THURSDAY'S CHAMPIONSHIP BASICS
No. 6/6 Oklahoma (24-6 overall, 12-6 Big 12) is the No. 3 seed in this year’s Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship, to be played Wednesday through Saturday inside Kansas City’s Sprint Center. OU will begin its quest for a fourth Big 12 tournament title Thursday at 8 p.m. CT against sixth-seeded (No. 21/19) Iowa State (21-10, 10-8). If the Sooners win Thursday, they will play a semifinals contest Friday at 8 p.m. CT (ESPN2). Saturday’s title game is slated for a 5 p.m. CT start.
ON THE AIR
Thursday’s contest will air on the Sooner Radio Network (KRXO 107.7 FM “The Franchise” in Oklahoma City; KTBZ 1430 AM in Tulsa) with Toby Rowland and Scott Thompson announcing. The Sooners vs. Cyclones matchup will be televised by ESPNU with Jon Sciambi, Miles Simon and Holly Rowe calling the action.
FAST FACTS ON THE CYCLONES
• Iowa State heads to KC with hopes of winning a third-straight Big 12 Championship title. Kansas (twice) and Oklahoma are the only schools to win three titles in a row.
• ISU has won its last six games at the Big 12 Championship. A win would tie the Cyclones for the fourth-longest win streak at the tournament (KU - 10, 1997-00; OU - 10, 2001-04; KU - 9, 2006-08; OSU - 7, 2004-06; KU - 7, 2010-12). During the six-game win streak, Iowa State has beaten three teams that were ranked in the top 15 at the time.
• The Cyclones are ranked No. 21 in this week’s Associated Press poll. The Cyclones have been ranked in a school-record 55 consecutive polls, the third-longest streak in the nation (Kansas, Arizona).
• ISU’s top six rotation players all earned awards from the Big 12: Georges Niang (1st Team), Monté Morris (2nd), Jameel McKay (HM), Abdel Nader (HM) and Matt Thomas (HM) earned All-Big 12 honors. Deonte Burton was the Big 12 Newcomer of the Year and a member of the all-newcomer team.
• Iowa State has reached 20 wins for a school record five consecutive seasons and also has double-digit Big 12 victories for the fifth straight year, also a school record. ISU has won 22 games against nationally-ranked opponents the last three seasons.
• ISU has had seven different players score 20 or more points in a game in 2015-16 and is the only top 25 team with six active players averaging double figures. The Cyclones are leading the Big 12 in scoring for the fourth straight season (82.0).
• Senior forward Georges Niang is the ninth Division I player since 1995 to record 2,000 points, 600 rebounds and 400 assists in a career. He finished with 1,151 points in conference games - second on the Big 12 all-time scoring list.
• ISU’s Monté Morris is leading the Big 12 in assists (7.1) and assist-to-turnover ratio (4.1). Morris already owns two of the top-three assist-to-turnover ratios in NCAA history and is third nationally this season.
SOONER STORYLINES
• MARCH MADNESS: No. 6/6 Oklahoma (24-6 overall, 12-6 Big 12) is the No. 3 seed in this year’s Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship, to be played Wednesday through Saturday inside Kansas City’s Sprint Center. OU will begin its quest for a fourth Big 12 tournament title Thursday at 8 p.m. CT against sixth-seeded (No. 21/19) Iowa State (21-10, 10-8). If the Sooners win Thursday, they will play a semifinals contest Friday at 8 p.m. CT (ESPN2). Saturday’s title game is slated for a 5 p.m. CT start.
• BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIP SUCCESS: Oklahoma sports a 21-16 (.568) Big 12 Championship record, good for the third-best winning percentage among current league members. It has won at least one tournament game in 12 of the event’s 19 years. OU’s three tournament titles (2001, 2002 and 2003) are tied for the second-most (with Iowa State), behind Kansas’ nine. The Sooners have played in five of the 19 Big 12 title games.
• SERVING TREYS: OU currently ranks second nationally in 3-point field goal percentage (.430) by hitting 319-742 of its shots from downtown. Oklahoma’s all-time record for 3-point field goal percentage in a campaign is .414 (1986-87). OU has connected on at least 10 treys in 20 games this year (a school record) and it’s 10.6 3-point makes per game ranks fourth nationally (first in Big 12). OU’s starting five is averaging 44.3 percent from 3-point range (271 for 612, Hield has 124 of those makes).
• BUDDY BUCKETS: Senior Buddy Hield is currently averaging 25.1 points per game, which ranks first in the Big 12 and second nationally (first among Power 5 conferences). The two-time Big 12 Player of the Year has scored at least 20 points in 22 games this season and his 47.3 percent (124-262) shooting from downtown ranks fourth in the country. His 4.13 3FGM per game is tops in the nation. The Bahamas native has nine games of at least 30 points this season (same total as the rest of Big 12 combined) and 11 total such games in his career at Oklahoma (tied with Kevin Durant for second-most in Big 12 history).
• STEADFAST SOONERS: Oklahoma isn’t short on experience or leadership this season. OU’s quartet of Isaiah Cousins, Buddy Hield, Ryan Spangler and Jordan Woodard have each started every game (98 total) for OU the past three seasons, tallying 392 combined starts during that span. With the addition of Khadeem Lattin (30 starts), OU boasts a starting five with 449 combined career starts.
