Game #6: Oral Roberts (4-0) at Texas (4-1)
Saturday, Nov. 25, 2006, 2 p.m. CT
Frank Erwin Center, Austin, Texas
TV: None
Radio: KVET 1300 AM The Zone
National Rankings: Texas: #25, Associated Press Top 25 Poll, 'also receiving vote' in USA Today/
ESPN Preseason Poll: Texas #28; Oral Roberts (unranked)
Texas Head Coach Jody Conradt (Baylor '63): 38th year overall: 1,180 games: 886-294 (.752); 31st year at Texas: 1,001 games: 769-232 (.768)
Oral Roberts Head Jerry Finkbeiner (Southern Nazarene '80): 10th year at ORU: 265 games: 143-122 (.540);
All-Time Series Record: 6th meeting; Texas leads, 5-1
Win Streak: +5, Texas
Last Meeting: Texas 64, Oral Roberts 47 (NCAA Championship First Round, March 19, 2005, at Reunion Arena in Dallas)
Conradt vs. Oral Roberts: 5-1
Game Promotions:
Orange Santa Toy Drive: FREE General Admission ticket with the donation of a new toy. Day of game donation/promotion only.
O-Zone (Student Section) Giveaways: $25 Maudie's Tex-Mex gift card; Dixie Chicks tickets
Tickets: Tickets (season, single game, group and mini-packs) for all Texas basketball games are available for purchase in the following ways: via the internet at TexasBoxOffice.com; via phone at (800) 982-BEVO or (512) 471-3333; at the Erwin Center Box Office during business hours and one hour prior to game-day tip-offs; and the UT Athletics Ticket Office in Bellmont Hall ( Monday - Friday, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. CT ).
Today's Teams
Texas is ranked No. 25 in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll for the third consecutive week ... UT stands 4-1 entering today's game against Oral Roberts ... The Golden Eagles from the Mid-Continent (Mid-Con) Conference are off to a 4-0 start after defeating North Dakota State (82-67), Central Arkansas (93-59), Tulsa (74-61) and Southern (88-46) to begin the season ... Southern (0-4) is Texas' next opponent on Thursday (Nov. 30. 7 p.m.) in Austin.
Texas is coming off Monday's 84-56 win over Sam Houston State in a game which saw sophomore guard Erika Arriaran pour in a career-high 20 points and senior forward Tiffany Jackson add her fourth consecutive double-double with 14 points and a season-high 14 rebounds ... The 4-1 start is UT's best since the 2003-04 campaign when the Longhorns started 7-0.
Texas-Oral Roberts Series
In series play between the Texas and Oral Roberts, UT leads, 5-1 ... The last time these two squads met was in the 2005 NCAA Championship first round (at Reunion Arena in Dallas on March 19, 2005) when the Longhorns posted a 64-47 victory ... Texas then lost to Georgia in second-round play (70-68) two days later ... Texas and ORU have met twice in Austin, three times at a neutral site and once at Oral Roberts... UT is 2-0 at home, 2-1 at a neutral site and 1-0 in Tulsa against the Golden Eagles... Prior to meeting in the 2005 NCAAs, the last time these two squads played in the regular season during the 1995-1996 campaign when Texas stopped ORU at home, 75-56 on Feb. 28, 1996.
Texas Stat Leaders
Senior Tiffany Jackson is averaging a double-double with team-bests of 21.0 points and 11.2 rebounds per contest ... The 6-3 All-America candidate also leads the squad in steals (17, 3.4 spg) and is second in assists with 15 (3.8 apg) ... Sophomore guard Erika Arriaran contributes 11.4 ppg and is an impressive 18-for-20 from the foul line, hitting at a 90 percent clip ... Arriaran is third in assists with 11 (2.2 apg) ... Freshman guard Niqky Hughes (9.0 ppg, 3.0 rpg), redshirt freshman forward Earnesia Williams (8.0 ppg, 3.3 rpg) and junior guard Erneisha Bailey (7.6 ppg, 7.8 rpg) follow in the statistical columns.
