If Bill Self was handing out invitations, Oklahoma’s men’s basketball team would be headed to the Big Dance for a 10th straight season.
“Oklahoma is an NCAA Tournament team,” said Self, Kansas University’s first-year coach, “but I’m sure they’re trying to add to their resume, just like we need to add to ours.”
Rated a “bubble team” by ESPN, the Sooners (16-8 overall, 6-7 Big 12 Conference) will battle No. 20-ranked Kansas (17-7, 9-4) at 1 p.m. today at Allen Fieldhouse.
The game will be televised on CBS (channels 5, 13), with a 10:30 p.m. replay on Sunflower Broadband Channel 6.
OU, which has lost three straight games, is 0-5 against top-25 teams and 16-3 against everybody else — a record that won’t bode well for an NCAA Tournament bid.
“I know this time of year, that’s what everyone wants to talk about,” OU coach Kelvin Sampson said. “I can’t control that stuff. I can only control whether or not we’re improving. I think we have as good a chance as anybody. I think these kids can still have a great year.”
The Sooners landed a Final Four bid just two years ago.
“I’ve been in that tournament enough to know that you’re never out of it,” Sampson told the Daily Oklahoman. “If we win three out of four, or four out of four, or two out of four, we’ve still got a chance to go.”
OU was considered a lock for the tourney prior to its three game losing streak. The Sooners dropped consecutive home games last week to the top two teams in the league — Oklahoma State (65-52) and Texas (68-63) — before falling in overtime, 94-87, Wednesday at Colorado.
After today, OU closes with home games against Big 12 bottom-dwellers Texas A&M and Baylor, so it’s reasonable to project the Sooners will finish with an 8-8 league record.
KU isn’t on a hot streak either — the Jayhawks have lost three of five games, and KU junior Wayne Simien said OU would pose a huge test.
“This is a really tough team,” Simien said. “They have been struggling a bit, too. They will not come in here and roll over. We’ve got to be ready.”
The Jayhawks could encounter a defensive battle. OU, which exploded for a season-high 13 threes at Colorado, has averaged 67.5 points a game and 63.5 in conference games. The Sooners have hit just 40.8 percent of their shots, including 39.9 in league games.
The Sooners allow 62.3 points per game, while the Jayhawks are averaging 74.2.
“Usually they try to muddy things up,” Simien said. “We’ve played like that before.”
“I think it will be a grind-it-out game,” Self said. “It will be a tough game. They play a lot of zone. They are very long in the back line. They are a team that has labored scoring, but is also a team that has scored like we did against Texas Tech. If you let their guys get comfortable, they have shown they can score in bunches.”
Like at Colorado, where 6-foot-6 senior Jason Detrick, who averages 11.8 points a game, erupted for 35 points — including 13 in the second half and eight in overtime.
“His heart is unbelievable,” Sampson said of the Newport News, Va., native.
OU’s second-leading scorer is freshman point guard Drew Lavender, a 5-7, 155-pounder who averages 11.4 ppg. Lavender, who has 90 assists against 64 turnovers, has directed an offense that’s committed just 22 turnovers in the past three games.
“I was really enamored with him (on summer recruiting circuit) because he is so much fun to watch,” Self said of Lavender, a Columbus, Ohio, native.
“He has poise and never changes his body language or his expression. He is just thinking about the next play all the time. I think that’s the thing that impresses me the most about him as a true freshman.”
The biggest Sooner is Jabahri Brown, a 6-10, 220-pound senior who averages 7.2 points and 5.2 boards.
Overall, OU averages 34.7 rebounds to foes’ 31.
“Kelvin’s teams have been as tough as any teams around, over time,” Self said. “They fight and scratch for everything.”
KU will try to answer the Sooners’ intensity.
“I expect a real good game,” KU junior Keith Langford said. “These are two teams that have won in the past not doing as well as the last couple years. They both have good coaches, good players. It’ll be a hard-fought game.”
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