The last three were important. This one is critical.
Oklahoma, losers of three straight, host Iowa Sgtate at 7 p.m. Wednesday night at Lloyd Noble Center in a Big XII contest that may have the Sooners’ NCAA Tournament hopes hinging on it.
Oklahoma (15-8, 3-5) is coming off consecutive losses to Texas A&M, Texas and Colorado. Once a lock for the tournament, the Sooners are now clinging to those hopes.
Iowa State (13-11, 3-6) is on a three-game losing streak of its own. The Cyclones have yet to win a conference road game and are 1-6 on the road this season.
The game wil be televised regionally by ESPN Plus (KOCB CH. 34/Cox 11 in OKC; Cox 7 in Tulsa) with Bob Carpenter and Reid Gettys calling. Bob Barry Sr. and Mike Houck will call for the Sooner Radio Network (KOKC 1520-AM in Oklahoma City; KTBZ 1430-AM in Tulsa; Sirius 122).
The Cyclones feature a frontcourt of 6-foot-11 center Jiri Hubalek (12.7 points, 7.2 rebounds) and 6-foot-10 forward Craig Brackins (11.5 points and 5.1 boards).
They will matchup up against a Sooner frontcourt that will once again be without center Longar Longar, who continues to nurse a stress fracture in his leg.
Oklahoma will counter with 6-foot-10 forward Blake Griffin (15.0 points, 8.5 rebounds) and his brother, 6-foot-7 Taylor Griffin (6.9 points, 4.7 rebounds).
The Iowa State backcourt features 6-foot-7 Wesley Johnson (13.7 points, 3.7 rebounds), 6-foot-1 Bryan Peterson (4.8 points, 3.3. assists) and 6-foot-6 forward Rahshon Clark (9.3 points, 5.8 rebounds).
OU will counter with the starting three-guard trio of Tony Crocker (10.89 points, 4.2 rebounds), David Godbold (8.0 points, 4.1 rebounds) and Austin Johnson (7.9 points, 2.7 rebounds).
If there was ever any doubt that OU’s strength was in its frontcourt, but the team’s success hinged upon its guard play, consider that OU’s guards are shooting a combined .289 from the field and .273 from behind the 3-point arc over the last three games
Oklahoma is currently in a sixth-place conference tie with Texas Tech and Nebraska and is two games behind fifth-place Baylor.
The Sooners are 106-77 all-time against Iowa State, including 58-21 in Norman. OU has won eight of the last 12 meetings, including the last five at LNC.