Sooners Clash with Cyclones on Big Monday

Sooners Clash with Cyclones on Big Monday

March 01, 2015 | Men's Basketball

12/13 Iowa State (20-8)
Iowa Stateoklahoma
16/17 Oklahoma (20-8)
March 2 | 8 p.m. CT | Hilton Coliseum | Ames, Iowa

QUICK PREVIEW
In sole possession of second place in the Big 12 (one game behind Kansas), No. 16/17 Oklahoma (20-8, 11-5) goes for its ninth win in 10 games when it plays at No. 12/13 Iowa State (20-8, 10-6) on Monday at 8 p.m. CT inside Hilton Coliseum. If it wins its final two conference games, OU will finish with at least a share of the Big 12 regular season title. The Sooners, who are coming off a 67-60 home win over TCU on Saturday, beat Iowa State 94-83 in Norman on Feb. 9. The Cyclones have lost two straight, most recently a 70-69 decision at Kansas State on Saturday. OU is 5-5 in true road games while Iowa State is 14-1 at home (lost 79-70 to Baylor on Wednesday).

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 announcing, as well as on ESPN Radio with Mark Kestecher and Bob Valvano calling the action. It will be televised by ESPN with Brent Musburger, Fran Fraschilla and Holly Rowe announcing.

FIVE TOP STORYLINES
• Oklahoma owns a 113-82 all-time all-time record against Iowa State (15-10 since the formation of the Big 12) and is 37-48 in the series in Ames (4-7 in Big 12 era). In the teams' Feb. 9 meeting in Norman, then-No. 17 OU came back from a 10-point first-half deficit to take a 20-point second-half lead in an eventual 94-83 win over then-No. 14 ISU. TaShawn Thomas led five Sooners in double figures with 22 points (11-for-18 shooting) and tied season highs with 11 rebounds (third double-double of year) and 5 assists while adding 3 blocks. Ryan Spangler also recorded a double-double with 14 points and 12 boards, while Isaiah Cousins scored 19 points (3 for 4 from 3-point range), Buddy Hield 17 (3 for 8 from 3-point range) and Frank Booker 14 (4 for 6 from 3-point range).

If it wins its final two conference games, OU will finish with at least a share of the Big 12 regular season title.

• Oklahoma needs one more win against an AP ranked opponent (at the time of competition) to set a school single-season record. OU's six wins against AP ranked teams are tied for the most in school history. It also won six games vs. AP ranked teams in 1988-89 (No. 1 NCAA seed) and 2001-02 (advanced to Final Four).

• A leading candidate for the Big 12 Player of the Year award, Hield has scored at least 20 points in seven Big 12 games. In conference play, the junior guard is averaging league highs of 18.1 points a game (next highest average is 16.3) and 2.6 3-pointers. He also ranks sixth in steals (1.6 spg), eighth in field goal percentage (.454) and free throw percentage (.794), and 10th in 3-point field goal percentage (.383) and rebounding (5.8 rpg; tops among guards). The Freeport, Bahamas, native has led OU in scoring in nine of the last 15 games.

• Oklahoma has held 22 of 28 opponents below their season average in points (at the time of competition). In fact, OU has held its 28 opponents to an average of 9.2 points below their season average. On the year, the Sooners are holding foes to 62.2 points a game and limiting them to .381 field goal shooting (ranks 10th nationally out of 351 teams) and .311 3-point shooting (ranks 43rd). By comparison, opponents averaged 76.0 points on .437 field goal and .342 3-point shooting last season.

• The Sooners have played 12 games against AP Top-25 opponents (at the time of competition) this season, tied for second most in the nation. Entering the week, Kansas State (12), Oklahoma State (12), OU (11), Kansas (11), TCU (11) and Texas (11) are the only teams in country to play more than 10 AP Top-25 foes. OU and Kansas have played a nation-high 17 games against teams that have been ranked for at least one week this season. The Sooners are No. 15 in the NCAA RPI while Iowa State is No. 17 (as of Sunday).

PREVIEWING IOWA STATE
• Picked by Big 12 coaches to finish in fifth place in the league, No. 13/14 Iowa State is in a three-way tie for third place with Baylor and West Virginia at 10-6, two games out of first place. The Cyclones, who are 20-8 overall, have lost three of their last six games, including their last two (79-70 at home to Baylor last Wednesday and 70-69 at Kansas State on Saturday). The loss to Baylor snapped their 21-game home winning streak (they are 14-1 at Hilton Coliseum this year and 61-5 over the last four seasons). Three of this year's league losses have come by five points or less. In conference play, Iowa State is averaging 76.6 points per game (leads the league) on .474 field goal shooting (also ranks first), .377 3-point shooting (third) and .672 free throw shooting (seventh). They allow opponents to score 72.5 points per game (last) on .429 field goal shooting (seventh) and .379 3-point shooting (eighth).

