Stanford @ Oklahoma preview

One team’s undefeated season will end on Monday as Oklahoma begins a five-game road trip against Stanford in the opening round of the 2019 National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame Classic in Kansas City, Missouri. With six straight wins to open the season, the Cardinal are off to their best start since 2008 while the Sooners are 5-0 for the second time in head coach Lon Kruger’s nine-year tenure.

Oklahoma forward Kristian Doolittle had a perfect shooting night Thursday against Maryland-Eastern Shore as the team’s only senior had a team-high 18 points on 7-for-7 shooting from the floor and 3-for-3 from the free throw line to anchor a 91-64 Sooners victory. “The first one felt good, and I just wanted to keep bringing it,” Doolittle told reporters after adding six boards, three assists and three steals to his stat line Thursday. “I wanted to play with more energy today and get my teammates involved.” Stanford guard Tyrell Terry became the first Cardinal freshman since 2011 to record a double-double as he tallied 21 points and 10 rebounds to lead his team to an 81-50 victory Thursday against William & Mary. “I told (Terry) during the recruiting process that every team I’ve seen him play on take his personality,” Cardinal coach Jerod Haase told reporters. “He’s doing a great job of passing the ball.”

TV: 9:30 p.m. ET, ESPN2

ABOUT STANFORD (6-0): Terry finished 8-for-11 from the floor Thursday – including a 5-for-7 effort from 3-point range – and is the first Cardinal to score double figures in each of his first six career games since 1996. Junior forward Oscar da Silva leads the team in scoring (15.8) and rebounding (5.0) and after a 14-point showing Thursday has reached double figures in all six games this season. Freshman Spencer Jones scored the first 2-point basket of his career Thursday after his first 17 collegiate field goals had all been behind the arc - giving the 6-7 forward the second-most 3s made in the Pac-12.

ABOUT OKLAHOMA (5-0): Doolittle is the only player in the Big 12 averaging a double-double this season as he’s scoring 16.5 points and pulling down a team-high 10 rebounds per game. In his first season with Oklahoma after averaging 6.1 points per game with Wichita State, junior guard Austin Reaves recorded 14 points against UMES and leads the team with 16.6 points per game – fifth-highest in the conference. The Sooners were 23-of-27 from the free throw line Thursday and lead the Big 12 with an 81.1 percent success rate after capitalizing on 69.7 percent of their chances from the charity stripe a season ago.

TIP-INS

1. Oklahoma has a six-game win streak against the Pac-12 but this will be the first meeting against Stanford since an 80-67 loss in the first round of the 1997 NCAA Tournament.

2. Terry is the second player in the past 20 years to have at least 10 points, two assists and two steals in each of his first six collegiate games, joining Oklahoma’s Trae Young in 2017-18.

3. Doolittle’s performance against UMES marks the third time since Oklahoma joined the Big 12 in 1996 that a Sooner has shot 100 percent from the floor on at least seven attempts, joining Buddy Hield (10-for-10 in 2015 against Oklahoma State) and Longar Longar (7-for-7 in 2006 against Coppin State).

PREDICTION: Oklahoma 80, Stanford 76