OU Closes Regular Season at Texas on Saturday Night

NORMAN — The Oklahoma men's basketball team (18-12, 5-12 SEC) plays its final regular season game when it travels to take on Texas (17-13, 6-11) on Saturday at 7 p.m. CT inside Moody Center in Austin.

The contest will be televised by SEC Network with Roy Philpott (play-by-play) and Pat Bradley (analyst) announcing. It will air on the Sooner Sports Radio Network (KRXO 107.7 FM The Franchise in Oklahoma City; KTBZ 1430 AM in Tulsa; Varsity Radio App) with Toby Rowland (play-by-play) and Kevin Henry (analyst) on the call.

Oklahoma vs. Texas
Date: Saturday, March 8
Tip Time: 7 p.m. CT
Location: Austin, Texas
Arena: Moody Center

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OPENING TIP

• Oklahoma and Texas spent 28 years together in the Big 12 before joining the SEC on July 1. The Sooners lead the all-time series 57-49 and are 26-20 in Austin. OU's last win at Texas came in the 2020-21 season, 80-79 over the fifth-ranked Longhorns.

• Saturday's game will mark just OU's third in the last 12 contests against an unranked opponent.

• Oklahoma and Texas met Jan. 15 in Norman, with the Longhorns posting a 77-73 win. Down 53-30 with 16:15 left in the second half, OU went on a 23-3 run to cut UT's lead to 56-53 with 7:45 remaining. Senior forward Jalon Moore was the catalyst, scoring 26 of his career-high 29 points after halftime (his previous career high for an entire game was 24), including 19 of OU's 22 points during one stretch.

• OU is the only team nationally that has had six players each score at least 25 points in a game this season (Jeremiah Fears, Jalon Moore, Brycen Goodine, Duke Miles, Kobe Elvis and Dayton Forsythe). No other Power Four team has had more than four players score at least 25 in a game.

• Over the last five games, Fears is averaging 22.2 points, 5.4 rebounds and 6.0 assists. He is 36 for 42 (.857) from the free throw line during the stretch. Since the start of the 1996-97 season (play-by-play era), Fears and first-team All-America point guard and National Freshman of the Year Trae Young (in 2017-18) are the only Sooners to average at least 20.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 6.0 assists over a five-game span.

• OU is one of just four teams in the country with two freshmen who have each scored at least 25 points in a game this season (Fears and Dayton Forsythe). The others are Duke, Central Arkansas, New Orleans and Rutgers. Fears has scored 25-plus points four times (career-high 31 Wednesday vs. No. 15 Missouri). Forsythe netted 25 in an 87-84 loss at Ole Miss on Saturday.

• Oklahoma leads the SEC and ranks fifth nationally with its .798 season free throw percentage, which would smash the single-season school record of .767 set by the 2001-02 Final Four team. Texas ranks fifth in the SEC with its .745 season free throw mark.

• In SEC play, Oklahoma and No. 1 Auburn are the only teams to rank in the top five in field goal percentage, 3-point field goal percentage and free throw percentage. The Sooners are shooting .464 from the field (fifth), .367 from 3-point range (fifth) and .782 from the free throw line (first). Auburn ranks fourth, fourth and fourth, respectively.

• Super senior guard Kobe Elvis is 9 for 15 (.600) from 3-point range over the last four contests (averaging 8.7 points). He was 3 for 18 over the previous eight games.

• The Sooners have started the same lineup each of the last 14 games: forwards Moore and Sam Godwin, and guards Fears, Brycen Goodine and Duke Miles. Godwin, Moore and Miles have started every game this season.

OU-TEXAS SERIES HISTORY

• Saturday's game will mark the 107th meeting between OU and Texas, with the Sooners holding a 57-49 series lead. The Longhorns hold a 26-20 advantage in Austin.

• Oklahoma held a 42-16 (.724) series lead through the 2001-02 season. Since then, Texas holds a 33-15 (.688) series advantage. The Longhorns have won the last eight matchups, five of them by four or fewer points.

• OU has beaten Texas in Austin seven times since the turn of the century (2001, 2002, 2005, 2014, 2015, 2020 and 2021). In the 2021 game in Austin, the No. 24 Sooners got 23 points from guard Austin Reaves, including two free throws with 18 seconds left, to help down the No. 5 Longhorns, 80-79.

CHEERS FOR FEARS

• OU's Jeremiah Fears and Duke's Cooper Flagg are the nation's only freshmen to average at least 16.0 points, 4.0 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 1.5 steals per game. Fears is the only SEC player, regardless of class, to average those minimums.

• Fears, a three-time SEC Freshman of the Week honoree, leads the league's frosh in free throws made (139; next most is 98) and free throws attempted (166; next most is 111). He ranks second in scoring (15.9 ppg), assists (4.1 apg), steals (1.6 spg) and free throw percentage (.837) and third in rebounds (4.1 rpg).

THERE'S ONLY ONE

• Oklahoma is the only team in the nation that has had six players each score at least 25 points in a game this season (Kobe Elvis, Jeremiah Fears, Dayton Forsythe, Brycen Goodine, Duke Miles and Jalon Moore). No other Power Four team has had more than four players score at least 25 in a game on the year.

SOLID SHOOTERS

• In SEC play, Oklahoma and No. 1 Auburn are the only teams to rank in the top five in field goal percentage, 3-point field goal percentage and free throw percentage. The Sooners are shooting .464 from the field (fifth), .367 from 3-point range (fifth) and .782 from the free throw line (first). Auburn ranks fourth, fourth and fourth, respectively.

SEC TOURNEY NEXT

• Oklahoma heads to Nashville, Tenn., for the SEC Tournament next week. The Sooners will play a first-round game on Wednesday inside 19,395-seat Bridgestone Arena. The bracket will be announced Saturday night.