FRIDAY'S GAME BASICS
The No. 8/8 Sooners open up their regular season home slate versus McNeese State on Friday, Nov. 20, at 7 p.m. CT inside Lloyd Noble Center. OU, which went 24-11 last season (12-6 Big 12; T/2nd place) and advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16, is starting its fifth season under head coach Lon Kruger. The Cowboys, coached by Dave Simmons, went 14-15 last season and are 0-2 this season.
ON THE AIR
Friday’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 game will be televised by Sooner Sports TV with Bob Carpenter, Kevin Henry and Jessica Coody calling the action.
TICKETS
Tickets are available starting at $5 at the OU Athletics Ticket Office (800-456-4668) and online here. Lloyd Noble Center's north and east ticket windows will open at 5:30 p.m. on Friday.
PREVIEWING MCNEESE STATE
The Cowboys are under the direction of Dave Simmons, now in his eighth season as head coach. Last season, Simmons became just the fourth head coach in school history to reach the 100-win milestone.
McNeese State, who finished with a 15-16 overall record last season, was picked to finish 10th in the Southland Conference preseason poll (voted on by league coaches).
The Cowboys return two starters from last year’s squad and regain the services of 2013-14 starter Craig McFerrin who missed all of last season due to a shoulder injury. McFerrin was named to the preseason All-SLC second team in the preseason. He averaged 9.2 points and 6.5 rebounds per game in 2013-14.
McNeese State is 0-2 on the young season (0-1 home, 0-1 away). It lost to nationally-ranked LSU on the road by an 81-70 final on Nov. 13 and lost to Louisiana College at home by a narrow 73-70 margin on Nov. 17.
Jamaya Burr, who started 30 games last year as a sophomore, leads the Cowboys this season through two games by averaging 16.5 points, 3.0 assists, 2.5 rebounds and 30.5 minutes.
In two contests, McFerrin is averaging 8.0 points and a team-best 12.0 rebounds for the Cowboys in 26.5 minutes per game.
Oklahoma is 2-0 all-time versus McNeese State. The last meeting came on Jan. 3, 1987 (OU won 68-63). The first matchup between the two schools occurred on Jan. 4, 1984 (OU won 118-79).
GAMEDAY STORYLINES
Friday will mark just the third meeting between Oklahoma and McNeese State (Sooners lead series 2-0). OU claimed a 68-63 win on Jan. 3, 1987 and a 118-79 victory on Jan. 4, 1984. Both wins came in Norman.
Oklahoma has won 22 consecutive home openers and 35 of the last 36. The last team to beat the Sooners in their first home game of a season was Massachusetts (84-83) in 1993-94 (Billy Tubbs’ final year as OU’s head coach).
Friday’s contest marks the first of two consecutive matchups for the Sooners against members of the Southland Conference. Oklahoma will host the University of Incarnate Word next Tuesday, Nov. 24.
The Sooners look to build upon their defensive success of last season. In 2014-15, OU ranked 11th nationally by holding opponents to a collective .386 season field goal mark. It was the lowest OU opponent figure since the 1960-61 season. In its season-opening victory at Memphis, Oklahoma held the Tigers to just 34.6 (27-78) percent shooting, including 23.1 (6-26) percent from 3-point range.
OU returns 75 percent of its scoring, 69 percent of its rebounding and 83 percent of its assists from last season’s NCAA Sweet 16 squad. Picked to finish second in the Big 12 by league coaches, the Sooners return four starters, including 2015 Big 12 Player of the Year Buddy Hield.
Oklahoma is ranked No. 8 in the AP and USA Today Coaches top-25 preseason polls. The No. 8 ranking is the highest for the Sooners since the conclusion of the 2008-09 season (finished No. 7).
CHASE FOR 1K, HIELD MOVING ON UP
Seniors Isaiah Cousins and Ryan Spangler are both on the cusp of scoring 1,000 points in their respective careers. Cousins needs 129 points while Spangler needs 334 to be added to the current 41-member list at OU.
With Buddy Hield’s 30 points on Tuesday at Memphis, the senior became the school’s 13th all-time leading scorer with 1,396 career points. Tuesday night he passed Harvey Grant (1,391 career points) and Steven Pledger (1,392).
UP NEXT
Oklahoma remains home to host the University of Incarnate Word (located in San Antonio, Texas) on Tuesday, Nov. 24, at 7 p.m. CT at Lloyd Noble Center. It will mark the first meeting between the two schools. It will be the second consecutive matchup for the Sooners against a team from the Southland Conference (McNeese State and UIW are both members).
