GAME SPECIFICS
Teams: No. 3/3 Oklahoma (25-3, 11-1) at Texas Tech (12-16, 2-11)
Date: Saturday, Feb. 28
Tip: 2:35 p.m. CST
Site: Lubbock, Texas (United Spirit Arena)
Radio: Sooner Radio Network (KOKC 1520 AM in OKC; KTBZ 1430 AM in Tulsa)
TV: ABC (regional)
Series: OU leads 28-16
PREVIEWING SATURDAY'S GAME
Looking to rebound from two straight losses, No. 3/3 Oklahoma (25-3, 11-2) plays
at Texas Tech (12-16, 2-11) Saturday at 2:30 p.m. CST. The Sooners are a game
out of first place in the Big 12 while the Red Raiders, who have lost five
straight, are in 11th place. The game will be regionally televised by ABC with
Terry Gannon and Steve Lavin announcing. The contest will air on the Sooner
Radio Network (flagship KOKC AM 1520 in OKC; KTBZ AM 1430 in Tulsa) with Bob
Barry, Sr. and Mike Houck calling the action.
OKLAHOMA'S PROJECTED STARTERS (BASED ON LAST GAME)
F 1 Ryan Wright (6-9, 234, Jr., 2.1 ppg, 2.4 rpg)
F 32
Taylor Griffin (6-7, 238, Sr., 9.0 ppg, 5.9 rpg)
G 5 Tony Crocker (6-6, 206, Jr., 10.1 ppg, 3.3 rpg)
G 13
Willie Warren (6-4, 207, Fr., 15.6 ppg, 3.0 apg)
G 20
Austin Johnson (6-3, 176, Sr., 8.4 ppg, 4.3 apg)
TEXAS TECH'S PROJECTED STARTERS (BASED ON LAST GAME)
F 15
Robert Lewandowski (6-10, 240, Fr., 7.0 ppg, 4.0 rpg)
F 30
Michael Prince (6-7, 208, Sr., 4.0 ppg, 3.0 rpg)
G 20 Alan Voskuil (6-3, 181, Sr., 13.9 ppg, 4.1 rpg)
G 21 John Roberson (5-11, 165, So., 14.2 ppg, 3.4 rpg)
G 23 Nick Okorie (6-1, 195, Jr., 11.1 ppg, 3.0 rpg)
BIG 12 BULLETS
• An OU win Saturday would clinch a first-round bye in the upcoming Big 12
Championship (March 11-14 in Oklahoma City). It would mark the Sooners’ second
consecutive bye and 10th in the 13-year history of the event.
• The Sooners won their first 11 league games for the Big 12’s second-best start
ever (Kansas finished 16-0 in 2002).
• OU has won at least 11 Big 12 games nine times in the 13-year history of the
league. Its best Big 12 record was 13-3 in 2001-02.
"NOTE"WORTHY
• OU owns a 28-16 series lead against Texas Tech and has won six of the last
seven meetings. The Sooners are 19-8 against the Red Raiders since the
inception of the Big 12 Conference (8-4 in Lubbock).
• The Sooners are 137-53 (.721) all-time against Big 12 teams from Texas
(Baylor, Texas, Texas A&M and Texas Tech). They are 85-27 (.759) against those
programs since the formation of the Big 12 Conference.
• OU’s 13-game winning streak that ended last Saturday was the fourth longest in
school single-season history. The Sooners also won their first 12 games of the
year, giving them two of the seven longest single-season winning streaks in
school annals.
• Blake Griffin and Willie Warren have accounted for 54 percent of OU’s points
in its nine road games. Griffin is averaging 20.1 points (shooting .598) and
11.2 rebounds in those contests while Warren is averaging 20.0 points (28-for-56
from long range).
• Over the last two games, Warren, a freshman, is averaging 25.0 points and 4.5
assists while shooting .500 from the field and .500 (9-for-18) from 3-point
territory. He scored 27 points at Texas and 23 versus Kansas.
• Warren has seven games of at least 20 points this year, the most by an OU true
freshman since Tim McCalister recorded nine of them in 1983-84. Warren has
registered at least 27 points four times and has broken the 30-point barrier
twice.
• Warren already ranks sixth on OU’s freshman scoring chart (438 points), second
in 3-pointers (53), fourth in free throws made (99), fifth in assists (83) and
sixth in steals (35). He needs six more treys to take over the top spot from
Terry Evans (58 in 1989-90).
