- Joined
- Oct 22, 2008
- Messages
- 9,345
- Reaction score
- 0
From SoonerSports.com:
Teams: Oklahoma (3-3) vs. Arkansas (3-1)
Date: Wednesday, Dec. 1
Tip: 7 p.m. CT
Site: Fayetteville, Ark. (Bud Walton Arena)
Radio: Sooner Radio Network (KRXO 107.7 FM in OKC; KTBZ 1430 AM in Tulsa)
TV: Sooner Sports Network (KAUT Ch. 43 in OKC; Cox Cable Ch. 3 in Tulsa; ESPN Full Court)
Webcast: ESPN3.com
Series: Arkansas leads 13-11
WEDNESDAY'S GAME BASICS
Oklahoma (3-3) plays its first true road game of the season when it takes on Arkansas (3-1) Wednesday at 7 p.m. CT in Fayetteville, Ark. The contest will air on the Sooner Radio Network (KRXO FM 107.7 in Oklahoma City; KTBZ AM 1430 in Tulsa) with Bob Barry Sr. and Mike Houck announcing. The game will be televised by the Sooner Sports Network (KAUT Channel 43 in Oklahoma City; Cox Channel 3 in Tulsa; ESPN Full Court) with Bob Carpenter and former OU head coach Billy Tubbs calling the action.
OKLAHOMA'S PROJECTED STARTERS
F 4 Andrew Fitzgerald (6-8, 231, So., 13.3 ppg, 5.2 rpg)
F 5 C.J. Washington (6-7, 209, Jr., 2.6 ppg, 4.2 rpg)
G 14 Carl Blair (6-2, 209, So., 5.8 ppg, 3.3 apg)
G 21 Cameron Clark (6-6, 189, Fr., 5.5 ppg, 4.0 rpg)
G 34 Cade Davis (6-5, 209, Sr., 16.7 ppg, 5.2 rpg)
ARKANSAS' PROJECTED STARTERS
F 5 Glenn Bryant (6-7, 190, So., 5.3 ppg, 4.3 rpg)
F 21 Delvon Johnson (6-9, 220, Sr., 10.8 ppg, 8.8 rpg)
G 12 Marcus Britt (6-3, 198, Sr., 6.0 ppg, 2.5 rpg)
G 15 Rotnei Clarke (6-0, 184, Jr., 15.8 ppg, 2.5 rpg)
G 23 Julysses Nobles (6-1, 170, So., 8.8 ppg, 4.5 apg)
NOTEWORTHY
• The Sooners trail the overall series with Arkansas 13-11 but have won six of the last seven meetings, including a 67-47 outcome last year in Norman in which the Razorbacks went 3-for-18 (.167) from 3-point range.
• 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.
• Senior guard Cade Davis has scored at least 21 points in three of the last four outings (21 vs. Texas Southern, 23 vs. Kentucky and a season-high 24 vs. Chaminade). He is 17-for-39 (.459) from 3-point range during the four-game stretch (4.3 makes per outing).
• In its three losses in the EA SPORTS Maui Invitational last week, Oklahoma was outscored 40-24 in second-chance points. It has surrendered double-digit second-chance points in five of six games this year.
SOONER UPDATE
• The Sooners are coming off an 0-3 performance in the EA SPORTS Maui Invitational, losing 76-64 to No. 8 Kentucky, 74-56 to Virginia and 68-64 to Chaminade. OU shot .455 from the field, .300 (15-for-50) from 3-point range and .587 (27-for-46) from the free throw line while getting outrebounded by 4.0 boards over the three games.
• OU’s three-game .587 free throw performance in Hawaii came on the heels of a .806 effort in its first three games of the season (54-for-67). The Sooners are shooting .717 from the stripe on the year (rank third in Big 12 Conference), and own a .803 mark after halftime (53-for-66).
• After averaging 8.5 points in OU’s first two games, guard Cade Davis is averaging 20.8 points on .492 field goal and .459 (17-for-37) 3-point shooting over the last four outings. On the year, OU’s lone senior averages a team-high 16.7 points per game (ranks seventh in the Big 12), as well as 5.2 rebounds. Davis needs five treys to move into the top 10 on OU’s all-time list (currently has 136) and needs 33 to move into the top five.
• Davis leads the Big 12 with his 3.2 treys per contest and ranks fifth with his .413 percentage from behind the arc. Going back to last year, he has made 50 3-pointers over his last 18 games.
