Oklahoma
UTSA
Wednesday, Nov. 25 / 7 p.m. CT / Lloyd Noble Center
NORMAN - It's basketball time in Oklahoma.
After a long offseason filled with "what could have been", Oklahoma (0-0, 0-0 Big 12) is finally back at Lloyd Noble Center on Wednesday when it opens the season against UTSA (0-0, 0-0 C-USA).
The Sooners boast what is expected to be one of the highest-scoring duos in the Big 12 in seniors Austin Reaves (14.7 points) and Brady Manek (14.4 points). UTSA has a high-scoring combo of their own in seniors Jhivvan Jackson (26.8 points) and Keaton Wallace (18.8 points). Jackson ranked second in scoring in NCAA Division I last season.
ON THE AIR
• Wednesday's season opener will tip at 7 p.m. CT and air on the Sooner Radio Network (KRXO 107.7 FM "The Franchise" in Oklahoma City; KTBZ 1430 AM in Tulsa; Tune In Radio App) with Toby Rowland and Kevin Henry announcing.• Chad McKee and Bryndon Manzer will call the action on Fox Sports Southwest.
TICKETS
• Digital ticketing will be implemented for 2020-21 to allow fans to seamlessly access or transfer tickets to others via the SoonerSports2Go app. Step-by-step instructions and additional information on how to access and transfer tickets is available at SoonerSports.com/digitaltickets.• Ticket prices start as low as $10 and can purchased at the OU Athletics Ticket Office (800-456-4668) and SoonerSports.com/Tickets. Lloyd Noble Center's east ticket windows will open at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday.
• Student tickets are $5 each and sold on a first come/first served basis. Students should claim their tickets by logging on to SoonerSports.com/Students.
• To learn more about Lloyd Noble Center's new game day policies and procedures, click here.
THREE POINTERS
• Senior forward Brady Manek has been a staple of Lon Kruger's squad the last three seasons. He has started in 91 of OU's last 97 games (including the last 65 straight) and boasts career averages of 12.2 points, 5.7 rebounds and 1.9 3-point field goals. Manek enters his senior year with 1,188 career points (31st in OU history) and 187 3-pointers (seventh in OU history). He is the only player in program history to accumulate at least 1,000 points, 500 rebounds, 150 3-pointers and 75 blocks.• Although Oklahoma returns over 70% of its scoring from the 2019-20 squad that claimed third place in the Big 12, the Sooners will look to fill the void of graduated senior Kristian Doolittle. A First-Team All-Big 12 selection, Doolittle averaged 15.8 points, 8.9 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.3 steals while finishing fourth in the league in both points and rebounds. While filling his position in the post will be a collective effort, the Sooners expect to see a significant leap in role from senior forward Kur Kuath. Kuath averaged 3.4 points, 2.1 rebounds and 1.5 blocks in 2019-20, but only saw 10.6 minutes per game playing behind the Doolittle/Manek combo. He made the most of his time on the floor with his 5.8 blocks per 40 minutes ranking second in all of Division I. In his one previous career start (Dec. 30, 2019 vs. UTRGV), Kuath totaled 17 points, eight rebounds, three assists and two blocks in 26 minutes.
• Oklahoma is 9-0 in season openers under head coach Lon Kruger. Additionally, the Sooners have won 17 consecutive season openers dating back to the 2003-04 season.
SERIES HISTORY VS. UTSA
• Oklahoma owns a 5-0 all-time record against the Roadrunners and defeated UTSA, 85-67, last season. This will be the fourth straight season the Sooners have faced the Roadrunners.• OU is 42-6 all-time against current members of Conference USA and is 8-1 against C-USA teams during the Kruger era.
• Coaching across the court from Lon Kruger is his former longtime assistant Steve Henson. Beginning his fourth year at the helm of the UTSA program, Henson spent nearly three decades of playing and working for Kruger. Henson was a four-year starting point guard for Kruger at Kansas State from 1986-90, earning All-Big Eight Conference honors as a junior and senior. Following his professional career, Henson got his start in coaching as an assistant for Kruger at Illinois in 1999 and went on to also be a member of Kruger's staff with the Atlanta Hawks, UNLV and Oklahoma for a combined 15 seasons. When Henson was hired by UTSA, the Roadrunners were coming off a last-place 5-27 season. Just two years later, Henson coached UTSA to a 20-15 record and fifth-place finish in Conference USA, earning himself the 2018 C-USA Coach of the Year honors.
• Joining Henson on the UTSA staff is assistant coach Scott Thompson, who served as OU's video coordinator from 2011-16.
LAST MEETING VS. UTSA
• The Sooners opened the 2019-20 season with an 85-67 win over UTSA. The Sooners came alive in the second half, outscoring the Roadrunners 45-31 in the last frame.• Oklahoma was led by a pair of newcomers in guards De'Vion Harmon and Austin Reaves, both scoring 23 points in their Crimson and Cream debut. Forward Brady Manek added 16 points.
• Harmon reached 23 points on 8-of-13 shooting – scoring the most points registered by an OU freshman in a season opener since Alvan Adams (34) in 1972.
• After a cold shooting start (1-of-7 in the first half), Reaves shot 8-of-13 in the second half for 17 points after the break.
