The Teams
Oklahoma (4-2) vs. Villanova (6-1) -- 6 p.m. (CST) -- Lloyd Noble Center -- Norman, Okla.
Media
Tonight's Matchup will be televised nationally by ESPN (Cox Channel 29 in OKC and 25 in Tulsa). Dave O'Brien (play-by-play) and Rick Majerus (analyst) will call the action. The game can be heard on the Sooner Radio network on KOKC 1520 AM in Oklahoma City.
OU head coach Jeff Capel on Villanova
"Tough matchup. They're a good team. They know how to win. Obviously, Curtis Sumpter is one of the better players in college basketball averaging about 19 points a game.
"He's (Sumpter) a basketball player. That's what he is. He's a guy that's not defined by position, and I love players like that because they really don't have limits on what they can do. He's a really good player. He scores inside, scores out. He does a good job of playing hard, he shoots it. He gets it off the glass.
"I think Mike Nardi's the heart and soul of their team. Then you have Scottie Reynolds, Dante Cunningham, Will Sheridan. They're a good team. It's going to be a really big test for us.
"It is what is (on former OU signee Scottie Reynolds). He chose Villanova. He's a good player. He's having a good freshman year for them starting and getting some good, quality minutes and he's playing well for him.
"We're going to have to do a good job on him, but this is much bigger than OU and Scottie Reynolds. We have to do a good job against Villanova, not against just Scottie Reynolds."
The Matchup
The Wildcats, who beat Oklahoma 85-74 last year in Philadelphia, lost a pair of starters (Randy Foye and Kyle Lowry) to the NBA but are off to a 6-1 start this season, while the Sooners are 4-2 and looking to protect the nation's longest non-conference home winning streak (49).
Villanova holds wins over Northwood University (97-60), College of Charleston (81-68), Iowa (89-60), Navy (70-61), Stony Brook (72-44) and Penn (99-89). Their lone loss came against Xavier, 71-66, at the Paradise Jam in the U.S. Virgin Islands on Nov. 25.
This year's version of the Wildcats is led by 6-foot-8 forward Curtis Sumpter. Sumpter missed last season with an injury, but he's a presason All-American candidate who was a a second team All-Big East performer two years ago.
Wildcat head coach Jay Wright, who coached and roomed with Capel at the 2005 World University Games in Turkey, is 110-60 in his sixth year at Villanova and 232-145 overall.
Oklahoma Game Notes | Villanova Game Notes
Oklahoma Projected Starters:
F -- 32 --Taylor Griffin -- 6-7, 232, So. -- 8.3 ppg, 7.3 rpg
C -- 30 --Longar Longar -- 6-11, 228, Jr. -- 13.5 ppg, 7.0 rbg
G -- 15 -- David Godbold -- 6-5, 215, Jr. -- 10.2 ppg, 6.3 rpg
G -- 5 --Tony Crocker -- 6-5, 187, Fr. -- 7.8 ppg, 2.8 rpg
G -- 20 -- Austin Johnson -- 6-3, 160, So. -- 11.8 ppg, 4.3 apg
More on the Sooners
Roster | 2005 Stats | Schedule/Results
Villanova Projected Starters:
F -- 33 -- Dante Cunningham -- 6-8, 225, So. -- 7.7 ppg, 5.4 rpg
F -- 334 -- Curtis Sumpter -- 6-7, 225, Sr. -- 19.1 ppg, 5.0 rpg
F -- 50 -- Will Sheridan -- 6-8, 240, Sr. -- 6.9 ppg, 5.3 rpg
G -- 1 -- Scottie Reynolds -- 6-2, 195, Fr. -- 7.7 ppg, 2.4 rpg
G -- 12 -- Mike Nardi -- 6-2, 170, Sr. -- 14.3 ppg, 2.7 rpg
More on the Wildcats
Roster | Schedule/Results | Stats
Wright and Sumpter...
 
Cunningham and Sheridan...
 
Nardi...
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