QUICK PREVIEW
No. 18/21 Oklahoma (10-3, 1-0) goes for its fourth straight win when it plays at No. 11/10 Texas on Monday at 8 p.m. CT. The Sooners, who are 1-1 in true road games, are coming off a 73-63 home victory against No. 22/22 Baylor on Saturday in which they held the Bears to .373 field goal shooting. Texas, a winner of two straight, posted a 70-61 win at Texas Tech on Saturday. The Longhorns are 8-1 at home this season.
ON THE AIR
Monday's game 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 Mike Houck calling the action. The contest will be televised by ESPN with Brent Musburger, Fran Fraschilla and Holly Rowe announcing.
PREVIEWING TEXAS
No. 11/10 Texas is 11-2 overall and 1-0 in Big 12 play. UT is 8-1 at home with its only defeat coming to Stanford (74-71) in overtime Dec. 23. The Longhorns are coming off a 70-61 road win over Texas Tech in which they outscored the Red Raiders 26-12 off turnovers despite committing two more miscues. UT leads the Big 12 and ranks in the top five nationally in rebounding margin (second; +14.4 per game), field goal percentage defense (third; .337) and blocks per game (fourth; 7.4). It is averaging 72.1 points a contest (sixth in Big 12) on .454 field goal shooting (fifth), .353 3-point shooting (fifth) and .729 free throw shooting (second).
Sophomore point guard Isaiah Taylor, who returned to action Saturday after missing 10 games due to a wrist injury, leads four Longhorns who average double figures in scoring. Taylor averages 13.3 points on .450 field goal shooting. Senior forward Jonathan Holmes averages 12.6 points and 6.6 rebounds while shooting .451 from 3-point range to rank second in the Big 12. Freshman forward Myles Turner averages 11.7 points and a team-high 7.0 rebounds a game. Junior guard Javan Felix averages 10.4 points a game. Over the last four outings, Felix is averaging 15.3 points.
Head coach Rick Barnes is in his 17th season at Texas and is 394-168 there. He is in his 28th season overall and owns a 569-302 career mark. Barnes also coached at Clemson (four years), Providence (six) and George Mason (one). He is 14-2 in Big 12 home openers.
THE SERIES
Oklahoma owns a 50-35 series lead against Texas and is a respectable 17-19 against UT in Austin. The Longhorns had won eight straight home games in the series prior OU's 85-82 victory at the Erwin Center last year. OU swept the series last year, also winning in Norman, 77-65.
