Oklahoma
LB Dasan McCullough Joins List of 11 Oklahoma Players Unavailable against Auburn
The list of unavailable players for the Sooners just keeps growing.
Oklahoma linebacker Dasan McCullough will not be available for OU’s game against Auburn at 2:30 pm. Saturday, according to the most recent SEC availability report that was released Friday night. McCullough also missed last week’s game against Tennessee after being listed as doubtful most of last week. He was listed as questionable this week until Friday.
McCullough joined a list of 10 other Sooners that will be unavailable for Week 5. The only other OU player included on the availability report was offensive lineman Jake Taylor, who was listed as probable. Unless he’s considered a game-time decision, Taylor’s status will be known when the final availability report is released 90 minutes before OU and Auburn kicks off.
The bright side of this week’s report is that it looks like Geirean Hatchett, who is out for the season, will be the only offensive lineman the Sooners will not have available.
Those unavailable include five of OU’s top receivers in Jayden Gibson, Jalil Farooq, Nic Anderson, Andrel Anthony and Deion Burks. Gibson has already been ruled out for the season, while Farooq is expected to miss 6-8 weeks after breaking his foot in the Sooners’ season opener against Temple. Anderson made his first appearance of the season last week but was injured during the opening drive.
Burks was the newest receiver added to OU’s injured reserve on Thursday after also suffering an injury against Tennessee. Burks is the Sooners’ leading receiver with 26 receptions for 201 yards and three touchdowns. The next leading pass catcher is tight end Bauer Sharp with 14 catches and 116 yards.
So many injuries to OU receivers even influenced Brent Venables to switch cornerback Jacobe Johnson to wide receiver. And the Sooners are enduring all these injuries at receiver as freshman Michael Hawkins Jr. is set to make his first career start Saturday.
Freshman running back Taylor Tatum and defensive back Kendel Dolby were also injured last week. Tatum was ruled out on Thursday, while Dolby, who plays the cheetah position, will miss the rest of the season after undergoing surgery on Wednesday. Fellow defensive back Gentry Williams was also ruled unavailable for Saturday.
The biggest shock of this week was kicker Tyler Keltner, who will be unavailable after an emergency appendectomy. Zach Schmit will presumably take over all kicking duties after participating in only kickoffs so far this season.
As for Auburn, the Tigers’ list is much shorter. Auburn will be without defensive backs Tyler Scott and Champ Anthony, as well as tight end Brandon Frazier. Defensive lineman Isaiah Raikes, kicker Alex McPherson and offensive lineman Izavion Miller are listed as probable.
WR Jayden Gibson, Out
LB Dasan McCullough, Out
WR Jalil Farooq, Out
WR Nic Anderson, Out
WR Andrel Anthony, Out
WR Deion Burks, Out
RB Taylor Tatum, Out
DB Gentry Williams, Out
DB Kendel Dolby, Out
OL Geirean Hatchett, Out
K Tyler Keltner, Out
OL Jake Taylor, Probable
DB Tyler Scott, Out
DB Champ Anthony, Out
TE Brandon Frazier, Out
DL Isaiah Raikes, Probable
K Alex McPherson, Probable
OL Izavion Miller, Probable
The Oklahoma City Thunder are taking on the Phoenix Suns in Game 2 of their opening-round series. The OKC Thunder are hoping that they can repeat their Sunday afternoon performance in this contest. Game 2 will be an interesting test with the Suns having more time to prepare.
Phoenix was up against a rock and a hard place in the series opener. The Oklahoma City Thunder not only have the talent advantage but the rest advantage as well. Phoenix punched their ticket to the NBA Playoffs on Friday night by staving off the Golden State Warriors on Friday night before landing in Oklahoma City on Saturday and playing on Saturday afternoon to the tune of a 119-84 blowout Thunder victory.
The NBA has seen plenty of upsets already. The Orlando Magic, Philadelphia 76ers and Portland Trail Blazers have all stolen games from the higher seed. The Thunder know they have to keep the foot on the gas in this contest.
