Central Florida @ Oklahoma preview

Oklahoma will play at home for the first time in exactly a month when it hosts Central Florida on Saturday, but Kristian Doolittle has spent the bulk of the time on the road establishing himself as a force to be reckoned with. The lone senior on the Sooners' roster is the only player in the Big 12 averaging at least 15 points and eight rebounds but has really picked up his game in December, averaging 23.7 points and 9.7 boards in three contests this month.

Although Oklahoma fell to 1-2 in December following Tuesday's 83-73 loss at Creighton - which concluded a five-game stretch away from the Lloyd Noble Center - it was hardly the fault of Doolittle, who finished with 21 points and 15 rebounds. That outing followed a 28-point effort at North Texas on Dec. 5 and 22-point performance last Saturday at Wichita State, allowing Doolittle to become the first Sooner since Trae Young to score at least 20 points in three straight games. The Knights have won six in a row to match the 11-game start of last year's NCAA Tournament team but will wrap up their non-conference schedule by playing only their second true road game of the season. UCF concluded a perfect four-game homestand by overcoming its largest halftime deficit of the season (13 points) in a 70-65 victory over Bethune-Cookman on Wednesday.

TV: 2 p.m. ET, Fox Sports Oklahoma

ABOUT CENTAL FLORIDA (9-2): Junior guard Ceasar DeJesus (11.0 points) ranks fifth in the American Athletic Conference in field-goal percentage (57.0) and has either matched or exceeded his season scoring average in all but one game during the winning streak - a stretch during which he is shooting 61.8 percent from the field. Junior forward Collin Smith (team-high 14.3 points, 6.1 rebounds) fouled out in only 18 minutes Wednesday but is also among the most efficient shooters in the AAC, hitting 52.4 percent of his field-goal attempts. Alabama graduate transfer Dazon Ingram (10.0 points, team-high 6.8 boards, team-high 4.0 assists) ranks 12th in the conference in rebounding and fifth in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.2).

ABOUT OKLAHOMA (7-3): Austin Reaves (team-high 17.7 points) led all scorers with 23 points despite going 4-of-16 from the floor Tuesday, and he ranks second in the Big 12 in scoring; the Wichita State transfer is among the best in the conference in free-throw makes (53; second), free-throw attempts (64; second) and free-throw percentage (82.8; ninth). Fellow junior Brady Manek (14.3 points, 5.9 rebounds) is 16 points away from 900 for his career after tying his season high of 17 for the third time against Creighton. Doolittle, who ranks fourth in the Big 12 in scoring (17.2 points) and rebounds (9.0), rounds out one of the three trios from a major conference who have at least three players averaging 14 points per game.

TIP-INS

1. Oklahoma is the only Big 12 program with two of the conference's top five scorers and three players ranked among the top 15 scoring leaders.

2. The Knights are holding opponents to 39.5 percent shooting from the field and 26 percent shooting beyond the arc during their winning streak.

3. Doolittle is 10-of-15 from 3-point range in 2019-20 after going 0-for-4 in 34 games last season.

PREDICTION: Oklahoma 74, Central Florida 68