• The Sooners shot 20-of-35 (57.1%) in the second half while holding UTSA to 11-of-40 (27.5%) in the same frame.
Lon Kruger will face his former long-time assistant coach Steve Henson for the fourth straight season.
NON-CONFERENCE DOMINANCE
• Oklahoma has been dominant in non-conference play the previous two seasons, boasting a combined 32-6 record in its last 38 non-league regular-season games. In non-conference play since 2017-18, Oklahoma is 13-5 against major conference schools (ACC, Big East, Big Ten, Pac-12, SEC) and 17-6 in games played away from Norman.• The Sooners have won 18 straight home non-conference matchups (15 straight at Lloyd Noble Center). OU's last nonconference home loss came in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge to Florida on Jan. 28, 2017.
• Oklahoma has won 141 of its last 148 non-conference games in Norman and is 49-4 at Lloyd Noble Center against non-conference opponents under Kruger.
• OU is 31-5 in games played in November and December since the start of the 2017-18 season.
HERE'S THE STORY OF A MAN NAMED BRADY
• The Sooners almost always have team success on nights that junior forward Brady Manek is rolling. During his career, OU is 43-19 when Manek scores in double figures, 28-8 when he scores at least 15 points, 8-2 when he scores at least 20 and 13-4 when he hit four or more 3-pointers.• Dating back to his sophomore season, Manek has scored in double figures in 38 of his last 47 games – including 24 of 30 games in 2019-20.
• Manek was the only Big 12 player with multiple 30-point games in 2019-20.
• Manek enters his senior season with 1,188 career points – the 31st most in program history. He has started in 65 straight games for the Sooners.
• The sharpshooter has sunk 187 3-pointers in his career – the seventh most in program history.
• He is the only player in program history to accumulate at least 1,000 points, 500 rebounds, 150 3-pointers and 75 blocks.
• During his junior season, Manek averaged 14.4 points, 6.2 rebounds and 1.2 blocks while sinking 71 3-pointers at a 38% clip. He was an All-Big 12 Third selection and ranked third in the Big 12 in field goal percentage, eighth in scoring, ninth in blocks and 12th in rebounding.
• Manek has also totaled 82 blocks in his career. Closing in on the century mark, he has the opportunity to become the first player in Big 12 history to total 200 3-pointers and 100 blocks in a career. Only seven major-conference players have assembled such a 3-pointer/shot-blocking combo in the last 25 years.
• Manek is one of 20 players the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame named to its watch list for the 2021 Karl Malone Power Forward of the Year Award. Named after two-time NBA MVP Karl Malone, the annual honor recognizes the top power forwards in Division I men's college basketball.
• The senior is all excelling in the classroom. A management major, Manek has received Academic All-Big 12 First Team honors in both 2019 and 2020. He was also one of 41 NCAA Division I men's basketball student-athletes named to a 2020 CoSIDA Academic All-District Team. He is expected to graduate in December and begin graduate school in the spring.
REAVES ACHIEVES
• Senior guard Austin Reaves was one of the Sooners' leading offensive forces during his first season in the Crimson and Cream. A transfer from Wichita State, Reaves sat out the 2018-19 season but has quickly made up for lost time. He finished sixth in the Big 12 in scoring last season with 14.7 points while also averaging 5.3 points and 3.0 assists. He also ranked second in the league in free throw shooting, making his foul shots at an 84.8% clip (seventh best in OU history). He was named an All-Big 12 Honorable Mention selection along with making the Big 12 All-Newcomer Team.• Reaves ended his 2019-20 season by fueling the largest road second-half comeback in Big 12 history. The guard willed the Sooners back from an 18-point halftime deficit at TCU on March 7 by scoring 41 points (25 in the second half) and sinking the game-winning bucket with 0.5 seconds remaining.
• Reaves' 41 points are the most by a Big 12 player this season and the most by a Big 12 player since Trae Young scored 44 against Baylor on Jan. 30, 2018. The performance earned him Big 12 Player of the Week for the final week of the regular season.
• In addition to his 41 points, he added five rebounds, six assists and three blocks while going 15-of-16 from the foul line, joining Ben Simmons of LSU as the only Division I players in the last 20 years to have at least 40 points, five rebounds, five assists & three blocks in a game.
• Reaves is the latest Sooner to go off during the Lon Kruger era. In the last six seasons, OU players have produced eight of the top 10 scoring performances by Big 12 players - including six of the top seven.
UP NEXT: UCF
• Oklahoma hits the road for the first time this season when it heads to Orlando to face UCF in a true road game. The matchup tips at 1 p.m. CT on ESPN+. It will be UCF's first game of the season.• The Sooners have faced the Knights just once before, narrowly defeating UCF 53-52 in Norman last season. Brady Manek led the Sooners with a 13-point, 10-rebound double-double.
• OU is 6-3 against current members of the American Athletic Conference under Lon Kruger and 47-31 all-time against current members of the American.
• The Sooners faced UCF head coach Johnny Dawkins in his senior season at Duke in a top-10 matchup at Cameron Indoor in 1986. Dawkins scored 20-points to lead No. 2 Duke past No. 10 Oklahoma, 93-84.
• Oklahoma won its last two road games of 2019-20, upsetting No. 20 West Virginia in Morgantown and rallying back to win at TCU on a last-second shot by Austin Reaves.
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