Red River Rivalry comes to KC for Big 12 Quarters: Oklahoma vs Texas

Big 12 Quarterfinals
Oklahoma Sooners vs Texas Longhorns
Sprint Center, Kansas City, MO
Thursday, March 10, 2011, 7:00 pm Eastern, TV: MASN, Altitude
Opening Line: Texas -14
Current Line: Texas -14
Opening Total: 131
Current Total: 131
Money Line: Texas -1300 / Oklahoma +850

Jordan Hamilton leads the Longhorns in a Big 12 quarterfinal match-up with rival Oklahoma. The Longhorns are a 14 point favorite in Kansas City.

Oklahoma advanced to this game after thrashing Baylor 84-67. Baylor found out just hours before the game that forward Perry Jones III would be suspended for violating NCAA rules. Oklahoma is 14-17 overall and 5-11 in the Big 12. They beat Oklahoma St to close out the regular season but had lost 8 in a row before that. The Sooners now get a Texas team that has also struggled down the stretch. Texas lost 3 of their last 5 games to fall behind Kansas for the regular season title. The Longhorns beat Baylor in Waco Saturday 60-54 in their last game. Texas is 25-6 overall and 13-3 in conference. They are ranked #10 in both polls. They have a good shot at a top 3 seed in the NCAA tournament next week. Texas swept the regular season series winnign both games handily. They won at home January 15 66-46 and in Norman February 9 68-52.

Oklahoma leads the overall series against Texas 47-31. Texas has won four of the last six in the series, but is 3-3 ATS in those games.

Oklahoma has no significant injuries right now. Guard Cade Davis averages 14.1 points to lead the team, 5 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 1 steal a game. The Sooners are led by forward Andrew Fitzgerald. He is averaging 12.6 points, 5.1 rebounds, 1.1 steals, and 0.6 blocks a game. He leads the team in rebounds, steals and blocks. Guard Steven Pledger averages 11 points, 2.1 rebounds, 1.7 assists, and 0.9 steal a game. Cameron Clark averages 9.5 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 1.1 assists a game. Carl Blair averages 7.5 points, 2.9 rebounds, and 4.6 assists a game to lead the team. Oklahoma is being outscored 69-66 on the season. The Sooners are shooting 44.9% from the field and 34% from 3-point range. Sooner opponents are shooting 44.9% from the field. The Sooners make 73.7% of their free throws. They average 30.5 rebounds a game and have a rebounding margin of -1.9. Oklahoma averages 12.5 assists and 13.6 turnovers a game. They force 13.3 turnovers a game on defense. The Sooners average 2.7 blocks and 5.6 steals a game.

Texas has no significant injuries right now. Texas is led by guard/forward Jordan Hamilton. Hamilton is averaging 18.5 points, 7.6 rebounds, and 2.2 assists a game. He is the leading scorer for the Longhorns and also is shooting 39.8% from 3-point range. Forward Tristan Thompson averages 13.5 points, 7.7 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 1 steal, and 2.3 blocks a game. He leads the team in rebounding and blocks. Forward Gary Johnson averages 12 points, 7 rebounds and 1.2 assists a game. Guard Cory Joseph averages 10.5 points, 3.6 rebounds, 3 assists to lead the team, and 1 steals a game to lead the team. Texas is outscoring opponents 75-61 on the season. They are shooting 45.3% from the field and 37.6% from 3-point range. Longhorn opponents are shooting 37.% from the field. Texas makes only 64.3% of their free throws. Texas averages 40.8 rebounds and has a rebounding margin of +6.5. The Longhorns average 13.4 assists and 11.9 turnovers a game. Texas forces 13.2 turnovers a game on defense. Texas averages 5 blocks and 5.9 steals a game.

Texas is one of the best rebounding teams in the Country while Oklahoma is one of the worst. Texas dominates in every statistical category. I don’t see Oklahoma even making this a game but it is March and stranger things have happened.