OU Men's basketball opens Saturday night

NORMAN, Okla. (AP) -- Oklahoma hits the hardwood tomorrow night for its first exhibition game of the 2005-2006 season.<br/><br/>The Sooners -- picked to finish second in the Big 12 Confernece by the league's

Friday, November 4th 2005, 8:12 pm

By: News On 6

NORMAN, Okla. (AP) -- Oklahoma hits the hardwood tomorrow night for its first exhibition game of the 2005-2006 season.

The Sooners -- picked to finish second in the Big 12 Confernece by the league's coaches -- host Northeastern State. The game is also N-S-U's first exhibition game of the season.

O-U -- the reigning Big 12 co-champ -- boasts a roster that is arguably the most talented of the 12-year Kelvin Sampson era.

The Sooners return their top three scorers and rebounders from a 2004-05 squad that went 25-and-8 overall and 12-and-4 in the conference.

Seniors Taj Gray, Terrell Everett and Kevin Bookout form the nucleus of a squad that is a consensus top-10 pre-season pick by print and online publications.