Men’s basketball: Bedlam game notes

Bedlam game notes

GAME NOTES: OU vs. OSU

Teams: Oklahoma (14-5, 2-2) vs. Oklahoma State (10-9, 1-4)
Date: Monday, Jan. 28
Site: Norman, Okla. (Lloyd Noble Center)
Tip: 8:05 p.m. CST
Radio: Sooner Radio Network (KOKC 1520-AM in OKC; KMOD 97.5-FM in Tulsa; Sirius 114)
TV: ESPN
Series: Oklahoma leads 122-88

GAME PREVIEW

Looking for its third straight win after two losses to start Big 12 play, Oklahoma (14-5, 2-2) hosts Oklahoma State (10-9, 1-4) on Monday at 8 p.m. CST inside Lloyd Noble Center. The Sooners, who moved up to the No. 26 slot in the www.CollegeRPI.com ratings following their 77-71 road win at No. 25 Baylor on Saturday, are 9-2 at home this year. OSU is looking to break a four-game losing streak, as well as a 16-game road losing skid. The Cowboys fell at home to No. 18/16 Texas A&M on Saturday by a 59-56 score. They are 0-4 on the road this year.

Monday’s contest, part of The Bedlam Series presented by Oklahoma Ford Dealers, will air on the Sooner Radio Network (KOKC 1520-AM in Oklahoma City; KMOD 97.5-FM in Tulsa; Sirius channel 114) with Bob Barry Sr. and Mike Houck calling the action. The game will be televised nationally by ESPN with Ron Franklin, Fran Fraschilla and Holly Rowe announcing.

“NOTE” WORTHY

• Oklahoma is 122-88 all-time against Oklahoma State and 75-26 in Norman. OU has won four of the last six overall in the series and six of the last seven at Lloyd Noble Center.

• The last time a Bedlam game was played with neither team holding a national ranking was during the 1999 Big 12 Tournament.

• OU is 87-33 (.725) against Big 12 South opponents since the league was formed.

• Blake Griffin is averaging a double-double (14.7 points and 10.0 rebounds) in Big 12 play in just 21.7 minutes per game (he played only five minutes versus Kansas two Mondays ago before injuring his knee).

• Longar Longar has scored in double figures in 10 of the last 11 games and has recorded at least 16 points in eight of those 11 contests. He is averaging 17.0 points and 6.3 rebounds in the team’s three Big 12 games.

• The Sooners are holding opponents to a .398 season field goal mark. The last time opponents shot worse for an entire campaign was 47 years ago (.377 in 1960-61).

OKLAHOMA STATE PROJECTED STARTERS

F 5 Marcus Dove (6-9, 215, Sr., 10.6 ppg, 6.0 rpg)

C 21 Ibrahima Thomas (6-11, 238, Fr., 5.8 ppg, 3.8 rpg)

G 00 Byron Eaton (5-11, 213, Jr., 9.5 ppg, 3.2 rpg)

G 1 Terrel Harris (6-5, 195, Jr., 11.1 ppg, 4.8 rpg)

G 23 James Anderson (6-6, 195, Fr., 15.5 ppg, 3.4 rpg)

OKLAHOMA PROJECTED STARTERS

F 32 Taylor Griffin (6-7, 230, Jr., 6.1 ppg, 4.1 rpg)

C 30 Longar Longar (6-11, 234, Sr., 13.6 ppg, 6.2 rpg)

G 5 Tony Crocker (6-6, 193, So., 11.6 ppg, 4.6 rpg)

G 15 David Godbold (6-5, 221, Sr., 7.3 ppg, 3.8 rpg)

G 20 Austin Johnson (6-3, 165, Jr., 8.5 ppg, 2.8 apg)

SATURDAY’S BAYLOR RECAP

• Twelve days after sustaining a sprained MCL in his left knee (he was expected to be out for nearly four weeks), freshman Blake Griffin registered team highs of 17 points and 15 rebounds while handing out three assists in 22 minutes of action off the bench in a 77-71 win. Griffin scored 15 of his 17 points after halftime and netted nine of the team’s last 12.

• The Sooners led by nine at halftime and extended their advantage to 16 points twice in the second half. Baylor went on a 27-12 run to take its only second-half lead (71-70 with 1:57 left) before Griffin scored on OU’s next possession to immediately put the Sooners ahead again.

• Four Sooners in addition to Griffin scored in double figures. Austin Johnson netted 15 points, Longar Longar 13, Tony Crocker 11 and David Godbold 10. Longar also finished with five boards, a career-high four assists and two blocked shots while Godbold contributed eight boards and three assists.

• The Sooners held Baylor to .377 field goal shooting, the Bears’ second worst performance of the season.

• Oklahoma posted a 50-42 rebounding advantage and its 50 boards tied a season high. Six of the seven Sooners who saw action grabbed at least five caroms.

• OU improved to 3-2 in true road games this year and to 3-3 against ranked opponents (Baylor was ranked No. 25). OU is 2-2 this year on the road against ranked foes (it also won at then-No. 23 West Virginia on Dec. 29).

• The win was OU’s 27th straight against Baylor and 14th straight in Waco. Baylor has not beaten OU since the Big 12′s inception.

• The crowd of 10,393 was the third largest in Baylor history.

