The Oklahoma Sooners face one last test tonight before Big XII Conference play kicks into gear when the host Mount St. Mary’s at the Lloyd Noble Center.
The Sooners (11-3) and Mountaineers (7-7) tipoff at 6 p.m. The game will be broadcast on the Sooner Radio Network (KOKC-AM 1520 in Oklahoma City; KTBZ-AM 1430 in Tulsa; Sirius Channel 123) with Bob Barry Sr. and Mike Houck announcing. The game will not be televised.
Oklahoma is looking for its fifth straight win and 12th non-conference win. The 12 wins would tie for the most since they won 13 in the 1994-95 season. The Sooners won 12 non-conference games in 1999-2000 and 2004-05.
Oklahoma is coming off a 61-49 victory at home over Rice on Saturday afternoon. Despite a poor shooting performance, the Sooners came through thanks largely to a strong defensive outing in which they held Rice to .291 field-goal shooting.
The Mountaineers are coming off a similar defensive effort. The held Fairleigh-Dickinson to .354 shooting at home on Saturday, but lost 65-52.
Mout St. Mary’s are already 3-1 in Northeast Conference play and have a 4-3 road record. They have lost three of their last four games.
The Mountaineers are led by a three-guard attack featuring senior Chris Vann (6-0, 195) and sophomores Jeremy Goode (5-9, 170) and Will Holland (6-4, 215).
Vann leads the team with 16.7 points and makes an average of 3.2 treys a game.
Goode is a very solid point guard that can score or dish as evident by his 14.2 points and 6.5 assists an outing. He also manages 4.1 boards despite his size and a team-high 2.8 steals.
Holland chips in 10.6 points.
The Mountaineers frontcourt starters are a pair of 6-foot-7 juniors in Sam Atupem (8.8 points, 4.7 boards) and Markus Mitchell (4.6 points, 5.3 rebounds).
This will be the third all-time meeting between the two schools. Oklahoma defeated the Mountaineers 91-67 in December 1994 and 94-41 in December 1999.