NORMAN — Making its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2021, the No. 9 seed Oklahoma men’s basketball team (20-13, 6-12 SEC) meets No. 8 seed and two-time defending champion Connecticut (23-10, 14-6 Big East) in a first-round West Region game on Friday at approximately 8:25 p.m. CT inside 19,500-seat Lenovo Center in Raleigh, N.C. Friday’s contest will be televised by TNT with Ian Eagle (play-by-play), Bill Raftery (analyst), Grant Hill (analyst) and Tracy Wolfson (reporter) announcing. It will air on the Sooner Sports Radio Network (KRXO 107.7 FM The Franchise in Oklahoma City; KTBZ 1430 AM in Tulsa; Varsity Radio App) with Toby Rowland (play-by-play) and Kevin Henry (analyst) on the call. 

The OU-UConn winner will play No. 1 seed Florida or No. 16 seed Norfolk State on Sunday (time TBA).

OU NCAA TOURNAMENT BASICS

• Oklahoma is making its 34th NCAA Tournament appearance, first since 2021 and first under fourth-year head coach Porter Moser. This is OU’s 30th NCAA Tournament showing going back to (and including) 1983, tied for the 10th most nationally over the last 42 events (the Sooners trail only Duke, Kansas, North Carolina, Kentucky, Michigan State, Arizona, Purdue, Syracuse and Texas). 

• Moser owns a 6-2 NCAA Tournament record, good for the third-best winning percentage (.750) among coaches whose teams are in this year’s dance (trails North Carolina’s Hubert Davis [8-2; .800 through Wednesday] and UConn’s Dan Hurley [14-4; .778]). Moser directed Loyola Chicago to the Final Four in 2018 and to the Sweet 16 in 2021, and was the lower-seeded team in six of the eight games, including five wins. Oklahoma assistant coach Clayton Custer was Loyola’s starting point guard on the 2018 Final Four squad (hit the game-winning shot vs. No. 3 seed Tennessee in the second round).

 • OU is tied with Florida for third among the SEC’s 16 programs with five Final Four appearances (Kentucky has 17 and Arkansas six). The Sooners advanced to the Final Four in 1939, 1947, 1988, 2002 and 2016. They played in the national title game in 1947 (lost 58-47 to Holy Cross in New York City) and 1988 (lost 83-79 to Kansas in Kansas City, Mo.). • The Sooners own a 42-33 NCAA Tournament record. They have advanced to the Sweet 16 on 11 occasions, to the Elite Eight nine times and to the Final Four five times (tied for third most among SEC programs). • Oklahoma has won its opening NCAA Tournament game in each of its last two appearances, in four of its last five and in 11 of its last 16. 

• This marks OU’s second NCAA Tournament No. 9 seed. In 2019, Lon Kruger’s ninth-seeded Sooners beat No. 8 seed Ole Miss 95-72 in Columbia, S.C. This will mark OU’s third straight 8 vs. 9 NCAA Tournament game, as the No. 8 seed Sooners downed No. 9 seed Missouri 72-68 in 2021 in Indianapolis.

SETTING THE SCENE

• Oklahoma is one of 14 SEC teams that made the NCAA Tournament, a record for any conference. All 14 of those teams were ranked in the AP poll at some point this season. The previous record for most NCAA Tournament teams from one conference was 11 by the Big East in 2011. • After starting 4-12 in SEC play, OU has won four of its last seven games, with the three losses coming by a total of five points. The Sooners had the lead in the final 20 seconds of all three defeats. • Oklahoma has played 21 of its 33 games this season against a total of 16 teams who made the NCAA Tournament field and has beaten nine of those 16 squads. The Sooners are 2-2 against fellow West Region teams, winning at Arkansas (No. 10 seed), splitting two games against Missouri (No. 6 seed) and losing at Florida (No. 1 seed). 

• OU is the only team nationally that has had six players each score at least 25 points in a game this season. In fact, no other Power Four team has had more than four players score at least 25 in a game. The six Sooners to score 25-plus are Jeremiah Fears (six times), Brycen Goodine (34 vs. Texas A&M), Jalon Moore (29 vs. Texas), Duke Miles (29 vs. Central Arkansas), Kobe Elvis (26 vs. Providence) and Dayton Forsythe (25 at Ole Miss).

 • On the season, OU is the only team with two players who rank in the top 16 in the SEC in scoring, and both rank in the top 12. Fears ranks seventh (17.0 ppg) while Moore ranks 12th (16.0 ppg). • Over the last eight games, Fears, who turned 18 in October, is averaging 22.6 points, 4.9 rebounds and 5.1 assists per contest. Going back to the 1996-97 season (start of the stats play-by-play era), he is the only SEC player to average more than 22.0 points, 4.5 rebounds and 5.0 assists over an eight-game stretch. Fears, who reclassified to the 2024 recruiting class last summer, is the younger brother of Michigan State starting point guard Jeremy Fears Jr. The Sooners’ and Spartans’ will overlap Friday night.  • Moore, who tested NBA Draft waters last offseason before opting to return to OU, will make his NCAA Tournament debut on Friday. Moore ranks 12th in the 16-team SEC with his 16.0 points per game, sixth with his .477 field goal percentage and 12th with his .835 free throw percentage. He also leads OU with his 5.8 rebounds per contest. Moore has scored at least 20 points a team-leading 12 times. 

