# 1987–88 Oklahoma Sooners men's basketball team

The 1987–88 Oklahoma Sooners men's basketball team represented the University of Oklahoma in competitive college basketball during the 1987–88 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Oklahoma Sooners men's basketball team played its home games in the Lloyd Noble Center and was a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) former Big Eight Conference at that time. The team posted a 35–4 overall record and a 12–2 conference record to earn the Conference title under head coach Billy Tubbs. This was the third Big Eight Conference Regular Season Championship for Tubbs and his second Big Eight Conference tournament Championship.
The team was led by three future NBA draft first round selections: Harvey Grant, Stacey King and Mookie Blaylock. Grant and King earned All-American recognition that season. The team won its first 14 games before losing back to back contests to unranked LSU and Kansas State. The team then won 12 consecutive games before falling to unranked Missouri in overtime in its penultimate regular season game. The team then ran off 9 more wins taking it to the championship game of the 1988 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament where it lost to Kansas. The team defeated all five ranked opponents it faced during the season. (In order, #6 Pitt, #12 Iowa State twice, a rematch against #14 Kansas State, and #2 Arizona in the final four).
Mookie Blaylock established the current National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I college basketball single-season steals (150) and single-game steals (13) records. Stacey King set the current Oklahoma Sooners men's basketball single-season blocked shots (103) record. Ricky Grace set the single-season assists (280) record. The team holds numerous Sooner records including wins (35), and points per game (102.5).

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Regular Season ||||||
| 11/28/1987* 3:00 pm, Sooner Sports Network | No. 19 | Texas A&M | W 104–80 | 1–0 | Lloyd Noble Center Norman, OK |
| 12/01/1987* 8:00 pm, USA | No. 18 | at Penn State | W 93–59 | 2–0 | Rec Hall University Park, PA |
| 12/05/1987* 3:00 pm, Sooner Sports Network | No. 18 | Loyola (IL) | W 123–73 | 3–0 | Lloyd Noble Center Norman, OK |
| 12/07/1987* 8:00 pm, Sooner Sports Network | No. 18 | Sam Houston State | W 111–69 | 4–0 | Lloyd Noble Center Norman, OK |
| 12/10/1987* 8:00 pm, ESPN | No. 16 | at Florida State | W 89–87 | 5–0 | Tallahassee–Leon County Civic Center Tallahassee, FL |
| 12/12/1987* 3:00 pm, Sooner Sports Network | No. 16 | Centenary (LA) | W 152–84 | 6–0 | Lloyd Noble Center Norman, OK |
| 12/19/1987* 3:00 pm, Sooner Sports Network | No. 14 | Georgia State | W 124–81 | 7–0 | Lloyd Noble Center Norman, OK |
| 12/23/1987* 2:30 pm | No. 12 | vs. Virginia Chaminade Classic quarterfinals | W 109–61 | 8–0 | Neal S. Blaisdell Center Honolulu, HI |
| 12/24/1987* 4:00 pm | No. 12 | vs. Dayton Chaminade Classic semifinals | W 151–99 | 9–0 | Neal S. Blaisdell Center Honolulu, HI |
| 12/25/1987* 6:30 pm | No. 12 | vs. Georgia Chaminade Classic championship | W 93–90 | 10–0 | Neal S. Blaisdell Center Honolulu, HI |
| 12/29/1987* 6:00 pm, Sooner Sports Network | No. 10 | vs. Oral Roberts All–College Classic semifinals | W 144–93 | 11–0 | Myriad Convention Center Oklahoma City, OK |
| 12/30/1987* 8:00 pm, Sooner Sports Network | No. 10 | vs. Illinois State All–College Classic championship | W 107–56 | 12–0 | Myriad Convention Center Oklahoma City, OK |
| 01/04/1988* 8:00 pm, Sooner Sports Network | No. 10 | Austin Peay | W 109–69 | 13–0 | Lloyd Noble Center Norman, OK |
| 01/09/1988 3:00 pm, Raycom | No. 8 | Oklahoma State Bedlam Series | W 108–80 | 14–0 (1–0) | Lloyd Noble Center Norman, OK |
| 01/11/1988* 8:00 pm, USA | No. 8 | vs. LSU | L 77–84 | 14–1 | Lakefront Arena New Orleans, LA |
| 01/16/1988 3:00 pm, Raycom | No. 3 | at Kansas State | L 62–69 | 14–2 (1–1) | Ahearn Field House Manhattan, KS |
| 01/20/1988 9:00 pm, Sooner Sports Network | No. 11 | at Colorado | W 96–76 | 15–2 (2–1) | Coors Events Center Boulder, CO |
| 01/23/1988* 1:00 pm, CBS | No. 11 | No. 6 Pittsburgh | W 86–83 | 16–2 | Lloyd Noble Center Norman, OK |
| 01/27/1988 8:00 pm, Raycom | No. 10 | No. 12 Iowa State | W 109–86 | 17–2 (3–1) | Lloyd Noble Center Norman, OK |
| 01/30/1988 1:00 pm, Raycom | No. 10 | at No. 12 Iowa State | W 96–91 | 18–2 (4–1) | Hilton Coliseum Ames, IA |
| 02/03/1988 8:00 pm, Raycom | No. 7 | at Kansas | W 73–65 | 19–2 (5–1) | Allen Fieldhouse Lawrence, KS |
| 02/06/1988 1:00 pm, Raycom | No. 7 | Missouri | W 120–101 | 20–2 (6–1) | Lloyd Noble Center Norman, OK |
| 02/09/1988 8:00 pm, Sooner Sports Network | No. 4 | at Nebraska | W 92–77 | 21–2 (7–1) | Bob Devaney Sports Center Lincoln, NE |
| 02/13/1988 1:00 pm, Raycom | No. 4 | No. 14 Kansas State | W 112–95 | 22–2 (8–1) | Lloyd Noble Center Norman, OK |
| 02/17/1988 8:00 pm, Raycom | No. 4 | at Oklahoma State Bedlam Series | W 79–75 | 23–2 (9–1) | Gallagher-Iba Arena Stillwater, OK |
| 02/20/1988* 3:00 pm, Sooner Sports Network | No. 4 | New Mexico | W 120–100 | 24–2 | Lloyd Noble Center Norman, OK |
| 02/24/1988 6:00 pm, ESPN | No. 4 | Kansas | W 95–87 | 25–2 (10–1) | Lloyd Noble Center Norman, OK |
| 02/27/1988 1:00 pm, Raycom | No. 4 | Colorado | W 134–84 | 26–2 (11–1) | Lloyd Noble Center Norman, OK |
| 03/03/1988 6:00 pm, ESPN | No. 4 | at Missouri | L 90–93 $^{OT}$ | 26–3 (11–2) | Hearnes Center Columbia, MO |
| 03/05/1988 3:00 pm, Raycom | No. 4 | Nebraska | W 113–93 | 27–3 (12–2) | Lloyd Noble Center Norman, OK |
| Phillips 66 Big 8 Tournament ||||||
| 03/11/1988 2:30 pm, Raycom | (1) No. 4 | vs. (8) Colorado Quarterfinals | W 99–66 | 28–3 | Kemper Arena Kansas City, MO |
| 03/12/1988 1:00 pm, Raycom | (1) No. 4 | vs. (4) Missouri Semifinals | W 102–99 | 29–3 | Kemper Arena Kansas City, MO |
| 03/13/1988 3:00 pm, ABC | (1) No. 4 | vs. (2) Kansas State Finals | W 88–83 | 30–3 | Kemper Arena Kansas City, MO |
| NCAA Tournament ||||||
| 03/17/1988 1:37 pm, ESPN/NCAA Productions | (SE 1) No. 4 | vs. (SE 16) Chattanooga Round of 64 | W 94–66 | 31–3 | The Omni Atlanta, GA |
| 03/19/1988 4:00 pm, CBS | (SE 1) No. 4 | vs. (SE 8) Auburn Round of 32 | W 107–87 | 32–3 | The Omni Atlanta, GA |
| 03/24/1988 9:39 pm, CBS | (SE 1) No. 4 | vs. (SE 5) Louisville Sweet Sixteen | W 108–98 | 33–3 | BJCC Arena Birmingham, AL |
| 03/26/1988 3:05 pm, CBS | (SE 1) No. 4 | vs. (SE 6) Villanova Elite Eight | W 78–59 | 34–3 | BJCC Arena Birmingham, AL |
| 04/02/1988 7:12 pm, CBS | (SE 1) No. 4 | vs. (W 1) No. 2 Arizona Final Four | W 86–78 | 35–3 | Kemper Arena Kansas City, MO |
| 04/04/1988 8:12 pm, CBS | (SE 1) No. 4 | vs. (MW 6) Kansas National Championship | L 79–83 | 35–4 | Kemper Arena Kansas City, MO |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time. (#) during NCAA Tournament is seed within region SE=Southeast. ||||||

