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Oklahoma
Road to the Final Four.............................................................................................
On the surface, Oklahoma's second-place finish in the Big 12 at 12-4 suggests a stress-free regular-season. Yet when you consider that the Sooners were 1-3 in the Big 12 after four games and coach Kelvin Sampson dismissed his best player from the team with three games left in the season, you understand the difficult road this team traveled. The Sooners won seven consecutive games after the 1-3 start and then regrouped after an embarrassing 28-point loss at Oklahoma State to win their final four conference games. Along the way, Sampson suspended junior point guard J.R. Raymond and eventually kicked him off the team. The Sooners lost at Maryland in their first game without Raymond but closed the regular season with victories over Colorado and Oklahoma State. "Years from now when I'm done coaching," Sampson said, "this will be one of my most enjoyable years. I have really, really thoroughly enjoyed this team." Player to Watch Sophomore Hollis Price opened the season as the Sooners' point guard. He lost the job to Raymond. With Raymond gone, Price is again running the team. It appears he is ready for the challenge. Price scored 16 points and had eight of the team's 12 assists and only two turnovers in leading the Sooners to a 68-56 victory over Oklahoma State in the regular-season finale. Overall, he averaged 12.0 points and 4.8 assists during the regular season. His assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.1 was the sixth-best in the Big 12. With the Ball Raymond's absence takes away a potential double-figure scorer. Yet the Sooners still possess enough scoring threats to keep teams honest. Junior forward Aaron McGhee averaged 13.7 points during the regular season and senior guard Nolan Johnson added 12.6 per game. The Sooners like to spread the ball around but in a tight game, Sampson doesn't mind letting Johnson create in a one-on-one situation. "You put J.R. on this team, and we're pretty good. We don't have that anymore, so we have to take advantage of these kids' strengths."Defending the Ball Sampson's teams have traditionally been aggressive defensively. You get tired just watching these guys work on defense. That hasn't changed, though the Sooners could use an intimidating presence in the lane such as Eduardo Najera. Despite the absence of an enforcer, the Sooners finished third in the Big 12 in scoring defense (65.0 points). In their final four conference victories, the Sooners held Baylor 11.3 points below their scoring average, Missouri 14.9 points below their average, Colorado 13.5 below their average and Oklahoma State 16.6 below their average. Seed Analysis Exceeding the Seed Playing to Expectations Falling Short BRACKETOLOGY SCORE: .763 (1.000 is playing exactly to a team's historical seeding) Bracketology Report1985-2000:The Sooners are not a team to ride hard in the tournament. Seven timesin 13 appearances since 1985, Oklahoma has underperformed relative to its seed. As a No. 1 seed, the Sooners fell before the Final Four three out of four times. The Sooners also hold the dubious distinction of losing two first-round games as a No. 4 seed (1995 to Manhattan, 1992 to Louisiana-Lafayette). Roster
 NCAA Basketball Championship Week It's March, which means the madness has started and invitations are being reserved throughout Championship Week.  Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories |  |
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