# 1988–89 Oklahoma Sooners men's basketball team

The 1988–89 Oklahoma Sooners men's basketball team represented the University of Oklahoma in competitive college basketball during the 1988–89 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 30–6 overall record and a 12–2 conference record to earn the Conference title under head coach Billy Tubbs. This was the fourth Big Eight Conference regular season Championship for Tubbs and his second in a row.
The team was led by two future 1989 NBA draft first round selections Stacey King and Mookie Blaylock who were both selected as 1989 NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans. The team won two of its three games at the 1988 Maui Invitational Tournament where it faced three ranked opponents: #16 Ohio State, #4 UNLV and #3 Michigan who defeated them and eventually won the 1989 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. The team then won 11 games in a row before losing to unranked Pitt. The team then won five in a row including victories over #16 Kansas and then #13 UNLV before losing to unranked Oklahoma State. The Sooners, who were ranked in the top 10 all season and the top 5 for the entire 1989 part of its schedule, then won six more in a row including back to back wins against #3 Missouri and #1 Arizona. #7 Missouri ended the streak and gave Oklahoma its final regular season loss. Oklahoma won its final two regular season games and first two Big Eight tournament games before losing its rubber match against #10 Missouri in the championship game. The team earned a second consecutive #1 seed for the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament where it advanced to the sweet sixteen before losing to Virginia.
Mookie Blaylock established the current Oklahoma Sooners men's basketball single-season minutes played (1359) and career steals (281) records. His career steals per game record (3.8) stood as a National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I college basketball record for 13 seasons. He also tied his own NCAA single-game steals record (13). Stacey King set the current Sooners single-season free throws made (211) record. King also set the Big Eight career blocked shots record (228). Tyrone Jones became the first Sooner to make 6 consecutive three point shots (a record since tied by 4 other Sooners). The team holds the Sooner record with 20 100-point games.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Regular season ||||||
| Nov 25, 1988* | No. 4 | vs. No. 16 Ohio State Maui Invitational | W 97–93 | 1–0 | Lahaina Civic Center Lahaina, Hawaii |
| Nov 26, 1988* | No. 4 | vs. No. 8 UNLV Maui Invitational | W 83–81 | 2–0 | Lahaina Civic Center Lahaina, Hawaii |
| Nov 27, 1988* | No. 4 | vs. No. 3 Michigan Maui Invitational | L 80–91 | 2–1 | Lahaina Civic Center Lahaina, Hawaii |
| Nov 30, 1988* | No. 5 | Southern Methodist | W 104–87 | 3–1 | Lloyd Noble Center Norman, Oklahoma |
| Dec 8, 1988* | No. 6 | at New Mexico | W 100–96 | 4–1 | University Arena ("The Pit") Albuquerque, New Mexico |
| Dec 10, 1988* | No. 6 | Oral Roberts | W 152–122 | 5–1 | Lloyd Noble Center Norman, Oklahoma |
| Dec 17, 1988* | No. 7 | Loyola Marymount | W 136–103 | 6–1 | Lloyd Noble Center Norman, Oklahoma |
| Dec 20, 1988* | No. 7 | Southern Utah | W 132–64 | 7–1 | Lloyd Noble Center Norman, Oklahoma |
| Dec 22, 1988* | No. 7 | Arkansas-Little Rock | W 115–96 | 8–1 | Lloyd Noble Center Norman, Oklahoma |
| Dec 29, 1988* | No. 6 | vs. Texas A&M All-College Tournament | W 128–80 | 9–1 | Myriad Convention Center Oklahoma City, Oklahoma |
