The first time the Oklahoma Sooners and the Kansas Jayhawks played each other this season we witnessed the best college basketball game in recent memory. Kansas won that game 109-106 in triple overtime but now we will get the rematch on Saturday afternoon in Norman, Oklahoma.
Oklahoma comes into the game at 20-3 and ranked third in the nation while Kansas comes into the game at 20-4 and ranked sixth in the nation. Oklahoma and Kansas come in as part of a three-way tie for first place in the Big 12 with West Virginia being the third team. This game will say a lot about who has the edge in taking home the Big 12 regular season championship.
On Jan. 4th, the last time these two teams played, Oklahoma's star player, Buddy Hield, put on a show at Allen Fieldhouse. Hield almost had a triple-double and put up 46 points in a losing effort. That type of game has become commonplace for the senior guard as he is second in the nation with his 25.7 points per game and is the frontrunner for National Player of the Year.
Hield is also making 50 percent of his three point attempts on the season but he certainly isn't alone. As a team Oklahoma is making threes at a 45 percent clip so far this year which is the best in the nation by a wide margin. Jordan Woodard (49 percent) and Isaiah Cousins (47 percent) are also snipers from the outside and they make this Oklahoma team extremely difficult to guard.
While Hield was the story of the last matchup despite his team losing Kansas' senior forward Perry Ellis put up some gaudy numbers himself. Ellis had 27 points and 13 rebounds in that game, both team highs, and he has been playing extremely well lately. Over his last three games Ellis is averaging 21 points on better than 76 percent shooting.
While Ellis comes into this game hot Frank Mason does not. Mason has shot less than 30 percent from the field over his last four games and his turnovers are up as well so Kansas is hoping to see him get back on track. Mason did a great job of guarding Hield in the last matchup, even if the numbers don't make it look that way, and his defense will be key again on Saturday.
Including the classic game in the beginning of January Kansas has won four of the last five meetings against Oklahoma. The only loss during that span was a game in which Ellis couldn't play because he had a sprained knee. Kansas has dominated the Big 12 for a long time, now Oklahoma will look to take over and it starts by protecting home court against the Jayhawks.
The game is scheduled to tip off at 2:30 P.M. Eastern time on ESPN and to watch the live broadcast go here. For the Kansas radio broadcast go here and for the Oklahoma radio broadcast go here.
