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Source: SoonerSports.com
Teams: Oklahoma (13-9, 4-4) vs. Texas Tech (15-7, 3-5)
Date: Tuesday, Feb. 9
Tip: 7:05 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)
TV: Big 12 Network (KOCB Ch. 34 in OKC; KJRH Ch. 2 in Tulsa; ESPN Full Court)
Webcast: ESPN360.com
Series: OU leads 29-17
SATURDAY'S GAME BASICS
Oklahoma (13-9 overall, 4-4 Big 12) begins the second half of Big 12 play when it hosts Texas Tech (15-7, 3-5) Tuesday at 7 p.m. CST. The Sooners are 11-0 at home this year and have won 31 of their last 32 in Norman. Texas Tech, coming off an 81-74 home win over Oklahoma State on Saturday, is 0-4 in Big 12 road contests. Tuesday’s game will air on the Sooner Radio Network with Bob Barry Sr. and Mike Houck calling the action. It will be televised by the Big 12 Network with Mitch Holthus, Bryndon Manzer and Melissa Knowles announcing.
TICKET INFORMATION
A limited number of tickets are available for $10, $25 and $35 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 Tuesday at 5 p.m.
BLAKE GRIFFIN NIGHT
Tuesday is Blake Griffin Night as the OU athletics department will recognize the reigning national player of the year. Griffin, the No. 1 overall pick in last June's NBA Draft, will receive the NCAA Sportsmanship Award at halftime. One hundred fans will win an opportunity to attend a postgame meet-and-greet with Griffin. One fan will win a chance to make a half-court shot at halftime, with Griffin serving as the shot coach.
PREVIEWING TEXAS TECH
Texas Tech, which owns a 15-7 overall record and a 3-5 mark in Big 12 play, is 2-6 this year in true road games and has lost six straight away from home. The Red Raiders started the year 9-0 (they peaked at No. 16 in the Dec. 14 AP poll) but are 6-7 since. They are coming off an 81-74 home win over Oklahoma State on Saturday, a game in which they went 36-for-46 from the free throw line. In Big 12 play, Tech ranks sixth in the league in scoring offense (73.9), 12th in scoring defense (81.8), ninth in field goal percentage (.407), first in 3-point field goal percentage (.403) and seventh in free throw percentage (.675).
Two Red Raiders average double figures in scoring in league action, while three more produce at least 7.9 points a contest. Junior guard John Roberson, who went 13-for-14 at the free throw line and scored 28 points Saturday against Oklahoma State, averages 16.4 points and 5.6 assists (ranks second in Big 12) per league game. Roberson is shooting .432 from 3-point range in league play and averages 2.4 treys per game (ranks seventh in both categories). He’s also made 28 of his 34 attempts from the foul line (.824). Junior forward Mike Singletary contributes 15.6 points and a team-high 8.1 rebounds (ranks sixth in league). Singletary, who scored 43 points against Texas A&M in last year’s Big 12 Championship first round (including 29 straight for Tech), was 12-for-15 at the free throw line Saturday and finished with 22 points. Senior guard Nick Okorie is averaging 9.6 points in conference action and junior guards Brad Reese and David Tairu are averaging 8.8 and 7.9 points, respectively.
Pat Knight is in his third season as Texas Tech’s head coach and owns a 31-31 (.500) record.
OU-TEXAS TECH SERIES HISTORY
Oklahoma owns a 29-17 series advantage against Texas Tech and has won five of the last six meetings. OU is 17-5 against the Red Raiders in Norman and is 11-3 at Lloyd Noble Center. Since the start of the Big 12 in 1996-97, OU is 20-9 against Texas Tech (10-3 in Norman). Jeff Capel is 5-2 against the Red Raiders as OU’s head coach (3-0 in Norman).
EARLIER THIS YEAR AGAINST THE RED RAIDERS
• It was a tale of two halves in Oklahoma’s 75-65 loss at Texas Tech Jan. 23. OU held the Red Raiders to 23 points on .250 field goal shooting in the first half, but gave up 52 points on .516 shooting in the second. Tech was 0-for-4 from 3-point range before halftime and 7-for-11 after. The Sooners, who led 34-23 with 19 minutes left in the game, but were outscored 52-31 the rest of the way.
• Texas Tech went 8-for-35 (.229) from the field in the game’s first 21:30, but went 16-for-28 (.571) afterward.
