Oklahoma Basketball: A Half-Dozen First-Half Sooner Surprises

Jan 23, 2016; Waco, TX, USA; Oklahoma Sooners head coach Lon Kruger on the sidelines against the Baylor Bears at the Ferrell Center. Oklahoma won 82-72. Mandatory Credit: Erich Schlegel-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 23, 2016; Waco, TX, USA; Oklahoma Sooners head coach Lon Kruger on the sidelines against the Baylor Bears at the Ferrell Center. Oklahoma won 82-72. Mandatory Credit: Erich Schlegel-USA TODAY Sports
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Jan 16, 2016; Norman, OK, USA; Oklahoma Sooners guard Jordan Woodard (10) passes the ball in front of West Virginia Mountaineers guard Jaysean Paige (5) during the second half at Lloyd Noble Center. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 16, 2016; Norman, OK, USA; Oklahoma Sooners guard Jordan Woodard (10) passes the ball in front of West Virginia Mountaineers guard Jaysean Paige (5) during the second half at Lloyd Noble Center. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports

Jordan Woodard’s Offensive Growth

Junior point guard Jordan Woodard averaged 10.3 points per game in his freshman season and 9.3 a year ago. His offensive contribution has almost doubled this season, and he has become the Sooners’ best three-point shooter, based on percentage.

Woodard is averaging almost 15 points per game. He has scored in double digits in 14 of Oklahoma’s 18 games this season, and scored nine points in two others. Four times this season, he has reached the 20-point level. His high mark offensively this season was a 28-point performance in the Sooners’ win over Harvard in the championship game of the Diamond Head Classic in Hawaii.

Woodard scored 27 points in OU’s heart-breaking triple-overtime loss at then-No. 1 Kansas and contributed 24 points in a nonconference victory over Central Arkansas earlier in the season. His 20-point performance last Saturday was a game high and led the Sooners to a big conference win over 13th-ranked Baylor.

Not only is the junior Sooner guard the team’s second leading scorer this season, his field-goal accuracy has gone up by 10 percentage points. Woodard, who hails from nearby Edmond, a northern suburb of Oklahoma City, is shooting 46 percent from the field this season and has become a potent weapon in the high-scoring Sooner offense. He also leads the Sooners and is sixth in the Big 12 this season, averaging nearly four assists per game.

Next: Ryan Spangler Is One of the Most Underrated Players in College Basketball