• Warren, a seven-time Big 12 Rookie of the Week, is shooting .500 from 3-point
range (28-for-56) in OU’s nine road games compared to .301 (22-for-73) in its 15
home games. He’s averaging 20.0 points per road outing and 13.8 per home
contest.
• Oklahoma used the same starting lineup in its first 27 games. Ryan Wright
replaced an injured Griffin Monday, marking Griffin’s only non-start of the
year.
• Over the last 15 games (13-2 record), the Sooners are outshooting their
opponents from the field, .504 to .400. They are 13-0 during the span when
outshooting their foes and 0-2 when being outshot.
• In Big 12 play, Oklahoma ranks first in field goal percentage (.501) and
second in 3-point field goal percentage (.412), while ranking second in field
goal percentage defense (.412) and fourth in 3-point field goal percentage
defense (.344).
• In OU’s five games against ranked opponents this year, Taylor Griffin is
averaging 14.2 points, 6.8 rebounds and 2.0 blocked shots. He is shooting .684
from the field and .783 from the free throw line in those outings.
• Junior college transfer Juan Pattillo, who came out of a redshirt season in
time for the Jan. 12 Texas game but totaled just four minutes over the next
three games, is averaging 9.3 points, 4.3 rebounds and 1.7 blocked shots in an
average of 19.7 minutes over the last nine outings. He is 31-for-54 from the
field (.574) and 22-for-26 at the foul line (.846) during the stretch.
• OU will play 21 of its 31 regular season games against teams that made the
2008 postseason (15 against NCAA Tournament teams, four against NIT squads and
two against College Basketball Invitational teams). As of Thursday, the Sooners
are ranked No. 4 nationally at CollegeRPI.com.
OFFENSIVE NOTES
• The Sooners have been held under 70 points just four times this season (61,
68, 69 and 69). OU is averaging 80.0 points per game on the year. It has not
finished a season averaging 80.0 or more points a contest since the 1994-95
campaign.
• Oklahoma is shooting a Big 12-best .489 from the field. The last time OU shot
better for an entire season was 21 years ago (.491 in 1988-89). The Sooners
have shot at least .500 from the field in six of the last nine games (.518
combined over those nine outings).
• OU has shot .400 or better from 3-point range in nine of the last 12 contests
and owns a .414 mark over the span. The Sooners rank second in Big 12 play with
their .411 3-point mark (Kansas is shooting .412).
• In Oklahoma’s six conference road games, Austin Johnson is 14-for-26 (.538)
from 3-point range. He is 13-for-23 from behind the arc over the last five
league road outings, good for a .565 mark.
• Tony Crocker and Willie Warren have combined for 80 treys over the last 18
games. Warren is 41-for-93 (.441) in those 18 outings while Crocker is
39-for-91 (.429). Over OU’s first 10 games, each owned a .273 season 3-point
figure (12-for-44).
• Warren is shooting .493 from the field on the season to rank fourth in the Big
12 and first among league guards. The last OU guard to shoot at least .500 from
the field for an entire year was Nolan Johnson (.559) in 1999-00.
• In OU’s 15 non-league games, Austin Johnson averaged 6.6 points and was
13-for-47 (.277) from 3-point range. In 13 Big 12 games, he is averaging 10.5
points and is 21-for-50 (.420) from long distance.
• Last year, Blake Griffin became the first player in school history standing at
least 6-foot-10 to log three or more handouts in 11 games. He has done it in 13
games this season.
• Despite a modest .680 team free throw percentage (it ranks ninth in the Big
12), Oklahoma has made just nine fewer foul shots than its opponents have
attempted. OU has shot 239 more free throws than its foes, good for an average
of 8.1 more per game.
• Oklahoma has made at least one 3-pointer in 412 consecutive games (last one
without a trey was at Memphis on Dec. 23, 1996).
DEFENSIVE NOTES
• Oklahoma ranks second in the Big 12 (all games) with its .395 field goal
percentage defense. The last time OU held opponents to a lower collective
figure for an entire season was 48 years ago (.377 in 1960-61).
• The Sooners have held their first 13 Big 12 opponents to a combined .412 field
goal mark, with Kansas State (.327) and Texas (.338 in first meeting) shooting
season lows and Baylor (.346 in the first meeting) posting its second worst mark
of the season.
• OU has held 12 of its 28 opponents to a field goal mark under .360.
• Oklahoma ranks second in the Big 12 with its 4.5 blocked shots per contest.
Juan Pattillo ranks third in league play with his 1.5 rejections per outing,
while Blake Griffin ranks sixth (1.1) and Taylor Griffin seventh (1.1). Point
guard Austin Johnson has 22 blocks in 28 outings on the year for the
second-highest average (0.8) among league guards.