• With usual starter Sam Godwin sidelined the last three games due to injury, forward/center Mohamed Wague, who is fasting during daylight hours in observance of Ramadan, made his first starts of the season the last three contests. He turned in his best collegiate performance against Georgia in the SEC Tournament opening round, tying a career high with 12 points, setting a career high with four assists and pulling down a season-high nine rebounds (one shy of his career high). In two SEC Tournament games, he averaged 10.5 points, 7.5 rebounds and 2.0 assists. He entered the SEC Tourney averaging 3.3 points, 2.5 rebounds and 0.6 assist per game.

 • Friday’s contest will feature two of the nation’s best free throw shooting teams. Oklahoma leads the SEC and ranks seventh in the country with its .794 season free throw percentage, which is on pace to smash the single-season school record of .767 set by the 2001-02 Final Four team. UConn ranks 10th nationally with its .791 season mark. 

• An Oklahoma victory Friday would give it 21 wins on the season, the program’s most since the 2015-16 Final Four team went 29-8. That squad featured consensus national player of the year Buddy Hield.

OU-UCONN SERIES HISTORY

• Friday’s game will mark OU’s fifth all-time against UConn, with the Sooners holding a 3-1 series lead. The teams met four straight years, with the Sooners winning in 2001-02 (69-67 in Hartford), 2002-03 (73-63 in Norman) and 2004-05 (77-65 in Norman). The Huskies’ win came in 2003-04 (86-59 in Storrs). • OU’s 2001-02 team (No. 2 seed) advanced to the NCAA Final Four, the 2002-03 squad (No. 1 seed) advanced to the Elite Eight and the 2004-05 team (No. 3 seed) advanced to the second round. The 2003-04 Sooners went 1-1 in the postseason NIT. 

• All four games featured a Kelvin Sampson (OU) vs. Jim Calhoun (UConn) coaching matchup.

CHEERS FOR FEARS

• Freshman guard Jeremiah Fears ranks first on the OU squad, seventh overall in the SEC and seventh nationally among freshmen with his 17.0 points per game. He has scored at least 10 points in 29 of 33 contests, at least 20 points 11 times and at least 25 points six times (four of the last seven outings). • Fears is one of just three Power Four conference players to average at least 17.0 points, 4.0 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 1.5 steals per game. The others are Duke’s Cooper Flagg and West Virginia’s Javon Small. • Fears ranks second in OU freshman history in free throw makes (175), second in steals (54), third in free throw attempts (207), fifth in points per game (17.0), fifth in assists (136), sixth in field goals (175) and seventh in games started (30). • Fears’ 175 free throw makes and 207 attempts rank second in the SEC. He ranks 10th in the league by shooting .845 from the stripe. • Fears is averaging 25.3 points over the last four games. He scored a career-high 31 vs. Missouri, 13 at rival Texas, 29 vs. Georgia in the SEC Tourney first round and 28 vs. Kentucky in the SEC Tourney second round. 

• Fears averaged 28.5 points, 5.0 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 3.0 steals in SEC Tournament games last week vs. Georgia and No. 15 Kentucky.

NEUTRAL PARTY

• Oklahoma is 6-1 in neutral-site games this season, with its only loss coming at the buzzer to Kentucky (85-84) in the second round of the SEC Tournament. OU beat Providence (79-77), No. 24 Arizona (82-77) and Louisville (69-64) on consecutive days in November to win the Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas, trounced Oklahoma State (80-65) in Oklahoma City on Dec. 14, downed No. 24 Michigan (87-86) in the Jumpman Invitational in Charlotte, N.C., on Dec. 18 and handled Georgia last Wednesday in the SEC Tournament first round (81-75). 

• In OU’s seven neutral-site games, freshman point guard Jeremiah Fears has averaged 22.9 points, 3.7 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 2.3 steals while shooting .490 from the field, .417 from 3-point range (15 for 36) and .836 from the foul line (51 for 61). He has scored at least 20 points in five of the seven outings.

THE 3 IS KEY

• Oklahoma ranks 23rd out of 355 Division I teams in 3-point field goal percentage defense, allowing opponents to shoot just .305 from behind the arc. The OU single-season record for 3-point field goal percentage defense is .292 in 2004-05. The Sooners have held opponents to 33%-or-lower 3-point shooting in 23 of 33 contests this season.  • Offensively, OU ranks second in the SEC this season and 40th nationally in 3-point field goal percentage (.370). 

• UConn ranks 91st nationally in 3-point field goal percentage (.354) and 282nd in 3-point defense (.351).