| Dec 30, 1988* | No. 6 | vs. Texas All-College Tournament | W 124–95 | 10–1 | Myriad Convention Center Oklahoma City, Oklahoma |
| Jan 3, 1989* | No. 4 | Sam Houston State | W 111–66 | 11–1 | Lloyd Noble Center Norman, Oklahoma |
| Jan 7, 1989* | No. 4 | UNC Charlotte | W 94–86 | 12–1 | Lloyd Noble Center Norman, Oklahoma |
| Jan 9, 1989 | No. 4 | at Nebraska | W 89–81 | 13–1 (1–0) | Bob Devaney Sports Center Lincoln, Nebraska |
| Jan 15, 1989* | No. 3 | at Pittsburgh | L 91–99 | 13–2 | Fitzgerald Field House Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania |
| Jan 18, 1989 | No. 5 | No. 17 Kansas | W 123–95 | 14–2 (2–0) | Lloyd Noble Center Norman, Oklahoma |
| Jan 21, 1989 | No. 5 | at Iowa State | W 109–100 $^{OT}$ | 15–2 (3–0) | Hilton Coliseum Ames, Iowa |
| Jan 25, 1989 | No. 4 | Colorado | W 122–86 | 16–2 (4–0) | Lloyd Noble Center Norman, Oklahoma |
| Jan 30, 1989* | No. 4 | at No. 13 UNLV | W 90–88 | 17–2 | Thomas & Mack Center Las Vegas, Nevada |
| Feb 1, 1989 | No. 1 | at Kansas State | W 90–82 | 18–2 (5–0) | Bramlage Coliseum Manhattan, Kansas |
| Feb 4, 1989 | No. 1 | at Oklahoma State | L 73–77 | 18–3 (5–1) | Gallagher-Iba Arena Stillwater, Oklahoma |
| Feb 6, 1989 | No. 1 | Iowa State | W 126–97 | 19–3 (6–1) | Lloyd Noble Center Norman, Oklahoma |
| Feb 9, 1989 | No. 5 | No. 3 Missouri | W 112–105 | 20–3 (7–1) | Lloyd Noble Center (11,734) Norman, Oklahoma |
| Feb 12, 1989* | No. 5 | No. 1 Arizona | W 82–80 | 21–3 | Lloyd Noble Center Norman, Oklahoma |
| Feb 15, 1989 | No. 1 | at Kansas | W 94–89 $^{OT}$ | 22–3 (8–1) | Allen Fieldhouse Lawrence, Kansas |
| Feb 18, 1989 | No. 1 | at Colorado | W 106–88 | 23–3 (9–1) | CU Events/Conference Center Boulder, Colorado |
| Feb 22, 1989 | No. 1 | Kansas State | W 86–82 | 24–3 (10–1) | Lloyd Noble Center Norman, Oklahoma |
| Feb 25, 1989 | No. 1 | at No. 7 Missouri | L 84–97 | 24–4 (10–2) | Hearnes Center Columbia, Missouri |
| Mar 1, 1989 | No. 4 | Oklahoma State | W 111–108 | 25–4 (11–2) | Lloyd Noble Center Norman, Oklahoma |
| Mar 4, 1989 | No. 4 | Nebraska | W 103–76 | 26–4 (12–2) | Lloyd Noble Center Norman, Oklahoma |
| Big Eight Conference tournament ||||||
| Mar 10, 1989* | (1) No. 2 | vs. (8) Colorado Quarterfinal | W 95–87 $^{2OT}$ | 27–4 | Kemper Arena Kansas City, Missouri |
| Mar 11, 1989* | (1) No. 2 | vs. (5) Iowa State Semifinal | W 76–74 | 28–4 | Kemper Arena Kansas City, Missouri |
| Mar 12, 1989* ABC | (1) No. 2 | vs. (2) No. 10 Missouri Championship | L 86–98 | 28–5 | Kemper Arena Kansas City, Missouri |
| NCAA tournament ||||||
| Mar 16, 1989* | (1 SE) No. 4 | vs. (16 SE) East Tennessee State First round | W 72–71 | 29–5 | Memorial Gymnasium Nashville, Tennessee |
| Mar 18, 1989* | (1 SE) No. 4 | vs. (9 SE) Louisiana Tech Second Round | W 124–81 | 30–5 | Memorial Gymnasium Nashville, Tennessee |
| Mar 23, 1989* | (1 SE) No. 4 | vs. (5 SE) Virginia Southeast Regional semifinal | L 80–86 | 30–6 | Rupp Arena (22,314) Lexington, Kentucky |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. SE=Southeast. All times are in Central. ||||||

### 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) 72, East Tennessee State (16) 71
** Oklahoma 124, Louisiana Tech (9) 81
** Virginia (5) 86, Oklahoma 80 (Sweet 16)

## Honors

* All-American: Mookie Blaylock and Stacey King (2nd selection)
* Big Eight POY: King

## Team players drafted into the NBA

The following players were drafted in the 1989 NBA draft:
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | NBA club |
| 1 | 6 | Stacey King | Center | Chicago Bulls |
| 1 | 12 | Mookie Blaylock | Guard | New Jersey Nets |