## Rankings

Ranking movement Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking. (RV) Received votes but unranked. (NR) Not ranked. :
| Poll | Pre | Wk 2 | Wk 3 | Wk 4 | Wk 5 | Wk 6 | Wk 7 | Wk 8 | Wk 9 | Wk 10 | Wk 11 | Wk 12 | Wk 13 | Wk 14 | Wk 15 | Wk 16 | Final |
| AP | 19 | 18 | 16 | 14 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 3 | 11 | 10 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Coaches | n/a | 17 | 16 | 14 | 13 | 10 | 8 | 3 | 11 | 10 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 |

## NCAA basketball tournament

The following is a summary of the team's performance in the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament:
* Southeast
** Oklahoma (1) 94, Chattanooga (16) 66
** Oklahoma 107, Auburn (8) 87
** Oklahoma 108, Louisville (5) 98 (Sweet 16)
** Oklahoma 78, Villanova (6) 59 (Regional Final)
* Final Four
** Oklahoma 86, Arizona 78
** Kansas 83, Oklahoma 79

## Honors

* All-American: Harvey Grant and Stacey King (1st of 2 times)
* Big Eight tournament MVP: King
* NCAA Tournament Southeast Regional MVP: King

## Team players drafted into the NBA

The following players were drafted in the 1988 NBA draft:
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | NBA club |
| 1 | 12 | Harvey Grant | Guard | Washington Bullets |
| 3 | 67 | Ricky Grace | Guard | Utah Jazz |
The following players were varsity letter-winners from this team who were drafted in the NBA draft in later years:
* 1989 NBA draft: Stacey King (1st, 6th, Chicago Bulls), Mookie Blaylock (1st, 12th, New Jersey Nets)