The 1987–88 Oklahoma Sooners men's basketball team represented the

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma, United States. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two territories became the ...

in competitive

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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

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's (NCAA) former

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at that time. The team posted a 35–4 overall record and a 12–2 conference record to earn the Conference title under

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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

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first round selections: Harvey Grant, Stacey King and

Mookie Blaylock Daron Oshay "Mookie" Blaylock (born March 20, 1967) is an American former professional basketball player. He spent 13 years in the National Basketball Association (NBA) with the New Jersey Nets, Atlanta Hawks, and the Golden State Warriors. C ...

. Grant and King earned

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recognition that season. The team won its first 14 games before losing back to back contests to unranked and Kansas State. The team then won 12 consecutive games before falling to unranked

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

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 Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

. 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 Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

in the final four).

established the current

Division I

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).

Roster

Schedule

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Rankings

NCAA basketball tournament

The following is a summary of the team's performance in the

NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament The NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, branded as March Madness, or The Big Dance, is a single-elimination tournament played in the United States to determine the men's college basketball national champion of the NCAA Division I, Di ...

: *Southeast ** Oklahoma (1) 94, (16) 66 ** Oklahoma 107, Auburn (8) 87 **Oklahoma 108,

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(5) 98 (Sweet 16) **Oklahoma 78, Villanova (6) 59 (Regional Final) *Final Four **Oklahoma 86,

78 ** Kansas 83, Oklahoma 79

Honors

: 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: The following players were

varsity letter A varsity letter (or monogram) is an award earned in the United States for excellence in school activities. A varsity letter signifies that its recipient was a qualified varsity team member, awarded after a certain standard was met. A person who ...

-winners from this team who were drafted in the

in later years: * 1989 NBA draft: Stacey King (1st, 6th,

Chicago Bulls The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division of the Eastern Conference. The team was founded on January 16 ...

(1st, 12th,

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)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1987-88 Oklahoma Sooners Men's Basketball Team Oklahoma Sooners men's basketball seasons NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament Final Four seasons

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...