Despite the massive troubles that the Sooners have experienced in men's basketball this season the one thing that they can "hang their hat on" is that they've not experienced defeat at home. That could very well change today as the 9th ranked Texas Longhorns come calling.
Texas is 5-2 in conference play and 19-3 overall on the season. However, they're in a stretch where they've lost three out of their last five games. The Longhorns have the Big 12's second highest scoring offense (81.6 points per game) . They shoot 46% from the floor (3rd in the Big 12) and are a respectful 37% from three-point range. Their offensive weakness is at the free throw line where the Longhorns are shooting a Big 12 worst 60%. Texas is 9th in the Big 12 in scoring defense (75.7 points per game).
Senior forward Damion ( Benedict Arnold) James leads the Longhorns in scoring with 18 points per game. He also grabs 11 boards to go along with 1.8 steals per game. Texas has two other players scoring in double figures, freshman guard Avery Bradley and senior center Dexter Pittman. Bradly averages 12.1 points and 2.3 assists per game but is only a 48% free throw shooter. He can burn you from three-point range where he's second on the team in made three-point shots (39%). Pittman is averaging 11.6 points, 5.9 rebounds per game but in conference play those stats reduce to 6.6 points and 4 rebounds. Another player to keep an eye on is freshman Jordan Hamilton who went off on Oklahoma State Monday night for 27 points.
Texas hasn't been kind to Jeff Capel who has a 1-6 record against them. Capel did beat the Longhorns (78-63) in Norman last year. Oklahoma has a 46-28 record against Texas in basketball including a 22-9 mark at home but they'll need the stars to align and a bunch of other stuff to go right to notch their 47th win in the series.
Category | Oklahoma | Texas |
Record | 12-9 | 19-3 |
Points Per Game | 73.6 | 84.7 |
Points Allowed | 71.2 | 67.2 |
Rebounds Per Game | 35.4 | 43.7 |
Opponents Rebounds | 35.5 | 36.2 |
Field Goal Percentage | .436 | .483 |
Opponents Field Goal % | .436 | .387 |
3-Point Percentage | .351 | .346 |
Opponents 3-Point % | .370 | .300 |
Free Throw Percentage | .739 |
.621 |
Fouls Per Game | 15.8 | 19.7 |
Assists Per Game | 12.8 | 15.7 |
Turnovers Per Game | 12.6 | 14.1 |
Blocked Shots Per Game | 2.9 | 6.0 |
Steals Per Game | 5.7 | 8.6 |