1978–79 Oklahoma Sooners men's basketball team

The 1978–79 Oklahoma Sooners men's basketball team represented the University of Oklahoma in competitive college basketball during the 1978–79 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 21–10 overall record and a 10–4 conference record to finish first in the Conference for head coach Dave Bliss. This was the only Big Eight Conference Regular Season Championship for Bliss.[2]

1978–79 Oklahoma Sooners men's basketball
Big 8 Conference Regular Season Champions
Big 8 Conference Tournament Champions
NCAA Division I Tournament, #5 Seed, Sweet Sixteen
ConferenceBig 8 Conference
Ranking
APNo. 16
1978–79 record21–10 (10–4 Big 8)
Head coach
Home arenaLloyd Noble Center (Capacity: 11,528)
1978–79 Big Eight Conference men's basketball standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L PCT  W L PCT
No. 16 Oklahoma †10–4 .714  21–10  .677
Missouri8–6 .571  13–15  .464
Kansas State8–6 .571  16–12  .571
Kansas8–6 .571  18–11  .621
Nebraska7–7 .500  14–13  .519
Iowa State6–8 .429  11–16  .407
Oklahoma State5–9 .357  12–15  .444
Colorado4–10 .286  14–13  .519
† 1979 Big Eight Tournament winner
Rankings from AP Poll[1]

The team was led by Big Eight Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year John McCullough. Despite losing two of three games in the Big Eight Conference Pre-Season Tournament, the team posted a 10–4 record during the conference regular season and won all three of its games during the Big Eight Conference Post-Season Tournament. Because of the conference tournaments, the team played both Kansas and Kansas State four times. It swept the season series with Kansas State and split the season series with Kansas. The team also played Nebraska three times, only winning the home game. The team reached the sweet sixteen round of the 1979 NCAA Division I Basketball Tournament by beating Texas before losing to Indiana State.[3]

NCAA basketball tournament
Main article: 1979 NCAA Division I Basketball Tournament

The following is a summary of the team's performance in the NCAA Tournament:[4]

Honors

Team players drafted into the NBA

The following players were drafted in the 1979 NBA Draft:[6][7]

RoundPickPlayerNBA Club
485John McCulloughKansas City Kings

The following letter winners from this team were drafted in the NBA Draft in subsequent years (all in the 1980 NBA Draft): Terry Stotts (2nd, 38th, Houston Rockets), Al Beal (3rd, 63rd Milwaukee Bucks), and Aaron Curry (5th, 98th, New Jersey Nets).[8][9]

See also

References
  1. sports-reference.com 1978-79 Big Eight Conference Season Summary
  2. "Conference Championships". SoonerStats.com. Archived from the original on June 23, 2010. Retrieved July 6, 2010.
  3. "1979 Men's Basketball Season". SoonerStats.com. Retrieved July 7, 2010.
  4. "1979 NCAA Basketball Tournament Bracket". databaseSports.com. Retrieved July 5, 2010.
  5. "Oklahoma 2009-10 Men's Basketball Guide" (PDF). CBS Interactive. p. 165. Retrieved July 5, 2010.
  6. "Sooners in NBA Draft". CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on July 18, 2010. Retrieved July 5, 2010.
  7. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on May 20, 2011. Retrieved March 25, 2011.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  8. "Sooners in NBA Draft". CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on July 18, 2010. Retrieved July 5, 2010.
  9. "Oklahoma 2009-10 Men's Basketball Guide" (PDF). CBS Interactive. pp. 168–169. Retrieved July 5, 2010.
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