For the Crown: OU Meets West Virginia in Sunday's Title Game

NORMAN — Oklahoma (21-15, 7-11 SEC) concludes the 2025-26 season by going for its first-ever postseason tournament title when it meets West Virginia (20-14, 9-9 Big 12) in the College Basketball Crown championship game on Sunday at 4:30 p.m. CT inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Sunday's game will be televised by FOX with Gus Johnson, Jim Jackson and Kristina Pink announcing. It will air on the Sooner Sports Radio Network (KRXO 107.7 FM in Oklahoma City; KMOD 97.5 FM in Tulsa; Varsity Radio App) with Toby Rowland and Kevin Henry on the call.

Oklahoma has won eight of its last nine games and 10 of its last 13. Five Sooners have averaged between 11.3 and 18.8 points per game in the 10 wins and OU shot a combined 50% from the field and 41% (102 for 247) from 3-point range.

Under the direction of first-year head coach Ross Hodge, the Mountaineers beat Stanford 82-77 in the Crown quarterfinals Thursday and downed Creighton 87-70 in Saturday's semifinals.

OU and West Virginia shared Big 12 Conference membership from the 2012-13 through 2023-24 seasons. The Sooners went 17-9 in the series during that period and won eight of the last nine meetings.

SCENE SETTERS

• The first team left out of the NCAA Tournament, Oklahoma is making its third postseason appearance under fifth-year head coach Porter Moser. The Sooners, who are coming off 90-86 (OT) and 82-69 wins over Colorado and Baylor, respectively, in Las Vegas this week, went 1-1 in the NIT in his first season (2021-22) and lost a first-round NCAA Tournament contest last season as a No. 9 seed to two-time defending champion Connecticut.

• A win over the Mountaineers would give OU its first postseason tournament title. The Sooners lost NCAA championship games in 1947 (58-47 to Holy Cross) and 1988 (83-79 to Kansas) and the NIT title contest in 1991 (78-72 to Stanford).

• OU has held Colorado and Baylor to combined 39% shooting from the field and 25% shooting from behind the arc this week in the Crown. It also owns a two-game 2.0 assist-to-turnover ratio (34 assists/17 turnovers) while opponents have posted a 0.6 ratio (16 assists/27 turnovers). The Sooners have outscored them 34-12 off turnovers.

• Saturday's game will mark Oklahoma's fifth against a Big 12 opponent this season. OU dispatched Oklahoma State 85-76 on Dec. 13 in Oklahoma City, outlasted Colorado 80-76 in overtime in Thursday's College Basketball Crown quarterfinals and handled Baylor 82-79 in Saturday's semifinals. Its only loss to a Big 12 team came on Dec. 6 vs. Arizona State in Phoenix, 86-70.

• OU is the only Power Five team and one of just three out of 361 squads nationally to start the same lineup every game this season (the others are Merrimac and Stephen F. Austin). The Sooners' starters have been guards Xzayvier Brown and Nijel Pack, forwards Tae Davis and Derrion Reid and center Mohamed Wague. West Virginia has started just two lineups.

• Over the last nine games (8-1 record), the Sooners have trailed for only 72:35 out of 370 minutes.

• Oklahoma has outshot eight of its last nine opponents from the field after outshooting foes just four times in its first 14 SEC games. OU has held each of its last nine opponents to sub-50% field goal shooting (combined 41%).

• Wague is in the midst of the most productive stretch of his career, averaging 9.1 points, 7.6 rebounds, 1.9 blocked shots and 1.3 steals over the last 10 games while going 37 for 48 (77%) from the free throw line. Included for the fifth-year center was a 12-point, 13-rebound performance against the Aggies (Feb. 21) and 18 points, nine boards and career highs of four blocks and four steals vs. Auburn (Feb. 24). He entered the 10-game stretch averaging 6.2 points, 6.4 rebounds, 1.3 blocks and 0.5 steals while shooting 60% from the foul line on the season.

• The Sooners are without sophomore guard Dayton Forsythe for the Crown, as he had successful right ankle surgery on March 25. Forsythe played in 28 games off the bench this season, averaging 5.3 points in 17.3 minutes per outing. He scored in double figures six times on the year, including in four of OU's last 11 games.

OU-WEST VIRGINIA SERIES HISTORY

• Oklahoma owns an 18-10 (.643) all-time record against West Virginia. The teams first played in the 2005-06 season (WVU won 92-68 in Oklahoma City) and last met during the 2023-24 campaign (No. 15 OU won 77-63 in Norman).

• OU is 10-2 against the Mountaineers in Norman, 7-5 in Morgantown (6-5) and Charleston (1-0) and 1-3 at neutral sites.

• The Sooners won nine of the first 13 meetings and have won eight of the last nine. Head coach Porter Moser has led OU to a 4-1 record against WVU.

OU BEATS BAYLOR IN CROWN SEMIS

• Oklahoma outscored Baylor 19-8 over the final 6:18 Saturday to post an 82-69 College Basketball Crown semifinals win. OU outshot the Bears 50%-39% from the field and recorded a 21-2 advantage in points off turnovers.

• Guard Xzayvier Brown registered game highs of 21 points and six assists for the Sooners, as well as a team-high six rebounds without committing a turnover in his 35-plus minutes. His +14 plus-minus rating led all players. Forward Tae Davis scored 11 of his 18 points after halftime, forward Derrion Reid finished with 17 points and guard Nijel Pack registered 15 points, four assists and three steals.

