PREVIEWING TEXAS
Texas enters Wednesday's game with a 12-15 record and is in eighth place in the Big 12 with a 4-10 mark. The Longhorns are 10-4 at home this year (3-4 in conference play). Three of their losses on the season have come in overtime and two others (vs. UCLA and at West Virginia) came by two points each. The team's top 11 scorers are freshmen or sophomores.
The Longhorns rank fifth in the nation in field goal percentage defense (.372) and fourth in 3-point field goal percentage defense (.277). On the offensive end in Big 12 play, Texas ranks seventh out of 10 teams in scoring offense (64.3 ppg), seventh in field goal percentage (.420), last in 3-point field goal percentage (.256) and ninth in free throw percentage (.637).
Sophomore guard Sheldon McClellan is averaging 13.7 points in 28.0 minutes per game. He has scored in double figures in 22 of 27 games and has attempted a team-high 151 free throws (shooting .808). McClellan is averaging 20.7 points in three games vs. OU.
Fellow sophomore guard Julien Lewis averages 10.3 points per contest. Coming off a three-point game against Kansas State (played nine minutes), Lewis leads the squad with his 35 3-point makes and ranks second with his .318 3-point field goal percentage.
Since serving a 23-game NCAA suspension to start the year, sophomore guard Myck Kabongo is averaging 15.5 points and 4.0 assists in his four contests. He is shooting .465 from the field and has already attempted 26 free throws (made 19 for a .731 mark).
Longhorns head coach Rick Barnes is in his 15th season at Texas and owns a 354-152 record at the school. He is in his 26th season overall and owns a 556-286 career mark. He also coached at Clemson (four years), Providence (six) and George Mason (one).
OU-TEXAS SERIES HISTORY
Oklahoma owns a 48-34 series lead against Texas despite losing 13 of the last 16 meetings. OU is 16-18 against the Longhorns in Austin but has lost seven straight there. Since the start of the Big 12 in 1996-97, OU is 19-21 against Texas (5-11 in Austin).
JAN. 21 VS. THE LONGHORNS
Oklahoma snapped a six-game Red River Rivalry losing streak with its 73-67 home win over Texas on ESPN Big Monday on Jan. 21. The Longhorns entered the game holding opponents to a national-low .345 field goal mark, but the Sooners posted a .481 figure, tied for the highest by a UT foe on the year (Kansas State shot .481 on Saturday). OU shot .542 in the second half.
Senior forward Romero Osby scored a career-high 29 points on 9-for-15 field goal and 10-for-11 free throw shooting. He added game highs of eight rebounds, two blocks and three steals (also a career high). He scored the Sooners' last nine points of the first half, taking them from a 24-21 deficit to a 30-26 lead.
Junior forward Amath M'Baye scored 15 points, six of them on alley-oop dunks. He was 6-for-9 from the field and grabbed five boards in 30 minutes, his most playing time in 12 games.
Freshman guard Buddy Hield netted 12 points, four rebounds, four assists, two blocks and two steals.
OU led by four at halftime and extended its advantage to as many as 12 points twice in the second half. Down by 11 with 1:35 to go, Texas trimmed the Sooners' lead to four in a span of 30 seconds, but OU quickly went back up by eight with 26 seconds left.
After making a basket on their initial possession of the game, the Longhorns committed turnovers on their next eight trips. After committing those eight miscues in the game's first 3:30, Texas committed just seven turnovers the rest of the game.
