QUICK PREVIEW
No. 16/18 Oklahoma (11-3, 2-0) goes for its fifth straight win and seventh victory in its last eight contests when it hosts Kansas State (8-7, 1-1) on Saturday at 6 p.m. CT. The Sooners, who have posted each of their 11 wins by double digits, are 7-0 at home and coming off a 70-49 road victory over No. 10/10 Texas on Monday. Kansas State, which is 0-3 in true road games, snapped a three-game losing streak with a 58-53 home win over TCU on Wednesday.
ON THE AIR
Saturday's game will air on the Sooner Radio Network (KRXO 107.7 FM "The Franchise" in Oklahoma City; KTBZ 1430 AM in Tulsa; Sirius 84; XM 84) with Toby Rowland and Mike Houck calling the action. The contest will be televised by ESPNU with Doug Bell and Rich Zvosec announcing.
PREVIEWING KANSAS STATE
Picked by Big 12 coaches to finish fourth in the league, Kansas State is 8-7 overall and 1-1 in conference action. The Wildcats posted a 58-53 home win over TCU on Wednesday after dropping a 61-47 decision at Oklahoma State on Saturday. They are 0-3 in true road contests (also lost at Long Beach State [69-60] and Tennessee [65-64]). K-State averages 66.2 points a game on the year (ranks last in league) on .458 field goal shooting (third), .373 3-point shooting (third) and .668 free throw shooting (sixth). It ranks last in field goal percentage defense (.456) and turnovers (14.5 per game) and ninth in 3-point percentage defense (.342).
Sophomore guard Marcus Foster, a preseason All-Big 12 pick, leads three Wildcats who average double figures in scoring. Foster ranks sixth in the Big 12 with his 13.7 points per game and third with his .446 3-point mark. A starter in KSU's first 13 outings, he has come off the bench the last two. He was scoreless at Oklahoma State on Saturday before scoring 23 points in 29 minutes against TCU (10 for 12 at free throw line). Senior forward Thomas Gipson averages 11.7 points on .638 field goal shooting and grabs 4.7 rebounds a contest. Senior forward Nino Williams averages 11.1 points and a team-high 4.9 boards a game. He is shooting .515 from the floor.
Kansas State is under the direction of head coach Bruce Weber, who is in his third season with the Wildcats (55-28 record). The 2012-13 Big 12 Coach of the Year, Weber is in his 16th season as a head coach (also coached at Southern Illinois and Illinois).
THE SERIES
Oklahoma owns a 105-94 all-time record against Kansas State and has won 12 of the last 19 meetings. The Sooners are 60-26 in the series in Norman, and posted an 86-73 win at Lloyd Noble Center last year (led 41-22 at half and by 27 points midway through second half).
KRUGER/KSU
OU head coach Lon Kruger was the 1973 and '74 Big Eight Player of the Year as a Kansas State Wildcat and coached at the school for four years, compiling an 81-46 record from 1986-87 through 1989-90. He is 5-5 against his alma mater (3-3 at OU). Sooners assistant coach Steve Henson played for Kruger at K-State each of those four seasons and still holds school career records for assists (582), assists per game (4.58), free throw percentage (.900), minutes per game (35.2), starts (118), consecutive games played (127) and consecutive starts (118). Both are members of K-State's Athletics Hall of Fame.