• OU led for 35:35 and never trailed by more than one point. After the Sooners took a 45-35 lead to halftime, Baylor went on a 17-6 run to go up 52-51 with 13:15 remaining. It was the Bears' only second-half lead, however, as Davis nailed his second 3 of the game to trigger an 8-2 spurt for a 59-54 advantage. BU's bucket with 6:46 left cut the Sooners' advantage to 63-61, but it was the Bears' final field goal until 31 seconds remained, as OU outscored them by 11 the rest of the way.

• Oklahoma controlled the first half, leading for 18:36 minutes and only trailing 1-0 and 6-5. Brown registered 16 points, four assists and no turnovers in the opening 20 minutes.

• OU got a boost from freshman big man Kai Rogers, who totaled four points, four boards, an assist and a blocked shot in a career-high 16:57 off the bench. He had played just 7 ½ minutes over the previous nine games.

PACK MENTALITY

• First-year Oklahoma guard Nijel Pack surpassed the 2,000-points mark Jan. 11 at Texas A&M and has 2,342 for his career to rank third nationally among active players.

• Pack leads active Division I players and ranks 15th all-time with 432 career 3-pointers. He needs two 3-point makes to move into the No. 13 spot all-time and three makes to move into the No. 12 position.

• Pack leads the SEC with his .446 season 3-point field goal percentage and 3.3 treys per game. Nationally, he ranks fourth and 13th, respectively.

• Pack has scored 20-plus points in four of the last six games and six of the last nine (22 vs. Auburn, 21 at LSU, 23 at Texas, 24 vs. South Carolina, 20 vs. Texas A&M and 20 vs. Colorado).

• Pack has made at least one 3-pointer in 34 of 36 games, at least three in 24 contests and at least five in 10 outings. His 10 games of at least five treys are tied for fourth most among Power Five players (Texas Tech's Donovan Atwell leads with 12) and pace the SEC (next most is eight).

OU's 'X' FACTOR

• Junior guard Xzayvier Brown averaged 18.7 points over a 15-game span from Dec. 13 through Feb. 7 and ranks second on the team with his 15.5 points per contest on the season. He also leads the team with 3.3 assists and 1.3 steals per outing.

• After averaging 8.5 points over a four-game span in late February, Brown is averaging 15.6 over the last eight contests, with 20-, 21- and 21-point efforts at LSU, at Texas and vs. Baylor on Saturday.

• Brown ranks second in the SEC by shooting 88% from the free throw line (98 for 112). He assembled a streak of 27 makes (ended Jan. 13 vs. Florida).

• After scoring at least 20 points in 14 of 35 games last year at Saint Joseph's, Brown has a team-high 14 games of 20-plus in 36 outings this season. He has 34 career games of at least 20.

MORE OU NOTES AND NUGGETS

• At 21-15, Oklahoma has reached 20 victories for the third straight season. The Sooners will play 37 games in 2025-26, their most in a season since the 2015-16 Final Four team also played 37 (28-9).

• OU has led for over 20 minutes in 13 of the last 17 games and has been ahead for 398 out of 530 minutes (75% of game play) in those 13 contests.

• The Sooners have scored at least 85 points in 17 of their 36 games (47%). It's their most 85-point efforts since also registering 17 such outings in 1992-93 (33 years ago). For even more perspective, OU's last four teams scored 85-plus a combined 21 times in 133 games (16%).

• Oklahoma has committed single-digit turnovers 21 times, its most such outings for an entire season in at least 40 years. The Sooners average just 9.9 turnovers per contest. Over the past 50 seasons, the fewest turnovers OU averaged per game was 11.0 in 2020-21. It has committed single-digit turnovers in each of the last five outings (averaging 8.0).

• OU's top four scorers are all transfers in their first year in the program. Nijel Pack averages a team-high 16.6 points per game, while Xzayvier Brown (15.5), Tae Davis (12.9) and Derrion Reid (11.8) also average double figures. Mohamed Wague rounds out the starting five with his 7.0 per contest.

• Oklahoma led the SEC in league play with its 39% 3-point field goal mark and ranked fourth with its 9.6 treys per outing. They have made at least eight triples in 15 of the last 17 games. On the season, OU is averaging 9.7 treys per outing (the school record is 10.3 in 2015-16).

• Long Beach State transfer Jadon Jones shot 30% from 3-point range over his first 19 outings, but over the last 12 games is 18 for 44 (41%) from behind the arc. The sixth-year player has drawn 15 fouls while attempting a 3-pointer this season. The 2021-22 Big West Conference Defensive Player of the Year has 22 steals and 20 blocks over the past 19 games.

• OU announced on Dec. 28 the signing of 23-year-old Kirill Elatontsev (kee-REEL EE-el-uh-tahn-suv), a 6-11, 240-pound center from Russia who is averaging 4.1 points and 2.4 rebounds in 13.9 minutes per contest over his 23 games. He is shooting 53% from the field, 33% (11 for 33) from 3-point range and 73% (19 for 26) from the foul line.

• Redshirt freshman forward Kuol Atak ranks third on the team with his 43 3-point makes (shooting 42%) despite playing in just 23 of 36 games and averaging only 12.8 minutes in those contests. Twice this season he has made six treys in a game. Atak, who is 27 for 52 (52%) from long distance in home outings, has played in just seven of OU's last 19 games (two of the last nine).