.6 rebounding margin leads the Big 12.
• The Aggies give up just 56.6 points per game (second fewest in the league) while allowing opponents to shoot .377 from the field (Big 12’s fifth best defensive mark) and .290 from 3-point range (fourth best mark).
• Sophomore forward Khris Middleton leads three Aggies who score in double figures. Middleton averages 15.4 points, 4.8 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game while shooting .486 from the field and .349 from 3-point range (1.1 makes per game). He leads the team with his 56 free throw makes and .824 mark at the foul line. Middleton netted a career-high 31 against Arkansas on Dec. 18 in Dallas.
• Junior forward David Loubeau averages 11.5 points and 5.2 rebounds per game. Loubeau, who is shooting .496 from the field, is coming off a season-high-tying 18-point performance against Nicholls State.
• Senior forward Nathan Walkup contributes 10.1 points, a team-high 6.4 rebounds and 1.5 assists in just 23.1 minutes per outing. Walkup is shooting .523 from the field and .851 (40-for-47) from the free throw line.
• Mark Turgeon is in his fourth year as Texas A&M’s head coach and owns an 86-32 record. He’s in his 13th year overall and owns a 239-151 career mark.
OU-TEXAS A&M SERIES HISTORY
Oklahoma owns a 28-6 series advantage against Texas A&M and is 14-2 against the Aggies in Norman. OU’s lone home losses in the series came in 2007 (56-49) and 2010 (69-54). Since the start of the Big 12 in 1996-97, OU is 23-6 against the Aggies (12-2 in Norman). Five of the Aggies’ six wins in series history have come over the past four seasons (they have won five of the last eight).
Last year, Texas A&M won 65-62 in College Station and 69-54 in Norman.
NOTEWORTHY
• Oklahoma holds a 28-6 series lead against Texas A&M and is 14-2 in Norman. The Aggies have won five of the last eight meetings, including both games last year (65-62 in College Station and 69-54 in Norman).
• The Sooners are 8-0 at home this year and 0-6 away from Norman. They are 61-12 (.836) under fifth-year head coach Jeff Capel at Lloyd Noble Center.
• Texas A&M is OU’s second top-25 opponent this year. The Sooners lost to then-No. 8 Kentucky (76-64) Nov. 22 in Lahaina, Hawaii.
• After averaging 5.5 points and 4.3 rebounds in OU’s first eight games (he shot .450 from the field), freshman Cameron Clark is averaging team highs of 13.7 points and 6.2 boards over the last six outings (shooting .533 from the field). Clark has played 225 out of a possible 240 minutes the last six games (five OU wins), including all 40 minutes against Oral Roberts and Cincinnati.
• Sophomore guard Steven Pledger is averaging a team-high 15.1 points in OU’s wins (all at home). He has made 22 3-pointers (2.8 average) and is shooting .440 from behind the arc in those contests. Over the last two outings, Pledger is 5-for-6 from long distance.
• OU is shooting a sizzling .598 from the field and .485 from 3-point range over the last two games. Against Central Arkansas two games ago, the Sooners shot a Capel-era-best .612 from the floor.
• In their eight wins, the Sooners are shooting .500 from the field and .439 from 3-point range (8.5 makes). In their six losses, they’re shooting .442 from the field and .295 from behind the arc (5.5 makes).
• Seven different Sooners have led the team in scoring in their 14 games.
• Eight of OU’s top nine scorers are in their first or second year of Division I basketball. Five of the nine are in their first year.
SOONER UPDATE
• After a five-game losing streak that had OU at 3-5 on the year, the Sooners have won five of their last six contests. In those five wins, they shot .528 from the field and .477 from 3-point range.
• OU has shot 46 percent or better from the field in eight of its last nine games. It has shot under 44 percent just twice this year. OU ranks fifth in the Big 12 with its .475 season field goal percentage (last year it ranked last at .430).
• The Sooners rank fourth in the Big 12 with their 7.2 3-pointers per game. In the team’s eight wins, OU is averaging 8.5 treys.
• Turnovers have been an issue for the Sooners, as they average 14.5 per game. They’ve committed at least 10 turnovers in all but one outing and rank last in the Big 12 in turnover margin (-1.4). Opponents are averaging 17.4 points off turnovers per game (19.8 in OU’s losses).
• Sophomore forward Andrew Fitzgerald has shot .500 or better from the field in 10 of 14 games and owns a .532 season percentage to rank fourth in the Big 12. He leads the team with his 13.6 points and 5.4 rebounds per game. His free throw percentage (.724) is up significantly from last year (.638) and he is shooting .765 (26-for-34) from the foul line over the last eight games.
• A career .332 3-point shooter entering the year, senior guard Cade Davis is shooting .407 from behind the arc this season (ranks ninth in the Big 12) and is averaging 2.5 treys per game (ranks fifth). Going back to last year, he has made 66 3-pointers over his last 26 games. Davis ranks ninth on OU’s career 3-point field goals list with 152 and needs one to tie J.R. Raymond for eighth place.
• Davis is shooting .429 from 3-point distance over the last 11 outings (33-for-77). If you exclude an 0-for-5 effort against Cincinnati on Dec. 18 in Oklahoma City, he is shooting .458 from long range since Nov. 18.
• In OU’s eight wins (all at home), sophomore guard Steven Pledger has scored at least 13 points six times and is shooting .440 from 3-point range (22-for-50) and .852 from the free throw line (23-for-27). In six games away from home (all losses), Pledger has been held to single digits four times and is shooting .222 from deep (6-for-27).
• Freshman Cameron Clark has scored in double figures in four of the last six games. He recorded consecutive career highs of 13 points Dec. 9 against Gardner-Webb and 17 points Dec. 11 versus Oral Roberts, and topped those performances with a 26-point effort Dec. 30 against Central Arkansas. Clark, who registered 14 points and nine boards Monday against Maryland Eastern Shore, is shooting .552 from the field and .458 from 3-point range in OU’s eight wins.
• Sophomore point guard Carl Blair has rebounded nicely from a tough start to the year by averaging 8.2 points, 3.7 rebounds and 5.7 assists over the last six games. He recorded 15 assists over his first six games but has 34 over the last six. He is also shooting .531 from the field on the year and ranks sixth in the Big 12 with his 4.1 assists per outing.
• After averaging 1.5 points and 3.3 rebounds while shooting .235 from the field over his first 10 games, junior forward C.J. Washington has elevated his production over the last three contests. During that span, Washington is averaging 7.7 points and 3.7 boards while shooting .692 from the floor. He’s scored a career-high nine points in each of the last two games while going a combined 8-for-10 from the field.
• Freshman guard Calvin Newell went 5-for-6 from 3-point range in OU’s Dec. 21 win over Sacramento State and finished with a career-high 17 points in 17 minutes off the bench. It’s the only game in the last seven in which he’s scored. Despite not scoring in either of the last two games, Newell did rack up nine assists against Central Arkansas and Maryland Eastern Shore.
HOME IS WHERE THE "W" IS
With its 459-77 record, Oklahoma has won 86 percent of its games at Lloyd Noble Center since the building opened in 1975. Since the turn of the millennium, the Sooners have won 89 percent of their home games (154-20). They are 8-0 at home this year.
UP NEXT
OU plays its first Big 12 road game Tuesday against Baylor at 8 p.m. CT. The game will be televised by Fox Sports Southwest.