• Down 65-64, the Sooners were outscored 10-1 over the game’s final 2:53.
• OU committed five turnovers in the first half and 11 in the second. Texas Tech outscored the Sooners in points off turnovers, 24-7.
• OU’s 25 fouls marked a season high, while Tech’s 31 free throw attempts were the second most by an OU opponent on the year.
• Tommy Mason-Griffin scored a then-career-high 26 points and pulled down a career-high-tying seven rebounds. The freshman, who played the entire game, was 4-for-9 from 3-point range and scored all of his points in the game’s final 29 minutes.
• Tony Crocker recorded his sixth double-double of the year with 20 points and 13 rebounds. He had 12 points and nine boards by half.
• Willie Warren did not play due to a sprained ankle.
NOTEWORTHY
• Oklahoma has won 31 straight home games versus unranked (AP) competition.
• OU is 29-17 all-time against Texas Tech and 17-5 in Norman.
• The Sooners are averaging 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 (no other Big 12 school has more than three players).
• OU ranks second in the Big 12 and 30th nationally with its .738 free throw mark.
• Over the last five games, Tommy Mason-Griffin is averaging 23.6 points and 4.0 assists. He is 19-for-35 (.543) from 3-point range during the stretch.
• Mason-Griffin has made at least one 3-pointer in 21 of 22 games, and at least two treys in 15 of the last 18 outings. He leads the Big 12 in 3-point field goal percentage (.463) and ranks fourth in assists (4.6 apg) and fifth in treys per game (2.3).
• In OU’s eight conference games, Mason-Griffin is shooting .519 (27-for-52) from 3-point range. The rest of the team is shooting .252 (32-for-127).
• Mason-Griffin did not lead OU in scoring in any of its first 17 games. He has done it four times in the last five outings.
• Junior guard Cade Davis is averaging 19.0 points and 4.7 rebounds over the last three outings. He is 11-for-26 (.423) from behind the arc during the stretch and made at least three 3-pointers in four of the last five games.
• Senior forward Ryan Wright is averaging 5.5 points and 6.0 rebounds in Big 12 play after averaging 3.2 points and 3.7 boards in non-conference action. Over the last six games, he is averaging 6.7 points (.625 field goal percentage) and 7.5 rebounds. He had 11 points and a career-high 14 boards (10 in first half) Saturday in the win over No. 9 Texas.
• Senior guard Tony Crocker, who has started his last 87 games, has recorded his only six career double-doubles over his last 15 outings.
• Crocker needs six rebounds to become 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 is averaging 13.0 points over his last 10 games (4.1 free throw attempts per contest) after averaging 19.6 points over his first nine (7.9 free throw attempts per game).
HOME IS WHERE THE "W" IS
Oklahoma has won 12 straight games at Lloyd Noble Center and 31 of its last 32. The Sooners, who went 16-1 in Norman last year, are 11-0 this season and 451-73 (.861) since the building opened in 1975. They are 11-3 (.786) against Texas Tech at Lloyd Noble Center.
MASON-GRIFFIN ON A ROLL
• Over the last seven games, freshman point guard Tommy Mason-Griffin has played 276 out of 285 possible minutes and is averaging 20.0 points, 3.9 rebounds and 4.0 assists while shooting .521 from 3-point range (25-for-48).
• Mason-Griffin has led OU in scoring in four of the last five games (averaging 23.6 over the five contests). He did not pace the team in scoring in any of its first 17 games (averaged 10.2 points in those 17).
• The 5-11, 203-pounder leads the Big 12 (all games) in 3-point percentage (.463) and ranks fourth in assists (4.6 apg) and fifth in 3-pointers per game (2.3). In Big 12 play, he ranks first in 3-point percentage (.519) and second in treys per contest (3.4).
• Mason-Griffin leads OU and all Big 12 newcomers with his 18.3 scoring average in conference play.
• With eight regular season games remaining, Mason-Griffin already ranks fourth on OU’s all-time freshman list in 3-point makes (50) and sixth in assists (101). No Oklahoma freshman has ever shot better from 3-point range for a season than Mason-Griffin’s current .463 mark.
• Only one freshman in school history averaged more minutes per game than Mason-Griffin’s current 34.3. That was Wayman Tisdale (averaged 34.5) in 1982-83.
