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Oklahoma basketball: No more hypothesizing; field set for Big 12 Championship

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Oklahoma basketball: No more hypothesizing; field set for Big 12 Championship


For the past couple of weeks, the talk surrounding the men’s Oklahoma basketball program has been about finishing strong and seeding for the Big 12 Championship and, more importantly, have the Sooners done enough to end their three-year absence from the NCAA Tournament.

We now know the answer to the first but will have to wait another week before we learn the Sooners’ fate for the NCAA Tournament.

The Oklahoma men (20-11, 8-10) finished the regular season on Saturday, their last as a member of the Big 12, with a 94-80 loss at Texas. That earned the Sooners the No. 9 seed in this week’s Big 12 Men’s Championship at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri. The OU women are the top seed and one of four teams remaining in the women’s bracket of the same tournament, also in Kansas City.

The Sooner men will play No. 8 TCU on Wednesday afternoon. Oklahoma and TCU played once in the regular season with the Horned Frogs winning 80-71 in Ft. Worth in early January. Because of TCU’s surprising 79-77 loss at home to UCF on Saturday, the Horned Frogs dropped to the eight line in the conference tournament. Otherwise, the Sooners would have faced a rematch with Texas, a team that they had lost to twice during the regular season and have not beaten in seven consecutive games.

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Although Oklahoma’s 9-seed in the conference postseason tournament isn’t anything to brag about, it is better than the 12th-place projection for the Sooners by the league coaches in the Preseason Big 12 Men’s Basketball Preseason Poll. The major downside of being on the 9-line is: If you are fortunate enough to win and advance, your next opponent is the top-seeded team, which in this case is Big 12 regular-season champion Houston.

The men’s tournament begins on Tuesday with two first-round games. Here is how the bracket sets up for OU and the rest of the teams in what will be the final Big 12 Tournament for the Sooners and the Texas Longhorns, both of whom are leaving the conference after this season for the SEC.

Tuesday, March 12

Game 1: No. 12 UCF vs. No. 13 Oklahoma State, 11:30 p.m. CT

Game 2: No. 11 Cincinnati vs. No. 14 West Virginia, 2 p.m.

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Wednesday, March 13

Game 3: No. 5 BYU vs. Game 1 winner, 11:30 p.m.

Game 4: No. 8 TCU vs. No. 9 Oklahoma, 2 p.m.

Game 5: No. 7 Texas vs. No. 10 Kansas State, 6 p.m.

Game 6: No. 6 Kansas vs. Game 2 winner, 8:30 p.m.

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Thursday, March 14, Quarterfinals

Game 7: No. 4 Texas Tech vs. Game 3 winner, 11:30 p.m.

Game 8: No. 1 Houston vs, Game 6 winner, 2 p.m.

Game 9: No. 2 Iowa State vs. Game 5 winner, 6 p.m.

Game 10: No. 3 Baylor vs. Game 6 winner

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Friday, March 15, Semifinals

Game 11: Game 7 winner vs. Game 8 winner

Game 12: Game 9 winner vs. Game 10 winner

Saturday, March 16, Championship Final

Game 13: Game 11 winner vs. Game 12 winner

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Putnam City West moves to virtual learning after student incident

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Putnam City West moves to virtual learning after student incident


PUTNAM CITY, Okla. –

Putnam City West High School will shift to virtual learning on Tuesday after an incident involving two students prompted an investigation by the district and Oklahoma City police, according to Putnam City Schools.

District officials said administrators were alerted near the end of the school day Monday to an altercation involving two students in the school’s arena area.

Officials said the students left campus, and the case was turned over to Putnam City Campus Police and the Oklahoma City Police Department for investigation.

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District officials said no students or staff were harmed and there is no ongoing safety threat related to the incident.

What we know

Putnam City West sent the following email to all families and staff at the school:

All PCW students and staff will transition to virtual learning for Tuesday, April 21st.

Today, an isolated serious incident involving two students occurred on school grounds. Near the end of the school day, administrators were alerted to an altercation between two students in the arena area. The individuals involved quickly left campus, prompting an initial fact-finding response by school administrators before the matter was turned over to Putnam City Campus Police and the Oklahoma City Police Department for further investigation. Because this is an active investigation involving students, no further information will be released at this time.

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We understand this information may be concerning to students, staff, and families. Please know we are committed to maintaining a safe, secure, and positive learning environment for all students. At Putnam City Schools, student and staff safety remains our highest priority. Therefore, out of an abundance of caution and to allow for a thorough investigation, all PCW students and staff will transition to virtual learning for Tuesday, April 21st. Students will need to check Google Classroom for updates from teachers.

Thank you for your understanding and continued support of PC West.

