OU-Baylor Pregame Notes >>> SoonerSports.com

[OUHoops]

From SoonerSports.com:

http://www.soonersports.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/013111aae.html

Teams: Oklahoma (11-9, 3-3) vs. Baylor (14-6, 4-3)
Date: Tuesday, Feb. 1
Tip: 6:02 p.m. CT
Site: Norman, Okla. (Lloyd Noble Center)
Radio: Sooner Radio Network (KOKC 1520 AM in OKC; KTBZ 1430 AM in Tulsa; Sirius 113)
TV: ESPN2
Webcast: ESPN3.com
Series: OU leads 35-8

TUESDAY'S GAME BASICS

In a three-way tie for fifth place in the Big 12, Oklahoma (11-9, 3-3) looks for its fourth straight league win when it hosts Baylor (14-6, 4-3) on Tuesday at 6 p.m. CT. OU is coming off an 82-76 overtime victory at Iowa State on Saturday that snapped the Sooners’ 19-game losing streak away from home. Tuesday’s game will air on the Sooner Radio Network (KOKC 1520 AM in Oklahoma City; KTBZ 1430 AM in Tulsa; Sirius 113) with Bob Barry Sr. and Mike Houck announcing. It will be televised nationally by ESPN2 with Jon Sciambi and Doug Gottlieb calling the action.

BAYLOR'S PROJECTED STARTERS
F 5 Perry Jones (6-11, 235, Fr., 13.9 ppg, 7.0 rpg)
F 41 Anthony Jones (6-10, 190, Jr., 8.4 ppg, 5.5 rpg)
C 11 J'Mison Morgan (6-11, 265, Jr., 4.2 ppg, 2.4 rpg)
G 22 A.J. Walton (6-1, 185, So., 8.8 ppg, 5.2 apg)
G 24 LaceDarius Dunn (6-4, 200, Sr., 21.1 ppg, 4.5 rpg)

OKLAHOMA'S PROJECTED STARTERS
F 4 Andrew Fitzgerald (6-8, 231, So., 13.7 ppg, 5.3 rpg)
G 2 Steven Pledger (6-4, 212, So., 12.6 ppg, 2.4 rpg)
G 14 Carl Blair (6-2, 209, So., 6.9 ppg, 4.4 apg)
G 21 Cameron Clark (6-6, 189, Fr., 9.7 ppg, 4.9 rpg)
G 34 Cade Davis (6-5, 209, Sr., 13.0 ppg, 5.2 rpg)

PREVIEWING BAYLOR

• Baylor enters Tuesday’s game with a 14-6 overall record and a 4-3 (fourth place) Big 12 mark following its 70-66 home win over Colorado on Saturday in which the Bears rallied from a 17-point first-half deficit and didn’t take their first lead until 2:58 left in the contest. Ranked as high as No. 9 in the Associated Press poll on Dec. 13, the Bears have been unranked for the last five weeks. They started the year with a 7-0 record and are 7-6 since. BU is 12-1 at home and 1-2 in true road games (beat Texas Tech and lost to Iowa State and Kansas State).

• In Big 12 play, Baylor is shooting .488 from the field (ranks third in the league), .438 from 3-point range (ranks first) and .702 from the free throw line (ranks seventh). Its +2.1 rebounding margin ranks sixth in conference play.

• The Bears give up 67.0 points per league game (fourth fewest) while allowing opponents to shoot .430 from the field (fourth best defensive mark) and .364 from 3-point range (seventh best mark).

• Senior guard LaceDarius Dunn leads three Bears who score in double figures. Dunn averages a Big 12-high 21.1 points per game on the season to go along with averages of 4.5 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.6 steals. He leads the conference with his 3.8 treys per contest and is shooting .421 from behind the arc. Dunn, who needs 160 points to become the Big 12’s all-time leading scorer, has scored at least 20 points 10 times in his 17 games this year. Included was a 43-point outburst Jan. 4 against Morgan State (he was 10-for-18 on 3-pointers).

