The 1989–90 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

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

during the 1989–90 NCAA Division I season. The Oklahoma Sooners men's basketball team played its home games in the

Lloyd Noble Center The Lloyd Noble Center is a 10,967-seat multi-purpose arena located in Norman, Oklahoma, some south of downtown Oklahoma City. It opened in 1975 and is home to the University of Oklahoma men's and women's basketball and women's gymnastics teams ...

and was a member of the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

's (NCAA) former

Big Eight Conference The Big Eight Conference was a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)-affiliated Division I-A college athletic association that sponsored American football, football. It was formed in January 1907 as the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate ...

at that time. The team posted a 27–5 overall record and an 11–3 conference record to finish tied for second in the Conference for

head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

Billy Tubbs Billy Duane Tubbs (March 5, 1935 – November 1, 2020) was an American men's college basketball Coach (sport), coach. The Tulsa, Oklahoma native was the head coach of his alma mater Lamar University (1976–1980, 2003–2006), the University of O ...

. This was the third Big Eight Conference tournament Championship for Tubbs and his third

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 ...

#1 seed in a row. The team earned the conference tournament championship competing in a conference in which three teams held the #1 national ranking in consecutive weeks in late February and early March. The team was led by All-Big Eight Conference First Team selection

Skeeter Henry Herman "Skeeter" Henry (born December 8, 1967) is an American former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for the Oklahoma Sooners. College career After attending high school at South Grand Prairie High School, in Grand P ...

. The team won its first twelve games, while rising to the #3 ranking, before losing back to back

road A road is a thoroughfare used primarily for movement of traffic. Roads differ from streets, whose primary use is local access. They also differ from stroads, which combine the features of streets and roads. Most modern roads are paved. Th ...

games to unranked

Kansas State Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public inst ...

and #23

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 ...

. The team then won three consecutive home games before losing to #2

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 ...

on the road. It then won four games before losing to #2

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 ...

. The team then won 8 contests in a row including back to back victories over #1 ranked teams (Missouri and Kansas) at the end of February as well as a rubber match victory against Kansas in the Big Eight Conference tournament semifinals. The team earned the school's third consecutive #1 seed in the

1990 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament The 1990 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament involved 64 schools playing in a single-elimination tournament to determine the NCAA Division I men's basketball national champion for the 1989-1990 season. It began on March 15, 1990, and e ...

, but was eliminated in the second round by

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

79–77. Terry Evans became the first Sooner to make all six of his

three point shot A three-point field goal (also 3-pointer, three, or triple) is a Field goal (basketball), field goal in a basketball game made from beyond the three-point line, a designated arc surrounding the basket. A successful attempt is worth three points, ...

s in a game, and Jackie Jones set the school single-game record with 9

blocked shot In basketball, a block or blocked shot occurs when a defensive player legally deflects a field goal attempt from an offensive player to prevent a score. The defender is not allowed to make contact with the offensive player's hand (unless the def ...

s. The team exploded for 173

points A point is a small dot or the sharp tip of something. Point or points may refer to: Mathematics * Point (geometry), an entity that has a location in space or on a plane, but has no extent; more generally, an element of some abstract topologica ...

on November 29, 1989, against and three nights later set another school record by defeating by 95 points (146–51). The team also established the current school record of 86

rebounds 'Rebound' is a term used in sports to describe the ball (or puck or other object of play) becoming available for possession by either opponent after an attempt to put the ball or puck into the goal has been unsuccessful. Rebounds are generally ...

against U.S. International.

Roster

Schedule and results

, - !colspan=9 style=, Regular season , - !colspan=9 style=, Big Eight tournament , - !colspan=9 style=, NCAA tournament

NCAA basketball tournament

The following were the team's results in the

. *West ** Oklahoma (1) 77, Towson State (16) 68 **

(8) 79, Oklahoma 77

Rankings

Awards and honors

*All-Big Eight Conference first team:

Team players drafted into the NBA

No one from the Sooners was selected in the

1990 NBA draft The 1990–91 NBA season, 1990 NBA draft took place on June 27, 1990, in New York City, New York. One of the standouts of this draft is Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, Basketball Hall of Famer Gary Payton. He became a nine-time All-Sta ...

. No

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

NBA draft The NBA draft is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) annual event, dating back to 1947 BAA draft, 1947, in which the teams in the league can Draft (sports), draft players who declare for the draft and that are Eligibility for the NBA dr ...

in later years: However,

Brent Price Hartley Brent Price (born December 9, 1968) is an American former professional basketball player who played for four teams in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is the brother of 4-time NBA All-Star, Mark Price. Early years Price was ...

, who spent the year redshirtting was drafted in the

1992 NBA draft The 1992 NBA draft took place on June 24, 1992, at Memorial Coliseum in Portland, Oregon. The draft is considered to be one of the deepest in NBA history. The top three picks (Shaquille O'Neal, Alonzo Mourning, Christian Laettner) were conside ...

with the 32nd overall selection in the 2nd round by the

Washington Bullets The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference. The team plays i ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1989-90 Oklahoma Sooners Men's Basketball Team Oklahoma Sooners men's basketball 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 ...