Putnam City Schools

All students and staff at Putnam City West will transition to virtual learning on Tuesday, April 21, while investigators continue their work, according to the district.

Students were told to check Google Classroom for instructions from teachers.

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The district said it is withholding additional details because the case involves students and remains under investigation.

School officials have not said what triggered the incident or whether any arrests have been made.

This is a developing story. Updates will be added as more information becomes available.





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Oklahoma launches program letting adults use past credits, test scores to earn diplomas

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Oklahoma launches program letting adults use past credits, test scores to earn diplomas


A new program in Oklahoma is giving adults another way to finish high school by allowing them to use past credits and test scores to earn a diploma, an option officials say could help thousands of people and strengthen the state’s workforce.

For years, adults in Oklahoma who did not finish high school largely had one main option: earning a GED. Now, Oklahoma CareerTech is rolling out the Career Readiness Diploma, a pathway designed to build on what students have already completed rather than requiring them to start over.

“So in Oklahoma right now, if you look at the demographics, we have about 279,000 people in our state without a high school diploma. So it’s almost 10% of our population doesn’t have a high school diploma,” said Lance Allee, an adult education and family literacy specialist with Oklahoma CareerTech.

Allee said the program allows adults to apply previously earned high school credit and combine different assessment scores into a single record to qualify for a diploma.

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“It allows the student to use previously earned high school credit. So, it’s kind of like a portfolio where you can take multiple assessment scores and put them into one portfolio to get your high school diploma,” Allee said.

The program is open to adults 21 and older. In some cases, officials said, participants can finish in just weeks, depending on how many credits they already have.

CareerTech officials say the program is also aimed at improving job prospects for individuals while helping Oklahoma remain competitive when attracting employers.

“When you’re a company and you’re looking at moving into Oklahoma, you look at the demographics and say, is there a workforce there that we can employ? And you say, well, about 10% of the population doesn’t have a diploma, they may start looking at states that surround us. So, we definitely want to get as many diplomas out there as we can,” Allee said.

The program started issuing diplomas in recent weeks, and officials said dozens more people are already in the process. For more information or to sign up click here.

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Cord Rager’s Return, Consistent Hitting Earns Oklahoma First SEC Sweep of Missouri

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Cord Rager’s Return, Consistent Hitting Earns Oklahoma First SEC Sweep of Missouri


NORMAN — Cord Rager’s return comes at a pivotal time for Skip Johnson’s Oklahoma Sooners. Not only do they get their day three starter back in time for big road matchups against Auburn and Arkansas on the horizon, but the Sooners pitching strength, their rotational depth, is primed and ready for the test.

The freshman lefty finished with eight strikeouts and only gave up one hit in only 65 pitches before his day ended in the sixth.

No. 14 Oklahoma earn its first conference sweep of the season, defeating Missouri 8-4. It was OU’s fourth conference series win.

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Oklahoma (27-12, 10-8) put their best foot forward as they turn the page to the meat of their schedule where they will do battle against No. 13, No. 20 and No. 16 over the next three weeks — two of those series’ on the road.

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Camden Johnson runs home against Missouri. | Carson Field / Sooners On SI

Four runs in five hits in the second got things rolling for the Sooners.

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Camden Johnson continued his brilliant play of late with a triple in the second. This came after a Brenden Brock solo home run to put OU up 1-0. Deiten LaChance grounded out to short but scored Johnson. Dasan Harris and and Nolan Stevens each found home before the inning ended.


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OU found fortune from the plate again in the fourth. Four runs off of four hits highlighted by a three-run home run by Johnson put Oklahoma up 8-0. It was Johnson’s seventh home run of the season, second on the team behind Brock’s nine.

Trent Collier got the nod in the sixth to relieve Rager.

In the seventh, Missouri finally got on the board for the first time since the ninth inning of Friday night’s Sooner victory. Cam Durnin hit a solo shot — his fourht of the season — to make the score 8-1 in favor of the home team.

The Tigers got their third hit of the game shortly after. From there, Collier’s short day was done. Gavyn Jones came on to relieve

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Dasan Harris runs home to score against Missouri. | Carson Field / Sooners On SI

LaChance missed a home run by inches when Tiger center fielder Kaden Peer made a leaping catch, jumping into the fence.

In the eighth, the Tigers continued to chip away. With bases loaded, Blaze Ward hit a basehit to score two Missouri base runners. OU led 8-3 heading into the final inning.

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Harris led the Sooners with three hits. His day was accented by an RBI, stolen base and a run.

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Oklahoma will travel to Auburn to take on the No. 13 Tigers for a three game series starting on Friday. Before that, they will host Oral Roberts for a midweek game at Kimrey Family Stadium in Norman. The Sooners won 4-0 against ORU earlier this season.

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