Big 12 Names OU Frosh Woodard Newcomer Of The Week

Oklahoma freshman Jordan Woodard was named Big 12 Newcomer of the Week on Monday following his performance in the Sooners' 101-91 win over Tulsa on Saturday.

Woodard, a 6-foot-0, 185-pound point guard from Arcadia, Okla., registered career highs of 24 points and eight assists against the Golden Hurricane. He tied a career high with three rebounds and added a steal.

Amazingly, Woodard tallied his 24 points despite attempting only four field goals (made three). He scored 17 points at the free throw line on a school-record-tying 22 attempts.

The game featured a brother vs. brother matchup, with Tulsa sophomore James Woodard scoring a team-high 19 points. Their older sister, Jasmyne Walker, performed the national anthem before the game.

Woodard's newcomer-of-the-week honor was the third by a Sooner this season. Sophomore forward Ryan Spangler was recognized Nov. 11 and Dec. 9 with the same award.

On the season, Woodard is averaging 11.9 points and a team-high 4.9 assists per game. He ranks fifth in the Big 12 in assists (first among freshmen and sophomores) and fourth with his 2.5 assist-to-turnover ratio.

Woodard's shooting percentages and scoring numbers are up significantly over the last two-and-a-half weeks. In OU's first five games, he averaged 8.6 points on .270 field goal and .182 (2-for-11) 3-point shooting. In five games since, he is averaging 15.2 points on .536 field goal and .700 (7-for-10) 3-point shooting.

The 9-1 Sooners have two games this week. OU hosts UT Arlington on Tuesday at 7 p.m. CT at Lloyd Noble Center before playing Texas A&M on Saturday at 6 p.m. CT in Houston, Texas, in a Big 12-SEC Challenge contest.