QUICK PREVIEW
No. 18/18 Oklahoma (1-1) returns home to host Northwestern State (2-1) on Sunday at 2 p.m. CT inside Lloyd Noble Center. The Sooners are coming off a 65-63 loss at Creighton on Wednesday, a game which OU held an 18-point lead early in the second half. The Demons have won two straight games following a 109-68 season-opening loss at Texas A&M.
ON THE AIR
Sunday's contest will air on the Sooner Radio Network (KRXO 107.7 FM "The Franchise" in Oklahoma City; KTBZ 1430 AM in Tulsa; Sirius 102; XM 199) with Toby Rowland and Mike Houck calling the action. The game will be televised by FS Oklahoma with Chad McKee, Renzi Stone and Jessica Coody announcing.
OU-NORTHWESTERN STATE SERIES HISTORY
Oklahoma owns a 4-0 series lead over Northwestern State, with home wins over the Demons during the 1984-85, 1998-99, 2011-12 and 2012-13 seasons. In the first meeting, Wayman Tisdale scored 21 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to pace the Sooners to a 98-62 win. With 11:29 left in the first half, Tisdale notched his fifth and sixth points of the game to pass Kansas State's Mike Evans as the Big Eight Conference's career scoring leader. It was just the 15th game of Tisdale's junior season. OU posted 75-55 and 83-63 wins in the second and third meetings, respectively. The Sooners' 69-65 victory two years ago marked the 500th career collegiate win for Lon Kruger. All 10 Sooners who played in the game scored, although Romero Osby was the only one in double figures (11 points). Then-freshman Jalan West led the Northwestern State with 13 points.
PREVIEWING NORTHWESTERN STATE
Located in Natchitoches, La., Northwestern State is a school of 9,002 students that competes in the Southland Conference. The Demons posted a 17-12 record last year (12-6 Southland; fourth place). Picked second out of 13 teams in this year's preseason Southland coaches poll, Northwestern State enters Sunday's game with a 2-1 record. NSU lost a 109-68 season-opening contest at Texas A&M before responding with home wins over Lyon College (75-64) and LSU-Alexandria (89-79). The Demons are shooting .408 from the field, .220 from 3-point range and .716 from the free throw line. Opponents are shooting .474 overall and .362 from deep.
One of three Demons averaging double figures in scoring, 6-2 sophomore guard Zeek Woodley pours in 19.0 points a game with the help of .564 field goal shooting while also pulling down an average of 5.0 rebounds. Junior point guard Jalan West is averaging 16.7 points and a team-high 7.3 assists per contest, as well as a team-high 10.0 free throw attempts (shooting .833). Senior center Marvin Frazier contributes 11.7 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.7 blocks a game. He has made a team-high six 3-pointers on 10 attempts.
Head coach Mike McConathy is 241-229 in his 16th year at Northwestern State. He led the Demons to regular season Southland titles in 2005 and 2006, and to conference tournament crowns (and NCAA Tournament appearances) in 2001, 2006 and 2013. As a player, McConathy starred four years at Louisiana Tech and finished his career with a 20.7 scoring average. He was the Southland Conference Player of the Year as a junior in 1976.
