# 2015–16 Oklahoma Sooners men's basketball team

The 2015–16 Oklahoma Sooners basketball team represented the University of Oklahoma in the 2015–16 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Sooners were led by Lon Kruger in his fifth season. They played their home games at the Lloyd Noble Center in Norman, Oklahoma as a member of the Big 12 Conference. They finished the season 29–8, 12–6 in Big 12 play to finish in third place. They defeated Iowa State in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 tournament to advance to the semifinals where they lost to West Virginia. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament where they defeated Cal State Bakersfield, VCU, Texas A&M, and Oregon to be champions of the West Regional and earn a trip to the Final Four for the fifth time in school history. At the Final Four, they lost in the national semifinal to the eventual champion Villanova by 44 points, the largest margin in Final Four history.

## Previous season

The Sooners finished the season 24–11, 12–6 in Big 12 play to finish in a tie for second place. They advanced to the semifinals of the Big 12 tournament where they lost to Iowa State. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament where they defeated Albany in the second round and Dayton in the third round to advance to the Sweet Sixteen where they lost to Michigan State.

## Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Frank Booker | 1 | G | 6'4" | 193 | Sophomore | Augusta, GA | Transferred to Florida Atlantic |
| James Fraschilla | 13 | G | 5'10" | 154 | Senior | Dallas, TX | Graduated |
| D. J. Bennett | 31 | F | 6'8" | 202 | RS Senior | Chicago, IL | Graduated |
| TaShawn Thomas | 35 | F | 6'8" | 242 | Senior | Killeen, TX | Graduated |
| Trey Slate | 45 | G | 6'1" | 205 | Sophomore | Gore, OK | Walk-on; transferred |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| Akolda Manyang | 30 | C | 7'0" | 235 | Junior | Rochester, MN | Junior college transfer from Indian Hills Community College |

## Recruits

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Rashard Odomes SF | Copperas Cove, TX | Copperas Cove High School | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) | 205 lb (93 kg) | Sep 24, 2014 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ||||||
| Christian James SF | Houston, TX | Bellaire High School | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 205 lb (93 kg) | Oct 23, 2014 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "Oklahoma 2015 Basketball Commitments". Rivals.com. Retrieved July 9, 2014. "2015 Oklahoma Basketball Commits". Scout.com. Retrieved July 9, 2014. "ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved July 9, 2014. "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout.com. Retrieved July 9, 2014. "2015 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved July 9, 2014. ||||||

### Recruit class of 2016

US college sports recruiting information for 2016 recruits :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Kristian Doolittle SF | Edmond, OK | Edmond Memorial High School | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) | 200 lb (91 kg) | Dec 2, 2014 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: |||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: |||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "Oklahoma 2016 Basketball Commitments". Rivals.com. Retrieved July 9, 2014. "2016 Oklahoma Basketball Commits". Scout.com. Retrieved July 9, 2014. "ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved July 9, 2014. "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout.com. Retrieved July 9, 2014. "2016 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved July 9, 2014. |||||||

