THURSDAY’S GAME BASICS
Oklahoma plays a first-round game in the eight-team Old Spice Classic on Thursday at 6 p.m. CT when it faces UTEP in Orlando, Fla. The 2-0 Sooners are coming off a 63-59 road win over UT Arlington on Friday while the 1-1 Miners lost at Arizona on Thursday, 72-51.
Thursday’s contest, the first of three over a four-day span for OU in Orlando, will air on the Sooner Radio Network (KOKC 1520 AM in Oklahoma City; KTBZ 1430 AM in Tulsa; Sirius 123; XM 191) with Ed Murray and Mike Houck announcing. The game will be televised by ESPN2 with Jon
Sciambi and Fran Fraschilla calling the action.
PREVIEWING UTEP
UTEP is 1-1 on the year with a 69-49 season-opening home win over Oral Roberts and a 72-51 loss at Arizona. The Miners are shooting .426 from the field, .286 from 3-point range (6-for-21) and .667 from the free throw line (22-for-33). They are getting outrebounded by 9.5 a game but have committed 8.5 fewer turnovers per contest.
The Miners return 65 percent of their scoring and 72 percent of their rebounding from last year’s 15-17 team that tied for eighth place in Conference USA with a 7-9 record. Freshman Chris Washburn has led the team offensively so far, however, averaging 12.5 points on 10-for-13 (.769) field goal shooting. He scored 14 points against Oral Roberts and 11 at Arizona, both in a reserve role.
Washburn’s older brother, sophmore Julian Washburn, ranks second on the squad with his 11.0 points per game. The guard/forward, who made the Conference USA All-Freshman Team last year, is shooting .308 from the field (8-for-26). Fellow sophomore guard/forward Jalen Ragland is averaging 9.0 points while junior center John Bohannon and senior guard Jacques Streeter contribute 8.5 per contest. Bohannon averaged team highs of 11.5 points and 7.3 rebounds last year, while Streeter, who leads the squad with his 4.5 assists per game this season, averaged 7.2 points and a team-high 4.4 assists a year ago.
UTEP is under the direction of second-year head coach Tim Floyd, who owns a 16-18 record with the Miners. His is in his 19th year as a collegiate head coach, with previous stops at Idaho, New Orleans, Iowa State and USC. He also coached the NBA’s Chicago Bulls and New Orleans Hornets.
OU-UTEP HISTORY
The Sooners own a 2-1 record against UTEP with both victories coming at the OU Field House when the Miners went by Texas Western College. Oklahoma posted a 76-58 win in its 1959-60 season opener and a 70-58 triumph in the first game of 1960-61.
UTEP won the last meeting, an 89-74 decision in the All-College Classic in Oklahoma City on Dec. 21, 2009. OU senior Steven Pledger is the only player on either team’s current roster who played in the most recent matchup (he was scoreless in 18 minutes of action).
THE REST OF THE OLD SPICE CLASSIC FIELD
Oklahoma will play its Old Spice Classic second-round game on Friday against Clemson (2-0 this year, 16-15 last season) or Gonzaga (3-0 this year, 27-7 last season) at either 4:30 p.m. or 6:30 p.m. CT on ESPN2.
After a day off, Sunday’s third-round game will pit the Sooners versus Davidson (1-2, 25-8), Marist (1-2, 14-18), Vanderbilt (1-1, 25-11) or West Virginia (0-1, 19-14). Sunday’s championship game will start at 6 p.m. CT and be televised by ESPN2. All games will be played at the 5,500-seat HP Field House at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex. This marks the seventh year of the Old Spice Classic.
