The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

AS non-conference play comes to an end, Buddy Hield continues to lead the No.18 ranked Oklahoma Sooners as they prepare to take on the remainder of the Big 12 in the next segment of the season.

Hield scored a game high 17 points and added four rebounds in the Sooners’ 61-43 win over George Mason on December 31. He scored all but two of his points in the first half, finished 7-13 from the field, including 3-7 from beyond the three-point arch.

Oklahoma improved to 9-3 overall, fresh off a nine-day holiday layoff. They begin play in the Big 12 4pm January 3 against Baylor University.

Hield said the Sooners are poised to continue their improvement they have experienced on the season thus far.

“I think we are at a good starting point. Coach (Kruger) has done a great job from the summer time up until now and we are just going to keep getting better and we are ready. We have been waiting for this moment – for conference time – and we have something to prove. We will take it one day at a time and that starts on Saturday and we will go from there.”

Hield is currently averaging 15.7 points and five rebounds per game while shooting 40 per cent from the field, 37 per cent from three-point range and 80 per cent from the free throw line.

Within conference play last season, Hield had some of his best performances all year.

In Big 12 play he averaged 17.5 points per game, ranked No.8, was second in steals at 1.6 per game and shot 43 per cent from three-point range. He finished tied for the Big 12 lead in three-point makes at 3.5 per game, with Brady Heslip of Baylor Bears.

Hield has scored in double figures in 29 of 31 games, made at least three 3-pointers in 14 of 18 Big 12 games, including in nine of the last 10 outings.

In the 2013-14 campaign, Hield was recognised among the best players in his conference, the Big 12. He was named to the All-Big 12 second team along with current 2014 NBA Draft lottery pick Joel Embiid of Kansas, Marcus Foster of Kansas State, Markel Brown of Oklahoma State and Johnathan Holmes of Texas. He finished the regular season ranked No.9 in the Big 12 in scoring at 16.8 points per game, second in steals at 1.5 per game, third in three-point field goals made at 2.8 per game and fourth in three-point percentage.

Two of the Sooners’ three losses this year have come against ranked competition.

Hield has scored in double figures in 10 of his 12 games this season, including a season high 25 points in the opener against Southeast Louisiana when he shot a school and conference record 7-7 from beyond the arch.

Hield has been projected as a late first round pick for the 2015 Mock Draft by reputed NBA draft website www.nbadraft.net listed as the possible 21st pick just outside of the lottery.

If he is selected in that region, the Grand Bahamian native would be the first Bahamian-born player taken in the first round of the NBA Draft since Mychal Thompson in 1978.