OKLAHOMA UPDATE

• The Sooners stand alone in fifth place in the Big 12 race, one game behind 3-1 Texas and a half game in front of four teams who possess a 2-3 mark. After Monday’s game versus Oklahoma State, OU is back on the road Saturday against Texas A&M (2-3).

• Oklahoma has won three true road games this year (two versus ranked opponents) after winning just one last year (Baylor). Prior to this season, the last time OU won a road game over a ranked foe was in the 2000-01 season.

• Through games of Saturday, Oklahoma sports the Big 12′s third best RPI according to www.CollegeRPI.com. The Sooners (No. 26) trail only Kansas (No. 2) and Texas (No. 13). Baylor dropped from No. 22 to No. 31 following its loss to OU.

• Oklahoma has scored more than 70 points 12 times this season after doing it eight times all of last year.

• OU, which has outrebounded three of its four Big 12 opponents (+4.0 margin), is 11-2 on the year when outboarding its foe.

• Four Sooners are averaging more than 6.0 rebounds per Big 12 game. Blake Griffin is averaging 10.0 boards and is followed by Taylor Griffin (6.5) and David Godbold and Longar Longar (6.3 each).

• Oklahoma is averaging 5.3 more offensive rebounds than its opponents in Big 12 play. The Sooners average 13.0 offensive boards per league outing to their foes’ 7.8 per contest.

• Excluding the Kansas game (when Blake Griffin played just five minutes) or the Texas Tech game (when he didn’t play at all), Griffin and Longar Longar have both scored in double figures in eight of the last nine contests. The pair has combined to average 32.6 points over those nine outings.

• Either Blake (six times) or Taylor Griffin (three times) has led OU in rebounding in each of the last nine contests.

INDIVIDUAL PLAYER UPDATES

• Freshman Blake Griffin, OU’s leading scorer (14.7) and rebounder (9.0) on the year, is averaging a double-double in his three Big 12 games with his 14.7 points and 10.0 boards per contest. In his two full league outings, Griffin is averaging 22.0 points, 14.5 rebounds and 2.0 assists in 30.0 minutes against Kansas State and Baylor.

• Over his last six full games, Griffin is averaging 20.5 points and 12.5 rebounds (included were games away from home against ranked opponents Gonzaga, West Virginia and Baylor).

• Despite not scoring and grabbing just one rebound in his five minutes before getting injured against Kansas, Griffin ranks 10th in the Big 12 in scoring (14.7 ppg), third in rebounding (9.0 rpg) and third in double-doubles (seven). He also ranks second in the league in field goal percentage (.581) and still leads OU with his 22 steals.

• Griffin was named the Dec. 31 Big 12 Player of the Week after registering 18 points and a career-high 16 rebounds in OU’s 88-82 double-overtime win at West Virginia. He also earned Big 12 Rookie of the Week honors on Jan. 14.

• Senior center Longar Longar has scored in double figures in 10 of the last 11 games (he finished with six points off the bench Jan. 5 against Rice playing with a shoulder sprain). Over those 11 games, Longar is averaging 15.9 points, 5.5 rebounds and 1.6 blocked shots while shooting .549 from the field.

• In Big 12 play, Longar is averaging a team-high 17.0 points, as well as 6.3 boards and 2.0 blocked shots. Eleven of his 25 rebounds (44 percent) have come on the offensive end of the floor.

• In nine of the last 11 games, Longar has scored more points after halftime than in the first 20 minutes. Over those 11 outings, Longar is shooting a gaudy .672 from the field after intermission (39-for-58).

• Seeing a major increase in minutes due to the injury suffered by his brother, junior forward Taylor Griffin is averaging 9.7 points and 8.7 boards while shooting .786 (11-for-14) from the free throw line over the last three games. Prior to the last three outings, he was averaging 5.4 points and 3.2 boards while shooting .667 (20-for-30) from the foul line.

• Taylor Griffin tied a career high with 16 points Jan. 19 against Texas Tech and grabbed a season-high 12 rebounds.

• Sophomore guard Tony Crocker, OU’s best 3-point shooter at .479 (35-for-73), has made at least three treys in a game seven times and is 26-for-39 (.667) in those contests.

• Crocker, who scored a career-high 26 points at TCU on Dec. 2 (he netted 20 points in the first half with the help of 6-for-7 3-point shooting), has scored in double figures in each of the last five games. He ranks third on the team in scoring and rebounding (11.6 and 4.6 averages) and first in assists (2.7).

• Junior guard Austin Johnson ended a four-game stretch over which he averaged 3.8 points by breaking out for 15 points against Baylor on Saturday. It marked his highest output in eight games (he netted 17 against Arkansas on Dec. 15). Johnson went 3-for-7 from 3-point range against the Bears after going 2-for-16 (.125) over the previous five contests.

• After averaging 4.5 points in OU’s first six games, senior guard David Godbold is averaging 8.6 over the last 13. Over four Big 12 games, Godbold is averaging a quiet 10.5 points, 6.3 rebounds, 2.3 assists and a team-high 1.5 steals.

• Godbold is 10-for-24 from 3-point range (.417) over the last five games.

PREVIEWING OKLAHOMA STATE

• Oklahoma State enters Monday’s Bedlam game with a 10-9 overall record and a 1-4 Big 12 mark (tied for 10th place with Colorado). After beating Texas Tech 74-55 in its Big 12 opener, OSU has dropped four straight games by an average of 5.0 points.