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.
| 1988–89 Oklahoma Sooners men's basketball | |
|---|---|
Big 8 Conference regular season Champions | |
NCAA men's Division I tournament, #1 Seed, Sweet Sixteen | |
| Conference | Big 8 Conference |
| Ranking | |
| Coaches | No. 5 |
| AP | No. 4 |
| Record | 30–6 (12–2 Big 8) |
| Head coach |
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| Assistant coaches |
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| Home arena | Lloyd Noble Center (Capacity: 11,528) |
| Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Team | W | L | PCT | W | L | PCT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 4 Oklahoma | 12 | – | 2 | .857 | 30 | – | 6 | .833 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 6 Missouri † | 10 | – | 4 | .714 | 29 | – | 8 | .784 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Kansas State | 8 | – | 6 | .571 | 19 | – | 11 | .633 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Oklahoma State | 7 | – | 7 | .500 | 17 | – | 13 | .567 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Iowa State | 7 | – | 7 | .500 | 17 | – | 12 | .586 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Kansas | 6 | – | 8 | .429 | 19 | – | 12 | .613 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nebraska | 4 | – | 10 | .286 | 17 | – | 16 | .515 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Colorado | 2 | – | 12 | .143 | 7 | – | 21 | .250 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| † 1989 Big Eight tournament winner As of March 3, 2012 Rankings from AP poll | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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.