• Freshman forward Perry Jones averages 13.9 points and 7.0 rebounds per contest while shooting .571 from the field. In Big 12 play, he’s averaging 17.7 points and 6.0 boards while shooting a league-best .662 from the floor (has scored at least 20 points four times).

• Junior forward Quincy Acy contributes 13.1 points and a team-high 7.8 rebounds per game. Acy, who is shooting .520 from the field, has come off the bench the last three games (averaging 13.7 points and 8.3 boards in 32.3 minutes during the stretch).

• Scott Drew is in his eighth year as Baylor’s head coach and owns an 123-109 record.

OU-BAYLOR SERIES HISTORY

Oklahoma owns a 35-8 series advantage against Baylor and had won 30 straight meetings prior to the Bears’ current three-game winning streak. The Sooners possess a 17-3 series lead in games played in Norman and have won 14 of the last 15 there (BU won 70-63 last year). Prior to last year, the most recent Baylor win in Norman came on Dec. 6, 1977 (75-67). OU is 26-3 against the Bears since the inception of the Big 12 Conference and has won its 13 series home games during the span by an average of 23.5 points.

EARLIER THIS YEAR AGAINST BAYLOR

• Baylor shot an Oklahoma-opponent-season-high .622 from the field and posted a 44-24 advantage in paint points en route to a 74-61 win in Waco on Jan. 11. OU shot .418 from the field for its fifth worst mark of the season.

• The Sooners trailed 36-23 before scoring the final nine points of the first half (they hit 3-pointers on the last three possessions) and the first two of the second half to draw within 36-34. OU trailed by just three (49-46) with 11:30 remaining and by five (62-57) with 5:30 left before Baylor ended the game on a 12-4 run.

• Oklahoma committed 13 turnovers to Baylor’s 17 and outscored the Bears 27-11 off turnovers.

• The Sooners played without senior guard Cade Davis, their second leading scorer and rebounder on the year. Davis’ grandmother passed away earlier in the day.

• Sophomore guard Steven Pledger scored a team-high 17 points with the help of a then-season-high five 3-pointers on 10 attempts. He added two rebounds, two assists and a season-high-tying three steals while playing all 40 minutes.

• Freshman guard/forward Cameron Clark, who also played the entire game, contributed 16 points, four boards, a then-career-high three assists and two steals.

• Sophomore point guard Carl Blair finished with 10 points, a game-high six assists and three steals in 38 minutes.

• Baylor freshman forward Perry Jones scored a game-high 25 points on 10-for-13 shooting and grabbed seven rebounds.

NOTEWORTHY

• Oklahoma holds a 35-8 series lead against Baylor (17-3 in Norman). The Sooners won 14 straight in the series at Lloyd Noble Center before last year’s 70-63 Baylor victory. The Bears have won three straight in the series and beat OU in Waco three weeks ago, 74-61 (Jan. 11).

• Starters have accounted for 218 of Oklahoma’s 232 points (94 percent) over the last three games (wins over Texas Tech, Colorado and Iowa State). They have posted 12 double-figure scoring efforts in the three games and each one is averaging at least 11.0 points per outing during the stretch.

• OU’s three-game winning streak is its longest in conference play since the Blake Griffin-led 2008-09 Elite Eight team won 11 straight.

• The Sooners are 10-1 at home this year with their only loss coming to then-No. 16 Texas A&M. Oklahoma is 63-13 (.829) at Lloyd Noble Center under fifth-year head coach Jeff Capel.

• 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.

• Freshmen and sophomores have accounted for 71 percent of OU’s points this year (963 of 1,353). The Sooners have one senior in Cade Davis.

• Sophomore guard Steven Pledger, who is coming off a career-high 38-point performance Saturday at Iowa State, has scored in double figures in nine of OU’s 11 wins and is averaging a team-high 16.7 points in the team’s victories (compared to 7.4 in losses). He is shooting .432 from 3-point range in wins (.273 in defeats).

