SATURDAY'S GAME BASICS
Oklahoma (8-11, 2-6 Big 12) takes a break from conference action for the SEC/Big 12 Challenge. In this season’s edition of the conference vs. conference event, OU hosts No. 25/25 Florida (15-5, 6-2 SEC) on Saturday, Jan. 28 at 1 p.m. CT. The Sooners have had four days to prepare for the Gators after two heartbreaking losses over the weekend. OU fell in overtime to Iowa State on Saturday before falling to rival Texas on a last-second 3-pointer on Monday. The Gators enter Saturday’s contest coming off of a 106-point showing at LSU on Wednesday. Florida is third in the SEC standings with a 6-2 conference record.
ON THE AIR
Saturday’s contest tips off at 1 p.m. CT and air on the Sooner Radio Network (KRXO 107.7 FM “The Franchise” in Oklahoma City; KTBZ 1430 AM in Tulsa) with Toby Rowland and Kevin Henry announcing. The game will be televised nationally on ESPN with Brent Musburger, Dick Vitale and Kaylee Hartung calling the action. Musburger announced his retirement earlier this week and Saturday’s contest will be the second-to-last game he will call in his career.
FIVE THINGS TO KNOW
• Lon Kruger coached the Gators from 1990 to 1996, racking up a record of 104-80. When Kruger took over the Florida job, the Gators were coming off of a 7-21 season. Four years into the role, Kruger guided UF to the 1994 Final Four. The turnaround work was almost identical to his time at Oklahoma, in which he also inherited a team coming off a losing season (14-18 in 2010-11) and led the Sooners to the Final Four five seasons into the job. Kruger is one of just two head coaches (also Rick Pitino with Kentucky and Louisville) to inherit two teams coming off a sub-.500 year and take both to the Final Four within the first five seasons as head coach.
•The Sooners and Gators will meet in the fourth edition of the SEC/Big 12 Challenge. Oklahoma is 3-0 in the mid-season event with previous wins over LSU, Missouri and Texas A&M while Florida is 2-1. OU, Baylor and TCU are the only three schools from either conference to boast a 3-0 record in the event. The Big 12 has “won” the challenge all three seasons with at least six Big 12 schools winning their respective games each season. Combined, the Big 12 is 20-10 in SEC/Big 12 Challenge matchups.
• Oklahoma’s freshman duo of Kristian Doolittle and Kameron McGusty continue to rise in production throughout their rookie seasons. The pair of Sooners are both coming off of career performances this past weekend. Entering the weekend without a collegiate double-double, Doolittle recorded 15 points and 15 rebounds against Iowa State (Jan. 21) before scoring a career-high 29 points with 10 boards at Texas (Jan. 23). Doolittle’s 29 points were the most by an OU freshman since Tommy Mason-Griffin scored 30 in 2010. Doolittle was 10-of-18 from the field, 4-of-5 from 3-point range and a perfect 5-of-5 from the charity stripe. McGusty added a career-high scoring performance on Monday, producing 21 points on 8-of-17 shooting. Combined with Doolittle’s 29 points, the two became the first pair of OU freshmen to both score 20 points in the same game since 1976.
• Oklahoma has won 126 of its last 132 non-conference games at LNC, including 60 of its last 63. The Sooners are 34-3 in Norman against non-conference opponents under Kruger. Saturday is the first time a top-25 non-conference opponent has played at the LNC in the Kruger era.
• OU continues to show its depth in conference play. Through eight Big 12 games, Oklahoma boasts 23.6 bench points per game in league competition - the second most in the conference. The Sooners are one of only two Big 12 squads to average over 20 bench points in league games as the conference averages 17.5 per contest.
SERIES HISTORY
• The Sooners and Gators have met just once previously. Florida prevailed in overtime, 76-72, in the 1995 All-College Basketball Classic under an up-and-coming head coach named...Lon Kruger.