Jackson's Double-Double Watch
Jackson has posted four consecutive double-doubles (points and rebounds) entering Saturday's game with Oral Roberts ... Last year, she had eight double-doubles in an injury-plagued season, with six of them coming in the final 12 games... This translates into Jackson registering a double-double in 10 of her last 17 games in her Longhorn uniform.
In her Longhorn career to date, the 6-3 National Player of the Year candidate has played in 96 games (76 starts) and has collected 29 double-doubles... Jackson has been in double-figure scoring in 84 of those 96 games.
A Look at Oral Roberts
Oral Roberts was picked as the preseason favorite to win the Mid-Continent (Mid-Con) championship, while 6-2 senior forward Elisha Turek was tabbed Mid-Con Preseason Player of the Year after earning First Team All-Conference accolades in each of her first three seasons.... Last year, ORU was 16-12 overall and 10-6 (third) in Mid-Con Conference action, an eight-team league comprised of ORU, IUPUI, Oakland, Valparaiso, Western Illinois, Missouri-Kansas City, Centenary and Southern Utah.
Top performers through ORU's four games included 6-3 sophomore forward Jenny Hardin (19.8 ppg, 6.0 rpg), Turek (16.8 ppg, team-high 10.3 rpg), 6-0 sophomore guard Mariana Camargo (12.8 ppg), 5-11 senior guard Katie Langford (8.8 ppg) and 6-1 senior guard/forward Sarah Davidson (7.0 ppg)... Hardin had a game-high 24 points with three steals and Turek added 19 points and seven rebounds in Wednesday's 88-46 win over Southern.
Teams Side-by-Side
Both Texas and Oral Roberts are holding the opposition to under 60 points per game ... The Longhorns' opponents have scored an average of 57.6 points per game as UT has out-scored its opposition by a +15.4 margin (73.0 ppg to 57.6 ppg) ... Oral Roberts enjoys a +26.0 points-per-game advantage over its first four opponents (84.2 ppg to 58.2 ppg).
Oral Roberts depends on its long-range shooting, as the Golden Eagles are 25-for-73 from 3-point range so far, hitting at a 34.2 percent clip from the arc and making 6.3 treys per game ... In contrast, the Longhorns are just 9-for-33 from long range (.273), making just 1.8 treys per game... The Longhorns are stronger from the foul line, hitting 74.6 percent of their free throws (100-134), while Oral Roberts is shooting just 51.1 percent from the charity stripe (48-94)... Ironically, the Golden Eagles are shooting better from the field (at 51.8 percent) than they are from the foul line.
Back on Track at Home
Texas is 4-0 at the Frank Erwin Center to begin the year ... The Longhorns have enjoyed great traditional success at home, but struggled a year ago, finishing 8-7 at the Erwin Center ... That 8-7 mark followed three great years where UT was 15-0 (2002-03 Final Four season), 16-0 (2003-04) and 13-1 (2004-05)... In all-time games at the Erwin Center, Texas is 373-60 after 433 contests - an 86.1 winning percentage.
Record Watch
Texas sophomore guard Erika Arriaran is tied for No. 11 in all-time Texas 3-pointers made ... With five 3-pointers this year, she now has 51 in her career and moved past Nina Norman (49 treys, 2002-06) with two 3-pointers in the Sam Houston State win ... She is FOUR treys shy of the No. 10 spot, held by Kala Bowers (56, 2001-05).
Senior Tiffany Jackson leads the team in free throws made (28) and taken (42), hitting at a 66.7 percent clip from the foul line ... Jackson is in the No. 5 spot in UT career free throws made with 370 .. Jackson is THREE free throws made shy of the No. 4 spot, held by Edwina Brown (373, 1996-2000) ... Jackson also stands No. 12 in all-time rebounds with 794 ... She stands 62 rebounds away from the No. 11 position, held by Heather Schreiber who grabbed 856 in her four years (2001-05).
Next Up for Texas: vs. Southern on Thursday
Texas plays the third of four straight home games on Thursday, Nov. 30 when Southern University comes to Austin for a 7 p.m. game ... The Jaguars are 0-4 and will come to Austin after a week's layoff and following their 88-46 loss at Oral Roberts.
