GAME SPECIFICS
Date: Tuesday, Nov. 21
Tip: 12:30 p.m. CST (8:30 a.m. Hawaii time)
TV: ESPNU
Series: Oklahoma leads 5-3
OKLAHOMA PROJECTED STARTERS
F 32 Taylor Griffin (6-7, 232, So., 11.0 ppg, 9.7 rpg)
C 30 Longar Longar (6-11, 228, Jr., 12.3 ppg, 5.7 rpg)
G 5 Tony Crocker (6-5, 187, Fr., 13.7 ppg, 4.0 rpg)
G 15 David Godbold (6-5, 215, Jr., 6.7 ppg, 4.7 rpg)
G 20 Austin Johnson (6-3, 160, So., 10.3 ppg, 4.7 apg)
PURDUE PROJECTED STARTERS
F 1 Gordon Watt (6-6, 225, So., 8.3 ppg, 8.3 rpg)
F 14 Carl Landry (6-7, 252, Sr., 15.0 ppg, 6.3 rpg)
G 2 David Teague (6-1, 181, Sr., 11.7 ppg, 3.7 rpg)
G 3 Chris Kramer (6-3, 195, Fr., 6.3 ppg, 3.0 rpg)
G 12 Tarrance Crump (6-1, 181, Jr., 4.3 ppg, 1.3 rpg)
Purdue has an identical record to Oklahoma (2-1) with wins over Northern Colorado and Western Carolina. Like OU the Boilermakers lost for the first time this season yesterday when they fell to Georgia Tech.
The Boilers are led by second-team All Big Ten senior forward Carl Landry who is averaging a team-high 15.0 points and 6.3 boards this season. He posted 14 points and nine boards against Georgia Tech. Guard David Teague is the only other player who averages double figures in scoring (11.7 ppg). Freshman guard Keaton Grant and sophomore guard Marcus Green both average 9.0 points off the bench while sophomore forward Gordon Watt contributes 8.3 points and a team-high 8.3 rebounds per outing.
After losing the first game under the Jeff Capel era yesterday OU needs to show that they can shake it off and bounce back with a win today. This should be a winnable game for Oklahoma if they continue to rebound and shoot free throws like they did yesterday and improve in two areas. First, take care of the basketball. It's difficult to score points when you turn the ball over 21 times. Secondly, Longar Longar has got to be a presence inside. He only had two points yesterday against guys that were just as tall and athletic as he is. That won't be the case today. Longar has a four inch advantage over Purdue's tallest starter.