“These series are unpredictable. No 2 games are the same. The minute you make an assumption, you are overconfident, or the minute you go down and you’re overly urgent, that can impact your ability to be present in the next game,” Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said pregame on Wednesday night.
The Oklahoma City Thunder are seeing the Suns make an adjustment with their starting lineup by inserting Collin Gillespie to give Phoenix a trio of ball handling scoring options alongside Devin Booker and Jalen Green. This gives the Suns hope to be able to find better shot quality against this stifling Thunder defensive unit.
Oklahoma City is healthier now than they have been all season. The Thunder only are missing rookie Thomas Sorber (ACL) who is out for the year. This allows the Bricktown Ballers to roll out their traditional first five in this contest.
Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Phoenix Suns, Game 2 Starting Lineup
Oklahoma City Thunder Starting Lineup
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, G
- Lu Dort, G
- Jalen Williams, F
- Chet Holmgren, F
- Isaiah Hartenstein, C
Phoenix Suns Starting Lineup
- Devin Booker, G
- Jalen Green, G
- Collin Gillespie, G
- Dillon Brooks, F
- Oso Ighodaro, C
The series will shift to Phoenix this weekend as the Oklahoma City Thunder hope to head into Saturday afternoon’s Game 3 with a 2-0 advantage in the series.
Stay tuned to Thunder on SI for complete coverage of the NBA Playoff run for the Oklahoma City Thunder.
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OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLA (KOKH) — The Oklahoma City Fire Department responded to a home fire late Tuesday evening, around 10:42 p.m.
According to OKCFD, fire could be seen from a window of the home located in the 4200 block of N. Phillips Avenue.
Firefighters were able to rescue an adult female from inside the home. No injuries were reported in connection with the fire.
Investigators believe that the fire may have originated from an outlet near the refrigerator that had a power strip plugged in that was supplying multiple appliances.
There was also no smoke detector present within the home.
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NORMAN — The Sooners were behind the eight ball for much of Tuesday’s game against Oral Roberts.
But one swing of the bat got them in a more favorable position.
Shortstop Jaxon Willits blasted a grand slam in the sixth inning to give No. 14 Oklahoma its first lead before eventually winning 7-6.
The Sooners trailed by as many as five runs before they rallied late.
In the first inning, Oral Roberts’ Cooper Combs hit a two-out grand slam to give the Golden Eagles a comfortable cushion. OU infielder Deiten Lachance got the Sooners on the board in the second inning with a solo home run, but ORU responded with a solo shot of its own in the next frame.
The Golden Eagles made it a 6-1 run game in the top of the fourth, and they appeared to be on cruise control. But in the bottom of that frame, OU’s rally began.
Dasan Harris made it a four-run game again with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the fourth before Camden Johnson hit a sacrifice fly of his own in the fifth.
Then, in the sixth, the Sooners took their first lead of the game.
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Harris singled before Kyle Branch and Connor Larkin walked to load the bases. Willits then swung at the first pitch he saw, sending it well over the right-center field fence.
Neither team scored after Willits’ home run, as OU relief pitcher Xander Mercurius retired nine ORU batters in a row to seal the Sooners’ one-run win.
Michael Catalano started on the mound for Oklahoma, but his outing was short-lived — he gave up four earned runs on two hits and five walks in 1 ⅓ innings.
After coach Skip Johnson relieved Catalano in the second inning, six different OU arms entered the game. Reid Hensley collected the win, while Mercurius got the save.
OU improved to 28-12 overall with the win, while Oral Roberts dropped to 23-15. The Sooners are 7-3 in midweek games this season, and they clinched the season sweep of the Golden Eagles on Tuesday.
Next, the Sooners will hit the road for a three-game series against Auburn. The Tigers, ranked No. 11 by D1Baseball, are 10-8 in SEC play and took two of three games against Florida over the weekend.
The series will open on Friday, and first pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m.
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