BODY BY BLAKE
• Sophomore Blake Griffin leads the Big 12 in scoring (22.0 ppg), rebounding
(13.8 rpg) and field goal percentage (.632), while ranking fourth in blocks (1.3
bpg). The 6-10 forward also averages 2.4 assists per contest, more than any
other league player taller than 6-foot-5. He has at least two assists in 20 of
his 27 games and at least three in 13 outings.
• Nationally, Griffin ranks first in rebounding and second in double-doubles
(22). He entered the week second in free throw attempts (9.4 per game), fourth
in field goal percentage and 13th in scoring.
• Griffin needs seven rebounds to overtake Wayman Tisdale (378 in 1984-85) as
OU’s record holder for boards in a season. If Griffin accomplishes the feat
Saturday against Texas Tech, he’ll have done it in nine fewer games than
Tisdale.
• Griffin’s 40 points and 23 rebounds (career highs) against Texas Tech Feb. 14
marked the first time in Big 12 history a player recorded a 40/20 game, and was
the first such outing of any player nationally since at least the 1996-97
season. Only two previous Sooners have accomplished the feat (Tisdale in
1983-84 and Alvan Adams in 1974-75). Griffin’s 40 points were the most by an OU
player in 15 seasons while his 23 rebounds were the most in 20 years.
• Griffin’s 22 double-doubles are the most in OU single-season history.
Garfield Heard (21 double-doubles in 27 games during the 1969-70 season) and
Adams (21 in 26 games during the 1973-74 campaign) rank second.
• Griffin had a streak of eight double-doubles snapped last Saturday at Texas
when he played only 11 minutes (first-half concussion). It was the fourth
longest double-double streak in OU history. He has also assembled a pair of
six-game streaks this year.
• Griffin has 110 more points (594) and 71 more rebounds (372) in 27 games this
year than he did in 33 games last season.
• Griffin has three games of at least 20 points and 20 rebounds this season. No
other Big 12 player has ever recorded more than two such outings in a career.
• Griffin has recorded 12 games of at least 20 points and 15 rebounds this
season, more than any player nationally since at least the 1996-97 season. Tim Duncan (Wake Forest in 1996-97) and Paul Millsap (Louisiana Tech in 2005-06)
registered nine 20/15 games, the second most since the start of the 1996-97
season.
SERIES WITH TEXAS TECH
Oklahoma holds a 28-16 all-time record against Texas Tech and is 9-10 in
Lubbock. Since the formation of the Big 12 Conference, OU leads the series 19-8
and owns an 8-4 advantage at Tech. Jeff Capel is 4-1 against the Red Raiders as
OU’s head coach.
EARLIER THIS YEAR AGAINST THE RED RAIDERS
• Blake Griffin registered career highs of 40 points and 23 rebounds to become
the first player in Big 12 history and the third in OU annals to record at least
40 points and 20 boards in a game as the Sooners dealt Texas Tech a 95-74 defeat
Feb. 14 in Norman.
• Griffin, who became the 13th Sooner to score 40 points in a game, was
16-for-22 from the field and 8-for-10 from the free throw line while adding two
assists and two steals.
• Griffin’s 40 points were the most by a Sooner since Jeff Webster netted 41
versus Colorado during the 1993-94 season. His 23 rebounds tied as the fourth
most ever by an OU player and were the most since Stacey King grabbed 23 boards
against Loyola Marymount in the 1988-89 season.
• Griffin had double-doubles in each half (22 points and 13 rebounds in the
first half and 18 points and 10 boards in the second). His 23 rebounds were one
fewer than all of Texas Tech’s players combined.
• Cade Davis finished the game with a career-high 17 points on 5-for-9 shooting
from behind the arc. It marked his first double-digits scoring outing in 20
contests (10 vs. Purdue on Nov. 28). Davis’ previous career scoring high was 12
points against UAB on Nov. 26. The sophomore added a career-high-tying four
rebounds and two assists.
• OU didn’t take its first lead of the game until the 7:42 mark of the first
half (25-23).
• The Sooners missed their first four 3-point field goal attempts but made their
next five to finish 5-for-9 in the first half. Their last four treys of the
opening half came in a span of 1:28 (three of them by Davis is a span of 50
seconds).
• Oklahoma outrebounded Texas Tech 48-28, tying for its largest board advantage
this season (38-18 at Oklahoma State Jan. 26).
