PROMOTIONS AND EVENTS
Lloyd Noble Center will be striped with free t-shirts for fans (6,000 crimson t-shirts and 6,000 cream).
Stacey King, OU's No. 5 all-time scorer, will be in attendance and will be recognized in the first half. King's Sooners played in the national championship game 25 years ago.
PREVIEWING BAYLOR
After starting 5-1 in Big 12 play, Baylor is 2-5 since and has lost its last two contests. The Bears are 2-4 in conference road games with wins at Texas Tech and TCU. They are coming off an 87-82 home loss to Iowa State on Wednesday in which the Cyclones hit 11 3-pointers and shot .542 from the field.
In Big 12 play, Baylor leads the league in 3-point field goal percentage defense (.275), ranks second in field goal percentage defense (.399) and blocked shots (4.5 bpg), and third in scoring offense (70.5 ppg), scoring margin (+6.2 per game) and assists (14.2 apg).
Preseason Big 12 Player of the Year Pierre Jackson leads the league with his 18.9 points season scoring average. He also leads the Big 12 in assists (6.4) and ranks second in 3-pointers per game (2.5), fourth in steals (1.6) and ninth in 3-point field goal percentage (.360). The senior guard scored in double figures in 31 straight games prior to being held to seven points two games ago at Kansas State. He has netted at least 20 points 10 times this season. Jackson is averaging 19.7 points in three career games against Oklahoma.
Center Isaiah Austin ranks third among Big 12 freshmen and 10th overall with his 13.4 points per game and leads all league rookies with his 9.2 rebounds per contest (ranks second overall). He also ranks 11th in the league with his .468 field goal mark. In six games since scoring 19 points against OU in Waco, Austin is averaging 9.2 points on .344 field goal shooting (21-for-61). A McDonald's All-American last year (high school teammate of OU's Je'lon Hornbeak), Austin has nine double-doubles to rank third in the Big 12.
Junior forward Corey Jefferson averages 12.2 points, 8.3 rebounds and a team-high 2.0 blocks per game while shooting a team-best .586 from the field. He has nine double-doubles on the year, including a 15-point, 10-board effort Wednesday versus Iowa State.
Scott Drew is in his 10th year as Baylor's head coach and owns a 171-134 (.561) record at the school.
OU-BAYLOR SERIES HISTORY
Oklahoma owns a 38-10 series advantage against Baylor and has won 33 of the last 38 meetings (including a streak of 30 straight wins that was snapped three years ago). The Sooners possess an 18-4 series lead in games played in Norman. OU is 29-5 against the Bears since the inception of the Big 12 Conference (14-2 at Lloyd Noble Center).
JAN. 30 VS. THE BEARS
Oklahoma was outrebounded 47-34 and surrendered 20 more field goal attempts but still managed a 74-71 road win over second-place Baylor on Jan. 30. The Sooners, whose only deficit was 4-2, led by 16 with 13:25 remaining and by 11 (67-56) with 2:40 to go before having to hang on. The Bears missed two shots on their final possession, one at the buzzer.
OU shot .527 from the field for its second-best performance of the season and the highest by a Baylor opponent on the year. It held Baylor to a .373 mark. The Sooners made one more field goal despite attempting 20 fewer shots.
Junior Amath M'Baye and senior Steven Pledger scored then-season highs of 20 points each. M'Baye made a season-high nine shots on 12 attempts and added seven rebounds and a season-high four blocks. Pledger was 6-for-12 from the floor and added a season-high five assists to go along with two steals. His three 3-pointers were his most in seven games. His two free throws with eight seconds left marked the game's final points after Baylor cut OU's lead to one.
Baylor grabbed 24 offensive rebounds to OU's five and outscored the Sooners 24-6 in second-chance points. OU committed just five turnovers in the first half (led to five BU points) but committed 11 after halftime (led to 15 points).
