# 1984–85 Oklahoma Sooners men's basketball team

The 1984–85 Oklahoma Sooners men's basketball team represented the University of Oklahoma in competitive college basketball during the 1984–85 NCAA Division I 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 31–6 overall record and a 13–1 conference record to finish first in the Conference for head coach Billy Tubbs. This was the first Big Eight Conference tournament championship and second Conference regular season championship for Tubbs. This was Tubbs' first NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament #1 seed.
The team was led by All American and Big Eight Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year Wayman Tisdale. The team lost two of its first four games, both to Illinois. It then won four home games before losing to SMU in the Chaminade Classic in Honolulu, Hawaii. The team then won four more before losing at Tulsa. The team then won twelve in a row before losing at Kansas. The team then won its last three regular season games, its three conference tournament games and its first three 1984 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament games before it was eliminated in the elite eight round by Memphis.
Among his numerous accomplishments, Wayman Tisdale established the current Oklahoma Sooners men's basketball career scoring (2661), career scoring average (25.6), career rebounds (1048), single-season points (932) records. Tisdale became the first Associated Press All-American first team selection as a freshman, sophomore and junior and first three-time Big Eight Conference scoring champion.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site city, state |
| Regular season ||||||
| Nov 18, 1984* | No. 5 | vs. No. 2 Illinois Hall of Fame Tip-Off Classic | L 64–81 | 0–1 | Springfield Civic Center (7,530) Springfield, Massachusetts |
| Nov 24, 1984* | No. 5 | Morehead State | W 94–48 | 1–1 | Lloyd Noble Center (11,400) Norman, Oklahoma |
| Nov 26, 1984* | No. 10 | Arkansas-Little Rock | W 90–63 | 2–1 | Lloyd Noble Center Norman, Oklahoma |
| Dec 1, 1984* | No. 10 | at No. 7 Illinois | L 70–73 | 2–2 | Assembly Hall (16,671) Champaign, Illinois |
| Dec 5, 1984* | No. 17 | St. Mary's (TX) | W 88–55 | 3–2 | Lloyd Noble Center Norman, Oklahoma |
| Dec 8, 1984* | No. 17 | Loyola-Chicago | W 115–82 | 4–2 | Lloyd Noble Center (11,200) Norman, Oklahoma |
| Dec 10, 1984* | No. 15 | Southwestern (TX) | W 126–76 | 5–2 | Lloyd Noble Center Norman, Oklahoma |
| Dec 15, 1984* | No. 15 | Puget Sound | W 101–71 | 6–2 | Lloyd Noble Center (11,455) Norman, Oklahoma |
| Dec 22, 1984* | No. 11 | vs. No. 6 Southern Methodist | L 76–85 | 6–3 | Neal S. Blaisdell Center Honolulu, Hawaii |
| Dec 25, 1984* | No. 17 | vs. No. 20 Louisville | W 90–72 | 7–3 | Neal S. Blaisdell Center Honolulu, Hawaii |
| Dec 29, 1984* | No. 17 | vs. Manhattan All-College Tournament | W 121–74 | 8–3 | The Myriad Oklahoma City, Oklahoma |
| Dec 30, 1984* | No. 17 | vs. No. 19 Louisiana Tech All-College Tournament | W 84–72 | 9–3 | The Myriad (10,287) Oklahoma City, Oklahoma |
| Jan 5, 1985* | No. 13 | Northeast Louisiana | W 101–95 | 10–3 | Lloyd Noble Center Norman, Oklahoma |
| Jan 9, 1985* | No. 8 | at Tulsa | L 89–104 | 10–4 | Tulsa Convention Center Tulsa, Oklahoma |
| Jan 12, 1985* | No. 8 | Northwestern State | W 98–62 | 11–4 | Lloyd Noble Center Norman, Oklahoma |
| Jan 16, 1985 | No. 13 | Missouri | W 92–65 | 12–4 (1–0) | Lloyd Noble Center Norman, Oklahoma |
