Oklahoma @ North Texas preview

Last Meeting ( Nov 27, 2018 ) North Texas 57, Oklahoma 73

The opening minutes of Oklahoma's first of five consecutive games away from home couldn't have gone worse, but the first few minutes of the second contest couldn't have gone better. The Sooners look to carry that momentum forward and start 7-1 for the third straight season when they play North Texas on Thursday.

Oklahoma didn't score for the first six minutes of its Hall of Fame Classic 73-54 semifinal loss to Stanford on Nov. 25, but bounced back the next night to hit its first eight shots, including five 3-pointers, and score 23 points in the first six minutes in a 77-66 win over Missouri in the consolation game. "We got off to a horrible start last night so this jumpstarted us tonight," Sooners coach Lon Kruger told reporters after the win. "To bounce back from last night to battle a good Missouri team today and I thought our guys played well." Brady Manek was the catalyst, draining his first four shots from the arc during the surge, as the Sooners became the only Big 12 team to claim three wins over teams from a major conference in November. The Mean Green, who are limiting their opponents to 59.4 points per game (25th in the nation entering Wednesday), play at the second slowest pace in the nation (62 possessions/40 minutes), which helps them keep the scores down.

TV: 8 p.m. ET, No TV

ABOUT OKLAHOMA (6-1): Junior Austin Reaves scored 19 points and grabbed 10 rebounds against the Tigers for his first career double-double. A transfer from Wichita State, the 6-5 Reaves sat out the 2018-19 season but is averaging team highs of 17.0 points (fifth in the Big 12, second among the conference's newcomers) and 2.6 assists to go along with 5.4 rebounds (second on team). Senior forward Kristian Doolittle (14 points, team-high 8.7 rebounds, 2.3 assists), added 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting with two steals against Missouri and junior college transfer Alondes Williams chipped in 12 points for the second straight game off the bench.

ABOUT NORTH TEXAS (3-5): The Mean Green are coming off a 77-66 win over Texas-Arlington on Monday as Umoja Gibson and Javion Hamlet scored 18 points apiece and Zachary Simmons chipped in 12 points and 10 rebounds (seven offensive). Gibson (team-highs 14.3 points, 20 3-pointers) is averaging 19.3 points and shooting 45.2 percent (14-of-31) from deep in his last four games. Deng Geu, a 6-8 senior (9.5 points, 7.0 rebounds), gives the Mean Green some interior presence, as he shoots 64 percent inside the arc and ranks 49th in the country in defensive rebound percentage at 26.7 percent.

TIP-INS

1. Oklahoma is 6-1 all-time against North Texas with wins in each of the last two years.

2. Reaves led the American Athletic Conference in 3-point percentage during conference play in 2017-18 by shooting at a 45.1 percent clip (37-for-82).

3. North Texas has eight new players this season, and four of the six players who are averaging 20 minutes are in their first year.

PREDICTION: Oklahoma 67, North Texas 60