Oklahoma Sooners Basketball at Iowa State: Preview, Thread & How to Watch

After a pair of wins over TCU and Texas, the Oklahoma Sooners are in search of a resumé-building win against the Iowa State Cyclones.

Oklahoma (17-10, 5-9 Big 12) vs. Texas (19-8, 8-6 Big 12): 7 p.m. CT at Hilton Coliseum (Ames, Iowa)

TV: ESPN2

Commentary: Kevin Connors and Chris Spatola

Live Stream: WatchESPN

Radio: Sooner Radio Network (107.7 FM ‘The Franchise’ in Oklahoma City; KTBZ 1430 AM in Tulsa; Tune In Radio App) with Toby Rowland and Kevin Henry announcing

Line: Iowa State -8.5 (as of 4:30 p.m. CT)

About Iowa State

• The Cyclones are currently listed as a 6-seed in Jerry Palm’s updated bracketology and have been slipping a bit in recent weeks. Since ISU’s win in Norman, the team has gone 1-3 with two losses to TCU and another to Baylor. The ‘Clones have also dropped their last two contests in Ames.
• Oklahoma has not won at Hilton Coliseum since 2011, which was Jeff Capel’s final season at the helm of the OU basketball program. OU leads the all-time series, 116-88, but Iowa State holds a 52-37 edge in Ames.
• Wing Marial Shayok leads the Cyclones with 18.5 PPG, which is also good for second in the Big 12 this season. Lindell Wigginton, Talen Horton-Tucker and Michael Jacobson also average at least 12 PPG for ISU, with Wigginton providing that production (13.2 PPG) off the bench.
• In the previous contest between the two schools, Wigginton led the Cyclones with 18 points en route to a 75-74 win. Shayok remained relatively quiet for much of the night, but he ended up delivering a dagger of a three-pointer late in the contest and finishing with 16 points (5/10 FG, 2/4 3PT).

Storylines

• Christian James - After a notably rough stretch of conference action for James, things finally appear to be trending in the right direction for him. In OU’s two recent wins, he’s connected on 50 percent of his field goal attempts (46.2 from three) and is gradually showing a renewed confidence on the offensive end. This is all coming at quite a time for the Sooners, who absolutely had to have each of these wins. He’s appears to be ending his inconsistent career on a high note, which is something you have to love. Things haven’t always been easy for the guy over the past three seasons.
• Bubble Watch - With four conference games remaining, OU currently sits as a 9-seed in Jerry Palm’s updated bracketology submission. With as much respect as the Sooners have been getting for their overall strength of schedule, a win tonight would put this team in a great position to secure a spot in the field of 68. Conference record be damned — 20 overall wins (including one in Kansas City) will likely do the job. A loss, on the other hand, would allow the tension to continue, as OU would potentially need a home win over Kansas in order to breathe easy on Selection Sunday. At this moment, OU sits at No. 40 in the NCAA’s NET Rankings.