Fort Worth, TX (SportsNetwork.com) - The 21st-ranked Oklahoma Sooners shoot for a fourth straight win on Saturday afternoon as they tangle with fellow Big 12 Conference member TCU at the Wilkerson-Greines Activity Center.
All alone in fourth place in the Big 12 standings with six wins in 10 attempts, the Sooners are coming off a Tuesday night demolition of 15th-ranked West Virginia at home, 72-51. The victory was revenge for an 86-65 blowout loss to the Mountaineers on the road last month.
Meanwhile, the Horned Frogs have a solid overall record of 14-8, as every team in the Big 12 has a winning record on the campaign, but against the rest of the league TCU has failed to clear countless hurdles. In fact, the Frogs are the only team with just a single Big 12 win through at least nine decisions.
TCU was in action earlier this week versus in-state and conference rival Baylor, the 19th-ranked team in the nation, and fell hard in a 77-57 decision. The loss was the five straight and the eighth in the last nine outings overall for the Horned Frogs.
The Sooners are in complete control of the all-time series, winning all but two of the previous 16 encounters with TCU. The most recent battle took place last March with Oklahoma blowing the doors off the Horned Frogs in a 97-67 final.
TCU did manage to defeat the Sooners at home in 2013 by a score of 70-67. The only other win for the Frogs in the series was a 95-82 victory during the 1986-87 season in Oklahoma City.
The offense was right on point for the Sooners as they hosted WVU, shooting 61.4 percent from the floor and 6-of-11 behind the 3-point line in the lopsided win. Granted, Oklahoma made only 11-of-22 shots at the free-throw line and turned the ball over 13 times, but those issues mattered little as the hosts ran away with the victory.
Buddy Hield connected on 5-of-7 shots behind the 3-point line as he finished with a game-high 21 points, followed by Jordan Woodard and Isaiah Cousins with 12 and 10 points, respectively.
In two matchups with the Frogs last season, Hield shot 60.0 percent from the field, including 7-of-15 behind the 3-point line, averaging 20.0 ppg, while Ryan Spangler accounted for 11.5 ppg and 11.0 rpg for the Sooners. In conference games this season Hield is again hitting perimeter shots at an accelerated rate (.412) as he accounts for 20.1 ppg. Spangler checks in with 10.7 ppg and 7.5 rpg, his point production matching that of Cousins.
While it would not have made enough of a difference in the end result, the Horned Frogs didn't do themselves any favors with their 14-of-25 shooting at the charity stripe at the Ferrell Center in Waco, nor did a 3-of-11 showing beyond the arc keep the visitors in contention for long. Amric Fields played 17 minutes in a reserve role in order to lead the Frogs with 14 points on 6- of-7 shooting from the floor, followed by Trey Zeigler and Kenrich Williams with 11 points apiece, the latter also clearing eight rebounds.
Although he failed to score in double figures versus Baylor, Kyan Anderson remains the leading scorer for TCU with 13.4 ppg. In addition to being first on the unit in 3-pointers with 35 conversions in 110 chances, Anderson is also first in assists (87) as he tries desperately to kick his squad into gear at the offensive end of the floor. The Frogs are much stronger on offense though, limiting foes to just 59.6 ppg on 37.3 percent shooting from the floor.
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