THURSDAY'S GAME BASICS
The No. 8/8 Sooners play their second and final exhibition game when they host Mid-America Christian on Thursday at 7 p.m. CT at 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 Evangels, now coached by former Sooner men's basketball graduate assistant Josh Gamblin, went 25-11 during the 2014-15 campaign and are 3-1 this season.
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.
OU students will be admitted free with a valid school I.D.
PREVIEWING MID-AMERICA CHRISTIAN
Thursday will mark the first-ever meeting between the Sooners and Evangels (NAIA). MACU’s campus is located in Oklahoma City, just 12 miles from OU’s campus.
First year Mid-America Christian head coach Josh Gamblin was a graduate assistant for the Sooners and Lon Kruger last season. At MACU, Gamblin replaced longtime coach Willie Holley, who retired after 42 years and 813 career victories.
MACU junior guard Trey Slate was a member of the OU MBB program the past three seasons. Slate served one season as a student manager (2012-13) and two seasons as a walk-on (2013-15) before joining the Evangels. Slate appeared in 15 contests for the Sooners over the course of those two seasons.
The Evangels are 3-1 (2-0 home, 1-1 away) on the young season. Through four contests, Dev Reed is their leading scorer with 19.0 points per game and Nick Tate is averaging nearly a double-double with 16.8 points and 9.3 rebounds.
This season, MACU has defeated Haskell (103-72), Bethany (115-95) and Langston (79-73) and lost to MidAmerica Nazarene (105-89).
UP NEXT
The Sooners will open the 2015-16 season on the road at Memphis on Nov. 17. Tip is scheduled for 4 p.m. CT inside FedExForum. The game against the Tigers will be carried nationally by ESPN.
Oklahoma is 0-6 all-time versus Memphis. The two teams last met on Nov. 15, 2007 in New York City in the 2K Sports Hoops Classic (Tigers won 63-53).