LAST YEAR IN LUBBOCK
• David Godbold’s 28-footer with 1.4 seconds remaining gave Oklahoma a 66-64 win
at Texas Tech on Feb. 16, 2008. It was the Red Raiders’ first loss of the year
in Lubbock (they were 11-0 entering the game).
• Austin Johnson scored a then-career-high 20 points with the help of a
career-high six 3-pointers (on 11 attempts). Johnson also assisted on Godbold’s
game-winning trey.
• Blake Griffin was held to nine points (his second lowest total in 15 games)
but pulled down a then-career-high 17 rebounds.
• In his second game back after missing two contests with a broken bone in his
leg, senior center Longar Longar came off the bench to supply 10 points on
5-for-8 shooting. He played 26 minutes.
• Oklahoma played from behind most of the game and trailed by seven points with
12:26 to go.
• The road win was OU’s fourth of the season after winning just one road contest
the previous year (Baylor). The Sooners also won for the fourth time of the
season when trailing at the half (they were 0-13 the previous season).
• The Sooners won for the first time of the Jeff Capel era when its opponent
shot at least .500 from the field (Tech shot .500).
• The victory was OU’s second of the year over Texas Tech by two points.
MORE BLAKE
• Lost in Blake Griffin’s gaudy scoring and rebounding statistics are some
pretty impressive assist numbers. The forward ranks third on the team with 2.4
assists per game this season and has registered at least one handout in 26 of 27
outings (did not have one in his 11 minutes against Texas last Saturday). Last
season, Griffin became the first Sooner standing 6-foot-10 or taller to ever
dish at least three assists in a game 11 times. He has recorded at least three
assists 13 times already this year.
• Griffin (13.8 rpg and .632 FG%) is on pace to shatter the single-season OU
records for rebounding average and field goal percentage. The standards of 13.3
boards per game and .627 from the field were set by Alvan Adams in 1974-75 and
Al Beal in 1978-79. Griffin is also averaging 9.4 free throw attempts a game
(ranks second nationally), a figure that would break Stacey King’s 1988-89
school record of 8.9 foul shots per outing.
• Griffin owns three of the six longest double-double streaks in school history,
with all three of those coming this year. He has assembled a pair of six game
streaks and had an eight-game streak (fourth longest in OU history) snapped
Saturday at Texas.
• Griffin has 70 dunks on the season, good for an average of 2.6 per game. He
has 122 slams in 60 career games.
• Griffin owns the best vertical leap (no step) on the team at 37.5 inches, as
well as the best max leap (no limit on steps) by reaching 27 inches above the
rim. He also owns an 84.5-inch wingspan (seven feet and one-half inch).
AWARDS CENTRAL
Blake Griffin couldn’t be off to a better start in terms of turning his Big 12
Preseason-Player-of-the-Year honor into the league’s postseason
player-of-the-year award. The sophomore forward has been named the Phillips 66
Big 12 Player of the Week a league-record-tying five times, including each of
the season’s first three weeks. He picked up his fourth and fifth honors Jan.
12 and Feb. 16. Griffin is only the second player in conference history to earn
the weekly honor three straight times (Texas Tech’s Andre Emmett did it during
the 2003-04 campaign). Similarly, freshman guard Willie Warren has been named
Phillips 66 Big 12 Rookie of the Week seven out of a possible 15 times (Nov. 24,
Dec. 1, Dec. 29, Jan. 5, Feb. 2, Feb. 16 and Feb. 23). Warren was the unanimous
choice as Big 12 Preseason Freshman of the Year. Senior guard Austin Johnson
picked up his first career Big 12 Player of the Week honor Jan. 19.
IN THE NEWS
• Sports Illustrated college basketball writer Seth Davis tabbed OU’s Jeff Capel
as his national coach of the year on Thursday.
• Blake Griffin was named one of 30 mid-season Naismith Award candidates on
Wednesday. A day later, Griffin was named one of 15 finalists for the U.S.
Basketball Writers Association Oscar Robertson Trophy. Both are national player
of the year awards.
• Willie Warren picked up his seventh Big 12 Rookie of the Week award on Monday
(second straight). The record of eight rookie honors was set by Kansas State’s
Michael Beasley last year.
Pattillo
Suspended for Saturday's Game
University of Oklahoma
men's basketball head coach
Jeff Capel announced yesterday that junior forward Juan Pattillo will
miss Saturday's game at Texas Tech
for violating a team rule.
Pattillo, a 6-6, 216-pound forward from
Las Vegas, Nev., is
averaging 7.6 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.5 blocks in his 11 games since coming
out of redshirt status on Jan. 12. He is averaging 16.5 minutes per contest.