| Jan 19, 1985 | No. 13 | No. 9 Kansas | W 87–76 | 13–4 (2–0) | Lloyd Noble Center Norman, Oklahoma |
| Jan 23, 1985 | No. 11 | at Iowa State | W 81–74 | 14–4 (3–0) | Hilton Coliseum (14,342) Ames, Iowa |
| Jan 26, 1985 | No. 9 | Kansas State | W 94–75 | 15–4 (4–0) | Lloyd Noble Center (11,495) Norman, Oklahoma |
| Jan 29, 1985 | No. 7 | at Colorado | W 90–71 | 16–4 (5–0) | Coors Events Center Boulder, Colorado |
| Feb 2, 1985 | No. 7 | at Oklahoma State | W 83–81 | 17–4 (6–0) | Gallagher-Iba Arena Stillwater, Oklahoma |
| Feb 6, 1985 | No. 7 | Nebraska | W 83–74 | 18–4 (7–0) | Lloyd Noble Center (11,450) Norman, Oklahoma |
| Feb 9, 1985 | No. 7 | at Kansas State | W 81–75 | 19–4 (8–0) | Ahearn Fieldhouse Manhattan, Kansas |
| Feb 13, 1985 | No. 4 | Iowa State | W 104–76 | 20–4 (9–0) | Lloyd Noble Center Norman, Oklahoma |
| Feb 16, 1985 | No. 4 | at Missouri | W 88–84 | 21–4 (10–0) | Hearnes Center (12,288) Columbia, Missouri |
| Feb 20, 1985 | No. 5 | Colorado | W 110–80 | 22–4 (11–0) | Lloyd Noble Center Norman, Oklahoma |
| Feb 24, 1985 | No. 5 | at No. 15 Kansas | L 76–82 | 22–5 (11–1) | Allen Fieldhouse (15,200) Lawrence, Kansas |
| Feb 27, 1985 | No. 6 | Oklahoma State | W 89–84 | 23–5 (12–1) | Lloyd Noble Center Norman, Oklahoma |
| Mar 2, 1985 | No. 6 | at Nebraska | W 65–62 | 24–5 (13–1) | Bob Devaney Sports Center (14,688) Lincoln, Nebraska |
| Mar 3, 1985* | No. 6 | No. 10 Georgia Tech | W 87–80 | 25–5 | Lloyd Noble Center (11,619) Norman, Oklahoma |
| Big 8 Tournament ||||||
| Mar 5, 1985* | (1) No. 4 | (8) Oklahoma State Quarterfinals | W 116–91 | 26–5 | Lloyd Noble Center Norman, Oklahoma |
| Mar 8, 1985* | (1) No. 4 | vs. (4) Missouri Semifinals | W 104–84 | 27–5 | Kemper Arena (17,200) Kansas City, Missouri |
| Mar 7, 1985* | (1) No. 4 | vs. (3) Iowa State Championship Game | W 73–71 | 28–5 | Kemper Arena (13,200) Kansas City, Missouri |
| NCAA Tournament ||||||
| Mar 14, 1985* | (1 MW) No. 4 | vs. (16 MW) North Carolina A&T First round | W 96–83 | 29–5 | Mabee Center Tulsa, Oklahoma |
| Mar 16, 1985* | (1 MW) No. 4 | vs. (9 MW) Illinois State Second Round | W 75–69 | 30–5 | Mabee Center (10,575) Tulsa, Oklahoma |
| Mar 21, 1985* | (1 MW) No. 4 | vs. (5 MW) No. 8 Louisiana Tech Midwest Regional semifinal – Sweet Sixteen | W 86–84 | 31–5 | Reunion Arena (17,007) Dallas, Texas |
| Mar 23, 1985* | (1 MW) No. 4 | vs. (2 MW) No. 5 Memphis State Midwest Regional Final – Elite Eight | L 61–63 | 31–6 | Reunion Arena Dallas, Texas |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. MW=Midwest. ||||||

### NCAA basketball tournament

The following is a summary of the team's performance in the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament:
* Midwest
** Oklahoma (1) 96, North Carolina A&T (16) 83
** Oklahoma 75, Illinois State (9) 69
** Oklahoma 86, Louisiana Tech (5) 84 (OT) (Sweet 16)
** Memphis State (2) 63, Oklahoma 61 (Regional Final)

## Honors

* All-American: Wayman Tisdale (3rd of 3 times)
* Big Eight POY: Tisdale

## Team players drafted into the NBA

The following players were drafted in the 1985 NBA draft:
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | NBA club |
| 1 | 2 | Wayman Tisdale | Center | Indiana Pacers |
The following players were varsity letter-winners from this team who were drafted in the NBA draft in later years:
* 1987 NBA draft: Tim McCalister (3rd, 47th, Los Angeles Clippers), David Johnson (4th, 89th, Dallas Mavericks), Darryl Kennedy (4th, 91st, Boston Celtics)