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| 11/06/2015* 7:00 pm, SSTV | No. 8 | Washburn | W 112–62 | | Lloyd Noble Center (7,892) Norman, OK |
| 11/12/2015* 7:00 pm, FSOK | No. 8 | Mid-America Christian | W 98–76 | | Lloyd Noble Center (7,123) Norman, OK |
| Regular season ||||||
| 11/17/2015* 4:00 pm, ESPN | No. 8 | at Memphis College Hoops Tip-Off Marathon | W 84–78 | 1–0 | FedEx Forum (12,688) Memphis, TN |
| 11/20/2015* 7:00 pm, SSTV | No. 8 | McNeese State | W 85–56 | 2–0 | Lloyd Noble Center (8,364) Norman, OK |
| 11/24/2015* 7:00 pm, FSSW+ | No. 7 | Incarnate Word | W 96–63 | 3–0 | Lloyd Noble Center (7,332) Norman, OK |
| 11/29/2015* 1:30 pm, ESPN2 | No. 7 | Wisconsin | W 65–48 | 4–0 | Lloyd Noble Center (6,543) Norman, OK |
| 12/03/2015* 7:00 pm, SSTV | No. 6 | Central Arkansas | W 111–68 | 5–0 | Lloyd Noble Center (7,109) Norman, OK |
| 12/07/2015* 6:00 pm, FS1 | No. 7 | vs. No. 9 Villanova Pearl Harbor Classic | W 78–55 | 6–0 | Bloch Arena (4,024) Honolulu, HI |
| 12/12/2015* 1:00 pm, SSTV | No. 7 | Oral Roberts | W 96–73 | 7–0 | Lloyd Noble Center (9,421) Norman, OK |
| 12/19/2015* 1:00 pm, ESPNU | No. 3 | Creighton | W 87–74 | 8–0 | Lloyd Noble Center (9,528) Norman, OK |
| 12/22/2015* 10:00 pm, ESPNU | No. 3 | vs. Washington State Diamond Head Classic quarterfinals | W 88–60 | 9–0 | Stan Sheriff Center Honolulu, HI |
| 12/23/2015* 8:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 3 | vs. Hawaiʻi Diamond Head Classic semifinals | W 84–81 | 10–0 | Stan Sheriff Center Honolulu, HI |
| 12/25/2015* 7:30 pm, ESPN2 | No. 3 | vs. Harvard Diamond Head Classic championship | W 83–71 | 11–0 | Stan Sheriff Center Honolulu, HI |
| 01/02/2016 6:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 3 | No. 11 Iowa State | W 87–83 | 12–0 (1–0) | Lloyd Noble Center (11,251) Norman, OK |
| 01/04/2016 8:00 pm, ESPN | No. 2 | at No. 1 Kansas | L 106–109 $^{3OT}$ | 12–1 (1–1) | Allen Fieldhouse (16,300) Lawrence, KS |
| 01/09/2016 3:30 pm, ESPNews | No. 2 | Kansas State | W 86–76 | 13–1 (2–1) | Lloyd Noble Center (11,113) Norman, OK |
| 01/13/2016 8:00 pm, ESPNU | No. 2 | at Oklahoma State Bedlam Series | W 74–72 | 14–1 (3–1) | Gallagher-Iba Arena (9,380) Stillwater, OK |
| 01/16/2016 3:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 2 | No. 11 West Virginia | W 70–68 | 15–1 (4–1) | Lloyd Noble Center (10,346) Norman, OK |
| 01/18/2016 8:00 pm, ESPN | No. 1 | at No. 19 Iowa State | L 77–82 | 15–2 (4–2) | Hilton Coliseum (14,384) Ames, IA |
| 01/23/2016 11:00 am, ESPN | No. 1 | at No. 13 Baylor | W 82–72 | 16–2 (5–2) | Ferrell Center (10,206) Waco, TX |
| 01/26/2016 6:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 1 | Texas Tech | W 91–67 | 17–2 (6–2) | Lloyd Noble Center (10,682) Norman, OK |
| 01/30/2016* 4:00 pm, ESPN | No. 1 | at LSU Big 12/SEC Challenge | W 77–75 | 18–2 | Maravich Center (13,822) Baton Rouge, LA |
| 02/02/2016 7:00 pm, ESPNews | No. 1 | TCU | W 95–72 | 19–2 (7–2) | Lloyd Noble Center (7,455) Norman, OK |
| 02/06/2016 5:00 pm, ESPNU | No. 1 | at Kansas State | L 69–80 | 19–3 (7–3) | Bramlage Coliseum (12,528) Manhattan, KS |
| 02/08/2016 8:00 pm, ESPN | No. 3 | No. 24 Texas | W 63–60 | 20–3 (8–3) | Lloyd Noble Center (11,547) Norman, OK |
| 02/13/2016 1:30 pm, ESPN | No. 3 | No. 6 Kansas ESPN College GameDay | L 72–76 | 20–4 (8–4) | Lloyd Noble Center (12,247) Norman, OK |
| 02/17/2016 8:00 pm, ESPNU | No. 3 | at Texas Tech | L 63–65 | 20–5 (8–5) | United Supermarkets Arena (14,471) Lubbock, TX |
| 02/20/2016 3:00 pm, ESPN | No. 3 | at No. 14 West Virginia | W 76–62 | 21–5 (9–5) | WVU Coliseum (15,289) Morgantown, WV |
| 02/24/2016 8:00 pm, ESPNU | No. 3 | Oklahoma State Bedlam Series | W 71–49 | 22–5 (10–5) | Lloyd Noble Center (11,470) Norman, OK |
| 02/27/2016 1:00 pm, CBS | No. 3 | at No. 25 Texas | L 63–76 | 22–6 (10–6) | Frank Erwin Center (16,540) Austin, TX |
| 03/01/2016 7:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 6 | No. 19 Baylor | W 73–71 | 23–6 (11–6) | Lloyd Noble Center (11,563) Norman, OK |
| 03/05/2016 12:00 pm, ESPNews | No. 6 | at TCU | W 75–67 | 24–6 (12–6) | Schollmaier Arena (6,532) Fort Worth, TX |
| Big 12 Tournament ||||||
| 03/10/2016 8:00 pm, ESPNU | (3) No. 6 | vs. (6) No. 21 Iowa State Quarterfinals | W 79–76 | 25–6 | Sprint Center (18,972) Kansas City, MO |
| 03/11/2016 8:00 pm, ESPN2 | (3) No. 6 | vs. (2) No. 9 West Virginia Semifinals | L 67–69 | 25–7 | Sprint Center (18,972) Kansas City, MO |
| NCAA tournament ||||||
| 3/18/2016* 3:00 pm, TNT | (2 W) No. 7 | vs. (15 W) Cal State Bakersfield First Round | W 82–68 | 26–7 | Chesapeake Energy Arena (15,662) Oklahoma City, OK |
| 3/20/2016* 4:15 pm, CBS | (2 W) No. 7 | vs. (10 W) VCU Second Round | W 85–81 | 27–7 | Chesapeake Energy Arena (15,279) Oklahoma City, OK |
| 03/24/2016* 6:37 pm, TBS | (2 W) No. 7 | vs. (3 W) No. 15 Texas A&M Sweet Sixteen | W 77–63 | 28–7 | Honda Center (17,601) Anaheim, CA |
| 03/26/2016* 5:07 pm, CBS | (2 W) No. 7 | vs. (1 W) No. 5 Oregon Elite Eight | W 80–68 | 29–7 | Honda Center (16,232) Anaheim, CA |
| 04/02/2016* 5:09 pm, TBS | (2 W) No. 7 | vs. (2 S) No. 6 Villanova Final Four | L 51–95 | 29–8 | NRG Stadium (75,505) Houston, TX |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. W=West Region. All times are in Central Time. ||||||
x- Sooner Sports Television (SSTV) is aired locally on Fox Sports. However the contract allows games to air on various affiliates. Those affiliates are FSSW, FSSW+, FSOK, FSOK+, and FCS Atlantic, Central, and Pacific.

## Rankings

Ranking movement Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking. ██ Not ranked the previous week. :
| 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 | Wk 17 | Wk 18 | Post | Final |
| AP | 8 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 3–T | 6 | 6 | 7 | *N/A |
| Coaches | 8 | 8–T | 6 | 8 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 4 |
*AP does not release post-NCAA tournament rankings