• Pledger’s 38 points Saturday stand as the most by a Big 12 player in conference play this year and the second most by a Big 12 player in any game (Baylor senior guard LaceDarius Dunn scored 43 against Morgan State on Jan. 4).

• 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 12.4 points and 5.3 boards over the last 12 outings (shooting .500). Clark is averaging 37.8 minutes per game during the span and has played at least 40 minutes five times (including three times in the last five games).

• In OU’s 11 wins, point guard Carl Blair has totaled 50 assists and 24 turnovers. In the team’s nine losses, Blair has 29 assists and 34 turnovers. The sophomore went 16-for-26 from the free throw line over his first 15 games, but is 22-for-30 over the last three outings (all wins).

• During the current three-game winning streak, the Sooners’ top four scorers are all shooting .500 or better from the field. Clark is shooting .519, Davis .515, Pledger .513 and Andrew Fitzgerald .500. OU is shooting .484 during the stretch while holding foes to a .396 mark.

• Oklahoma has been outrebounded in each of its six Big 12 games (by an average margin of 6.0 per contest). Forty-nine percent of OU’s league foes’ rebounds have come on the offensive end of the floor (they are averaging 11.3 offensive boards per game).

INDIVIDUALS UPDATE

• Sophomore forward Andrew Fitzgerald has scored at least 17 points seven times this season, including three times in OU’s six conference games. He leads the team with his 13.7 points and 5.3 rebounds per game on the year, and ranks fifth in the Big 12 with his .525 season field goal percentage. His free throw percentage (.723) is up significantly from last year (.638). Fitzgerald has shot .500 or better from the field in 14 of 20 outings on the year.

• A career .332 3-point shooter entering the year, senior guard Cade Davis is shooting a career-best .368 from behind the arc this season (ranks 13th in the Big 12) and is averaging 2.2 treys per game (ranks eighth). Going back to last year, he has made 73 treys over his last 31 games. Davis ranks eighth on OU’s career 3-point field goals list with 159 and needs eight to tie Brent Price for seventh place.

• Davis has been effective on the boards his last six games, averaging 6.8 rebounds during the stretch. Included was a career-high total of 12 against Maryland Eastern Shore on Jan. 3 (also scored 11 points for his first double-double of the year). Davis has led OU in rebounding in five of his last six games (he did not play Jan. 11 against Baylor due to the death of his grandmother).

• In OU’s 11 wins, sophomore guard Steven Pledger has scored at least 13 points eight times and is shooting .432 from 3-point range (32-for-74) and .878 from the free throw line (36-for-41). In the Sooners’ nine losses, Pledger has been held to single digits six times and is shooting .273 from deep (12-for-44) and .700 from the foul line (7-for-10).

• Freshman Cameron Clark’s top six scoring games have come over the last 12 outings. Clark, who finished with a career-high 26 points Dec. 30 against Central Arkansas, also netted 17 against Oral Roberts, 16 at Baylor, 14 against Maryland Eastern Shore and 13 versus Gardner-Webb and Colorado. He is averaging 12.4 points and 5.3 rebounds over the last 12 games and is shooting .543 from the field and .464 from 3-point range in OU’s 11 wins.

• Sophomore point guard Carl Blair has rebounded nicely from a slow start to the year by averaging 8.3 points, 3.1 rebounds and 5.3 assists over the last 12 games. In his first six games, Blair averaged 4.0 points, 0.8 rebounds and 2.5 assists. He ranks fourth in the Big 12 in assists (4.4) and has led OU in the category in nine of the last 12 outings.

• 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 nine contests. During that span, Washington is averaging 3.7 points and 3.6 boards while shooting .600 from the floor. He’s shooting .647 from the field (11-for-17) over the last eight games. On the year, Washington leads OU in rebounds per minute (averaging 12.3 per 40 minutes; next highest on team is Tyler Neal at 8.5).