• Sophomore forward Andrew Fitzgerald has shot .500 or better from the field in five of six games (was 8-for-17 against North Carolina Central) and owns a .561 season percentage. He ranks second on the team with 13.3 points and 5.2 rebounds per game.
• Sophomore guard Steven Pledger entered the Maui Invitational averaging a team-high 16.7 points per game, but was held to a 4.3 average in Hawaii on 5-for-18 (.278) field goal and 1-for-10 (.100) 3-point shooting.
• After not playing in the first two games this year and seeing just nine minutes in OU’s third game, sophomore guard Carl Blair is averaging 24.3 minutes over the last three outings. He averaged 7.7 points on 9-for-15 (.600) shooting in the Maui Invitational.
• Freshman forward Tyler Neal, who scored 16 points and grabbed six boards against Virginia last Tuesday, is averaging 7.0 points in 13.0 minutes a game over his four contests. On the year, Neal is 8-for-12 from the field, 3-for-7 from long range and 9-for-10 from the foul line.
• Junior forward C.J. Washington was a factor off the bench in Hawaii, averaging 5.0 boards and 2.0 blocked shots in 15.7 minutes a game.
• Junior forward Nick Thompson recorded 14 assists in OU’s first two games (seven in each) but has totaled just two handouts over the last four outings.
PREVIEWING ARKANSAS
• Arkansas is 3-1 on the year with home court wins over Grambling State (75-52), Florida Gulf Coast (90-47) and Southeast Missouri State (66-56), and an overtime loss to UAB (70-65) last Friday in North Little Rock, Ark.
• Junior guard Rotnei Clarke has scored in double figures in all four games and is averaging a team-high 15.8 points a contest. He is 14-for-34 (.412) from 3-point distance. From Verdigris, Okla., Clarke averaged 15.1 points per game last year and made 100 3-pointers (3.2 per outing).
• Senior forward Delvon Johnson averages 10.8 points and a team-high 8.8 rebounds per game. He is shooting a team-best .556 from the floor and is coming off an 18-point, 13-rebound game against UAB.
• Sophomore point guard Julysses Nobles contributes 8.8 points and team highs of 4.5 assists and 2.5 steals per contest.
• Sophomore forward Marshawn Powell, who started all 32 games last year and averaged 14.9 points and a team-high 6.7 boards, has played in just two games this season (foot injury) and is averaging 6.5 points and 4.5 rebounds in 20.0 minutes per outing.
• The Razorbacks are holding foes to .349 field goal and .269 (14-for-52) 3-point shooting while forcing them into 20.8 turnovers per game.
• Head coach John Pelphrey is 54-47 in his fourth year at Arkansas. Last year, the Razorbacks finished 14-18 overall and 7-9 in the SEC.
OU-ARKANSAS SERIES HISTORY
Wednesday’s game will mark the 25th between Oklahoma and Arkansas, and the 11th meeting in Fayetteville. Despite winning six of the last seven overall meetings against the Razorbacks, OU trails the all-time series by a 13-11 count. Arkansas leads 7-3 in games played in Fayetteville. OU swept a four-game home-and-home series between the 1998-99 and 2001-02 seasons and has posted wins in two of the last three years.
LAST YEAR AGAINST THE RAZORBACKS
• Trailing 25-17, Oklahoma used a 17-2 run over the final three minutes of the first half to take a 34-27 lead at the break and never looked back in a 67-47 home win over Arkansas on Dec. 2, 2009.
• The Sooners hit seven of their last eight field goal attempts in the first half — six of them 3-pointers — to double their output from the game’s first 17 minutes. Arkansas, which scored just one field goal in the first 9:30 of the second half, went 2-for-14 from the field and committed six turnovers from the 3-minute mark of the first half to the 10:30 mark of the second as OU assembled a 31-5 run.
• Tony Crocker led four Sooners in double figures with 16 points and pulled down a career-high 16 rebounds (his previous high was 10) for his first career double-double. Fellow starting guards Willie Warren, Tommy Mason-Griffin and Cade Davis scored 13, 13 and 11 points, respectively.
• Davis was the huge story defensively as he held Arkansas guard Rotnei Clarke, who was averaging 27.6 points and 5.8 3-point makes per game entering the contest, to just 11 points on 1-for-6 shooting from behind the arc. Clarke’s lone 3-point conversion came with 2:35 remaining in the game.
• Freshman forward Marshawn Powell paced the Razorbacks with 12 points (on 6-for-10 shooting) and eight rebounds.
• Arkansas, which played without first-team preseason All-SEC selection Michael Washington, scored its fewest points in five seasons.
