The Oklahoma men host Texas A&M on Saturday in the first of back-to-back home games at Lloyd Noble Center and on a special day in which the jersey number of former Sooner superstar Buddy Hield will be retired and raised to the rafters for permanent display.
Hield led the 2015-16 Sooner team to a Final Four appearance his senior season and was the National Collegiate Player of the Year that same season. He will be honored during a halftime ceremony on Saturday night, and his No. 24 jersey will take its esteemed place among five other former Oklahoma stars who have been similarly honored over time.
Sooners host Texas A&M as Buddy Hield is honored
The weekend activities will include a 10-year reunion celebration of the 2015-16 Oklahoma Final Four team, which will be honored with an on-court ceremony before the game.
Oklahoma holds a 32-13 lead in the all-time hoops series with Texas A&M (18-8, 8-5), but the Sooners have been on the losing end of the last four games against the Aggies, including an 83-76 loss at Texas A&M on Jan. 10. The interstate series dates back to 1960.
All but nine of the games in the series have been played while the two teams were members of the Big 12 (1996-2012). Interestingly, Oklahoma won 25 of the first 26 games played between the two teams.
The Sooners come into Saturday's game on the heels of a 23-point loss, 89-66, at Tennessee on Wednesday. Meanwhile, the Aggies snapped a four-game losing streak, edging Ole Miss 80-77 at home that same night.
The Oklahoma-Texas A&M game will be televised on the SEC Network at 7:30 p.m. CT on Saturday. Mike Morgan will do play-by-play with Jon Sundvold providing analysis.
What to know about Texas A&M
Texas A&M averages 89.5 points a game, fourth-best in the SEC, fueled by four starters, and five players overall, averaging right at 10.0 points a game. Graduate forward Rashaun Agee is the main scoring threat. The former USC transfer averages 13.8 points, as well as a team-high 9.0 rebounds per game. He scored 16, along with 12 boards, in the earlier game this season against Oklahoma.
A&M ranks second in the country averaging 37.3 bench points per game. The Aggie reserves have scored at least 30 points in 16 of the team's 26 games. Former Texas Tech transfer Pop Isaacs leads the group coming of the bench with a 9.8 scoring average.
The Aggies rely heavily on the three-ball as part of their offensive attack. They rank second in the SEC in both field-goal percentage (36.7) and made three-pointers (11.2 per game). When they launch the three-ball, it is usually Rueben Dominguez, Rylan Griffen or Isaacs. Dominguez nailed four of nine three-point attempts in the earlier game this season with OU, and Griffen was three of six from long range in that same game.
Texas A&M was picked to finish 13th out of the 16 SEC teams in the conference's preseason media poll. Oklahoma was picked one spot higher than the Aggies at No. 12.
What to know about Oklahoma
Transfer backcourt tandem of Xzayvier Brown and Nijel Pack has been the X-factor for the Sooners this season. When these two are both on their game at the same time, Oklahoma has been hard to beat. Unfortunately, too often this season, when one is doing well on the scoring end, the other is having an off game. Pack, who transferred to OU from Miami, has scored 20 or more points in four of his last seven games. Brown, a transfer from St. Joseph's, has been held to just five points in each of the last two games after averaging 18.7 over a 15-game stretch.
The Sooners are 3-10 in SEC play, but have held a halftime lead in six of those 13 games. Oklahoma actually has held a double-digit lead at some point in its last nine games, but won just two of them.
Redshirt freshman Kuol Atak ranks third on the team (behind Brown and Pack) with 36 made three-pointers despite appearing in only 20 of 26 games and averaging just 12.3 minutes per game. The 6-foot-9 forward has made 16 of his 26 attempts (62%) in his last four games at Lloyd Noble Center.
While bench depth and production has been a giant plus for Texas A&M this season, it generally has been the opposite for Oklahoma. Although the OU reserves have been more productive in recent games, including 44 points vs. Georgia, the Sooners have averaged 27.0 bench points in their three SEC wins, but just 13.8 points from the reserves in their 10 conference losses.
Prediction for Texas A&M vs Oklahoma
This is a game Oklahoma can win and probably should win playing at home. What troubles me, though, is the Sooners' struggles getting stops on the defensive end. Plus teams have been able to effectively swing the ball around and create good looks in the paint. A&M can do that as well as any team in the SEC, and if the shot isn't there down low, they sling it back out for an open trey.
OU is going to have to defend the perimeter against the visitors from College Station while not giving away freebies at the rim. Something that hasn't been a noticeable part of the Oklahoma DNA this season. Despite all of this, I believe the Sooners will put together a third straight Saturday performance and pull this one out at the end.