2002–03 Oklahoma Sooners men's basketball team

The 2002–03 Oklahoma Sooners men's basketball team represented the University of Oklahoma as a member of the Big 12 Conference during the 2002–03 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team was led by head coach Kelvin Sampson and played its home games in the Lloyd Noble Center. With high expectations entering the season, Oklahoma finished third in the Big 12 regular season standings behind Kansas and Texas. The Sooners won the Big 12 Conference tournament to earn the conference's automatic bid and a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament. After reaching the Elite Eight by beating South Carolina State, California, and Butler, the Sooners fell to No. 3 seed and eventual National champion Syracuse in the regional final to finish the season 27–7 (12–4 Big 12).

2002–03 Oklahoma Sooners men's basketball
Big 12 Conference tournament champions
NCAA tournament, Elite Eight
Conference	Big 12 Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 7
AP	No. 3
Record	27–7 (12–4 Big 12)
Head coach	Kelvin Sampson (9th season)
Assistant coaches	Ray Lopes Bonnie Seltzer Jim Shaw
Home arena	Lloyd Noble Center (Capacity: 12,000)
Seasons ← 2001–02 2003–04 →

2002–03 Big 12 men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 6 Kansas	14	–	2		.875			30	–	8		.789
No. 5 Texas	13	–	3		.813			26	–	7		.788
No. 3 Oklahoma †	12	–	4		.750			27	–	7		.794
Oklahoma State	10	–	6		.625			22	–	10		.688
No. 24 Missouri	9	–	7		.563			22	–	11		.667
Colorado	9	–	7		.563			20	–	12		.625
Texas Tech	6	–	10		.375			22	–	13		.629
Texas A&M	6	–	10		.375			14	–	14		.500
Iowa State	5	–	11		.313			17	–	14		.548
Baylor	5	–	11		.313			14	–	14		.500
Kansas State	4	–	12		.250			13	–	17		.433
Nebraska	3	–	13		.188			11	–	19		.367
† 2003 Big 12 Tournament winner Rankings from AP poll ^[1]

Roster

2002–03 Oklahoma Sooners men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Hometown G 2 Ebi Ere 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Sr McLain Tulsa, OK G 4 Quannas White 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Sr St. Augustine New Orleans, LA G 10 Hollis Price 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 165 lb (75 kg) Sr St. Augustine New Orleans, LA C 21 Jabahri Brown 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Jr Champagnat Catholic St. Thomas, VI	Head coach Kelvin Sampson (UNC Pembroke) Assistant coach(es) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on   Injured   Current redshirt

Schedule

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Regular season
Nov 14, 2002*	No. 3	vs. No. 8 Alabama Coaches vs. Cancer Classic	L 62–68	0–1	Madison Square Garden (8,826) New York, New York
Nov 22, 2002*	No. 7	UC Irvine Sooner invitational	W 87–65	1–1	Lloyd Noble Center (10,685) Norman, Oklahoma
Nov 23, 2002*	No. 7	Princeton Sooner invitational	W 82–63	2–1	Lloyd Noble Center  Norman, Oklahoma
Nov 30, 2002*	No. 8	Prairie View	W 75–63	3–1	Lloyd Noble Center  Norman, Oklahoma
Jan 4, 2003*	No. 10	vs. No. 14 Michigan State All College Classic	W 60–58	8–2	Ford Center (18,034) Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Jan 7, 2003*  ESPN2	No. 9	No. 3 Connecticut	W 73–63	9–2	Lloyd Noble Center (11,638) Norman, Oklahoma
Jan 11, 2003	No. 9	Colorado	W 69–54	10–2 (1–0)	Lloyd Noble Center  Norman, Oklahoma
Jan 13, 2003	No. 5	at No. 24 Oklahoma State	L 46–48	10–3 (1–1)	Gallagher-Iba Arena  Stillwater, Oklahoma
Mar 8, 2003	No. 5	No. 4 Texas	L 71–76	21–6 (12–4)	Lloyd Noble Center  Notre Dame, Indiana
Big 12 tournament
Mar 14, 2003*	No. 6	vs. Colorado Quarterfinal	W 74–59	22–6	American Airlines Center  Dallas, Texas
Mar 15, 2003*	No. 6	vs. Texas Tech Semifinal	W 67–60 ^OT	23–6	American Airlines Center  Dallas, Texas
Mar 16, 2003*	No. 6	vs. Missouri Championship Game	W 49–47^[2]	24–6	American Airlines Center  Dallas, Texas
NCAA tournament
Mar 20, 2003*	(1 E) No. 3	vs. (16 E) South Carolina State First round	W 71–54^[3]	25–6	Ford Center  Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Mar 22, 2003*	(1 E) No. 3	vs. (8 E) California Second Round	W 74–65^[4]	26–6	Ford Center  Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Mar 28, 2003*	(1 E) No. 3	vs. (12 E) Butler East Regional semifinal – Sweet Sixteen	W 65–54^[5]	27–6	Times Union Center  Albany, New York
Mar 30, 2003*	(1 E) No. 3	vs. (3 E) No. 13 Syracuse East Regional final – Elite Eight	L 47–63^[6]	27–7	Times Union Center  Albany, New York
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time. (#) during NCAA Tournament is seed within region E=East.

^[7]

Rankings

Main article: 2002–03 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings

References

1. 2019-20 Big 12 Men's Basketball Record Book (PDF). Big 12 Conference. pp. 26–30. Retrieved June 18, 2020.
2. "Ugly finish does not keep Sooners from No. 1 seed". ESPN. March 16, 2003. Retrieved June 26, 2003.
3. "OU's Johnston has finest performance". The Oklahoman. March 21, 2003. Retrieved June 26, 2003.
4. "Sooners Bounce Bears". The Washington Post. March 23, 2003. Retrieved June 26, 2003.
5. "Ere, Oklahoma dismiss Butler with 65-54 win". The Baltimore Sun. March 29, 2003. Retrieved June 26, 2003.
6. "Syracuse Defeats Oklahoma". The New York Times. March 31, 2003. Retrieved June 26, 2003.
7. "2020–21 Oklahoma Men's Basketball Media Guide" (PDF). University of Oklahoma Athletics. Retrieved February 20, 2021.