• A nation-leading six Cyclones average double figures in scoring. Junior forward Georges Niang leads the team with his 14.8 points per game and also averages 5.4 rebounds and 3.3 assists while shooting .406 from 3-point range (1.4 makes per contest) and .783 from the free throw line. In Big 12 play, he is shooting .448 from behind the arc. Senior guard Bryce Dejean-Jones, a transfer from UNLV, is averaging 11.7 points, 5.3 rebounds and 2.4 assists a game. He ranks fourth in the Big 12 with his .493 field goal mark. Marquette transfer Jameel McKay averages 11.1 points and team highs of 6.8 rebounds and 2.5 blocks a game. The junior forward is shooting a team-best .583 from the field. Sophomore point guard Monté Morris averages 11.0 points and a Big 12-high 5.4 assists a game while ranking third in the Big 12 by shooting .500 from the field (tops among guards). He also paces the conference with his 4.7 assist-to-turnover ratio (next best figure is 2.4). Junior guard Naz Long averages 10.8 points and 2.4 3-pointers (ranks second in league) per contest. Senior forward Dustin Hogue averages 10.4 points and 4.7 rebounds an outing while shooting .574 from the field.

Fred Hoiberg is in his fifth year as a collegiate head coach and owns a 110-55 record. He was a 1995 third-team All-American at Iowa State and is the school's third-leading all-time scorer (1,993 points). The Ames native played 10 years in the NBA.

Jordan Woodard

SOONER TIP-INS
• OU is holdings its opponents to .381 field goal shooting on the year. Only once in the last 53 years (.398 in 2008-09) have the Sooners held their opponents to a season field goal mark under .400. The last opponent season field goal mark under .381 was .339 in 1959-60.

• Oklahoma has outscored its opponents off turnovers in seven of the last eight games, in 17 of the last 21 and in 22 of 28 contests on the year. In their 14 home games, the Sooners have posted a 278-124 advantage in points off turnovers (20-9 per outing).

• OU set an NCAA record (against a Division I opponent) Dec. 22 when it went on a 39-0 run against Weber State in an 85-51 home win. The former NCAA record of a 37-0 run was set by Utah State against Idaho on Feb. 15, 2006.

• Oklahoma is one of just seven teams nationally (the only one among the "Power 5" conferences) that has started the same five players in every game this season. Interestingly, OU was one of just seven teams nationally that used the same starting lineup in every game last year. Buddy Hield, Isaiah Cousins, Ryan Spangler and Jordan Woodard have all started the last 61 games while TaShawn Thomas has started all 124 of his career contests (96 at Houston).

• Each of OU's five starters has scored at least 20 points three or more times in their careers.

• OU has won its 20 games by an average of 17.4 points (all but four by double digits). Four of its losses have been by three points or less.

• Of Oklahoma's first 17 wins, only one was by single digits (64-56 at Oklahoma State on Jan. 31). The Sooners have won each of their last three games by seven points or less (71-69 over Texas, 79-75 over Texas Tech and 67-60 over TCU).

• The Sooners have held 17 of their 28 opponents to 40-percent-or-lower field goal shooting, and have held six foes to 30-percent-or-lower field goal marks. Only two opponents (at Baylor and at Texas Tech) have shot 50 percent or better this year.

• OU led the Big 12 in free throw shooting each of the last two years (.749 last season and .756 in 2012-13) and is shooting .727 this year to rank second in the league (Oklahoma State is shooting .728). Woodard ranks third in the Big 12 (.844) while Hield ranks sixth (.796).

• In home games this season, the Sooners are shooting .483 from the field and .406 from 3-point range. In true road games, OU is shooting .413 from the floor and .328 from behind the arc.

• Cousins has shot at least 50 percent from behind the arc in 14 of the 26 games this year in which he's attempted a 3-pointer, including in 13 of the last 22 such contests. He ranks second in the Big 12 with his .445 season 3-point mark and ranks sixth with his 1.8 treys per game. Cousins shot .250 from 3-point range as a freshman and .404 last year.

• Hield (5.4) and Cousins (4.9), who both stand 6-foot-4, rank first and fourth among Big 12 guards in rebounds per game.

• Each of head coach Lon Kruger's first three Oklahoma teams finished higher than where they were picked in the Big 12 preseason poll. Last year the Sooners were picked tied for fifth and finished second. In 2012-13 OU was slotted seventh and finished tied for fourth. In 2011-12 OU was picked ninth and wound up eighth. Kruger's squad was picked third in this year's poll (is in second).

UP NEXT
OU closes its regular season at home Saturday against No. 8/9 Kansas. The 3 p.m. CT game will be televised by ESPN.