OU Men’s Basketball Joins College Basketball Crown Tournament
Oklahoma has accepted an invite to the eight-team College Basketball Crown in Las Vegas. The event runs April 1-5 in its second year.
Tournament schedule and locations
First-round games will be played at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. FS1 will televise those opening matchups.
Semifinals and the championship move to T-Mobile Arena. FOX will broadcast those games and all contests will stream on the Fox Sports app.
Oklahoma’s draw and potential path
The Sooners (19-15, 7-11 SEC) face Colorado (17-15, 7-11 Big 12) on Wednesday, April 1, at 7 p.m. CT. A win sends Oklahoma to face the Baylor-Minnesota victor.
Oklahoma’s scheduled semifinal time is Saturday, April 4, at 12:30 p.m. CT. The title game is set for Sunday, April 5, at 4:30 p.m. CT.
Bracket overview
The opposite quarter of the bracket includes Stanford vs. West Virginia and Creighton vs. Rutgers. Those opening-round games take place April 2.
Tickets are available through VividSeats. The Crown fields high-major programs.
Sooners’ season form and SEC Tournament recap
Oklahoma closed the regular season strongly. The Sooners won six of their final eight games.
In the SEC Tournament in Nashville, the No. 11 seed beat No. 14 South Carolina 86-74. They then defeated No. 6 Texas A&M 83-63 before losing to No. 3 Arkansas 82-79.
Roster notes and player statistics
Four players average double figures and are in their first season with the program. Guard Nijel Pack leads with 16.5 points per game.
Guard Xzayvier Brown averages 15.3 points. Forwards Tae Davis and Derrion Reid average 12.5 and 11.8 points respectively.
Those four, plus center Mohamed Wague, started all 34 games. Oklahoma is one of four programs nationally, and the only Power Five team, to use the same starting five in every contest.
Nijel Pack’s marks
Pack leads the SEC with a .452 three-point percentage and 3.3 made threes per game. He ranks among national leaders in those categories.
He has 426 career three-pointers, placing him 19th all-time. Pack sits among the top active Division I scorers with 2,307 career points.
Historical context with Colorado
Oklahoma holds an 88-49 advantage in the all-time series with Colorado. The programs first met in 1938-39.
The teams last played in 2010-11, Colorado’s final Big 12 season before its conference move. The squads also met in the 1991 NIT semifinals, won by the Sooners 88-78.
Additional background
Porter Moser said the team was disappointed to miss the NCAA Tournament. He added the group chose to keep competing together in another postseason event.
Last year’s inaugural Crown featured 16 teams and was won by Nebraska. Colorado participated last year and fell to Villanova, 85-64.
Filmogaz.com will continue covering Oklahoma as the Sooners head to Las Vegas for the Crown tournament. Fans can watch games on FS1, FOX, or the Fox Sports app.
