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Oklahoma basketball: Sooners, Shockers square off Saturday

By Chip Rouse

COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA - MARCH 22: Jamal Bieniemy #24 of the Oklahoma Sooners reacts late in the second half against the Mississippi Rebels during the first round of the 2019 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Colonial Life Arena on March 22, 2019 in Columbia, South Carolina. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA - MARCH 22: Jamal Bieniemy #24 of the Oklahoma Sooners reacts late in the second half against the Mississippi Rebels during the first round of the 2019 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Colonial Life Arena on March 22, 2019 in Columbia, South Carolina. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) /
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When men’s Oklahoma basketball returns to action on Saturday after a nine-day absence, it will mark a homecoming of sorts for Sooner leading scorer Austin Reaves.

Oklahoma and Wichita State will bring a combined record of 15-2 into their matchup Saturday at Intrust Bank Arena in Wichita, Kansas. This will be the ninth meeting between the two teams, with Oklahoma leading the all-time series 6-2. The Sooners are 2-1 against the Shockers in the Lon Kruger era and 4-1 when the game is played in Wichita.

Before transferring to Oklahoma after the 2017-18 season, Reaves played two seasons at Wichita State. In 66 games for the Shockers, he averaged 6.1 points, 2.4 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game. More importantly, he averaged 45 percent from three-point range.

Reaves is leading the Sooners with a 17.6 scoring average through eight games, fourth best in the Big 12. Right behind the redshirt junior’s offensive production is senior Kristian Doolittle (16.0 points per game) and junior Brady Manek (14.0). The Oklahoma trio is one of three major-conference trios averaging 14 or more points a game this season.

Oklahoma Sooners
Oklahoma Sooners /

Oklahoma Sooners

Statistically, Oklahoma and Wichita State are fairly evenly matched. Both teams are averaging 76 points a game, with the Shockers allowing eight fewer points a game than the Sooners (60.2 to 68.9). OU is shooting 45.2 percent from the field, while WSU is shooting at a 41.9 clip. Rebounding, turnovers and three-point offense and defense are pretty even.

Wichita State has two players scoring in double figures, guards Erik Stevenson (13.4 ppg) and Tyson Etienne 11.4 ppg), and four other players averaging eight or more points per game. Etienne is the team’s best three-point marksman, shooting 46 percent from deep and averaging two-plus made three balls per contest.

The Sooners are doing an excellent job protecting the basketball this season. They are turning the ball over just 10.4 times per game, best in the Big 12.

The biggest problem we’ve seen out of the Oklahoma men after one month of the 2019-20 season the tendency of the Sooners to get off to slow starts. Oklahoma has won seven out of eight games to start the season despite leading a halftime in just two of the games.

The second half of games has been a completely different matter. The Sooners have shot 54.2 percent in the second 20 minutes of their games this season, including 41.1 percent behind the three-point arc, and have outscored their opponents by an average of nine points in the second half.

Moreover, Oklahoma has picked up its defense in the second half of games, holding its opponents to 39-percent shooting from the floor and 22.9 percent from three-point range.

The Wichita State game is the sixth out of nine this season that Oklahoma will have played away from Lloyd Noble Center and the first of four nonconference games before the end of the year. The Sooners begin Big 12 conference play on Jan. 4, hosting Kansas State.

OU will travel further north next week, heading to Omaha, Nebraska, to play Creighton on Tuesday. Then the Sooners are back home to close out year with games against the University of Central Florida on Dec. 17 and the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley on Dec. 30.

Oklahoma 72, Wichita State 67

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