Get to Know Buddy's Boys, the Sidekick Sooners Fueling Hield's Final Four Run

HOUSTON — Three months after the most entertaining game of the college basketball season, Kansas coach Bill Self is still bragging about how well his Jayhawks defended Oklahoma star Buddy Hield.

"We held him to 46," Self said Thursday, "so I'd say we did a pretty good job."

Self, of course, was joking.

Just as he did against almost every opponent this season, Hield absolutely went off against the Jayhawks in Lawrence back on Jan. 4. But when the final horn sounded, it didn't really matter, because Kansas still won the game (109-106 in triple overtime).

The secret?

"No one is going to stop Buddy Hield," Self said. "The key to beating Oklahoma is to slow down everyone else."

That's not easy, either.

While Hield has dominated the headlines—and rightfully so—for Oklahoma throughout the season, the Sooners are far from a one-man show.

Guards Jordan Woodard (13.0 points) and Isaiah Cousins (12.8) both average double figures in scoring, and both have been efficient by making 45.9 percent and 42.0 percent of their three-point attempts, respectively.

Forward Ryan Spangler has been a beast in the paint (10.3 PPG, 9.2 RPG), while Khadeem Lattin (2.1 blocks per game) has emerged as one of the country's top shot-swatters.

Saturday's NCAA semifinal against Villanova will make the 105th straight game that Hield, Cousins, Woodard and Spangler have been in the starting rotation.

"Without even one of those guys, we wouldn't be in this position, we wouldn't be going to the Final Four," Hield said. "Teams really haven't figured out how to guard [us]. Once you take me away, it opens things up for Jordan and Ryan and Isaiah and Kadeem.

"It's pick your poison. You don't know who to pick your poison on, because anyone can get hot."

So who exactly are Buddy's buddies—his Sooners sidekicks who have been so vital to Oklahoma's success?

Here's a brief look at the "other guys" in Oklahoma's starting lineup.

Isaiah Cousins

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Position: Guard

Height/weight: 6'4", 200 pounds

Class: Senior

Hometown: Mount Vernon, New York

Rivals.com recruiting rank: Unranked in class of 2012

Key stats: Averaging a career-high 12.8 points per game and leads the team with 4.6 assists. Cousins is one of only three players in the Big 12 who are averaging at least 12 points, four rebounds and four assists. He shoots better from three-point range (42 percent) than overall (41.3). He ranks third in school history in career three-point field-goal percentage (41 percent). He has scored in double figures in 17 of his last 20 games.

Quick scouting report: The top ball-handler on Oklahoma's squad, Cousins is creative and crafty with the ball in his hands. He's not an elite shooter but still a good one, particularly when he's pulling up from mid-range. While no other Oklahoma starter other than Hield is a sure bet to play in the NBA, Cousins may have the best shot. If he's not taken in the second round of this summer's draft, he should definitely get invited to a camp. No matter what, he'll earn a paycheck playing basketball at some level next season.

Signature moment: With the score tied in the waning seconds, the LSU Tigers were probably expecting Buddy Hield to attempt the final shot in Baton Rouge. Instead the Sooners used Hield as a decoy and put the ball in the hands of Cousins, who hit a jumper from the elbow with six seconds remaining to catapult Oklahoma to a 77-75 victory on Jan. 30. Cousins had 18 points in the win.

Notable: Cousins brings a tough, New York swagger to the Sooners. As Brian Hamilton of Sports Illustrated noted, Cousins often plays with his fists clenched, like he's "ready to fight even when a fight isn't coming." He is roommates with Hield, and the duo's early-morning shooting sessions have become the stuff of legend in Norman.

Cousins has even been known to sleep on a couch in the Oklahoma practice facility to make sure he's on time for the 7 a.m. workouts. He received a scare two summers ago when he was shot in the left shoulder during a trip home to New York. An innocent bystander when an alleged gang member began firing shots, Cousins escaped serious injury and returned to full workouts two weeks later. Off the court, he is an aspiring DJ who often works parties in Norman for teammates and friends.

Jordan Woodard

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Position: Guard

Height/weight: 6'0", 187 pounds

Class: Junior

Hometown: Arcadia, Oklahoma

Rivals.com recruiting rank: Unranked in class of 2013

Key stats: He ranks second on the team in scoring with 13.0 points per game and ranks second in the Big 12 in three-point field-goal percentage (45.9 percent). He has scored in double figures in 26 games this season. Woodard shoots 80.5 percent from the foul stripe, which has been huge for Oklahoma in close games.

Quick scouting report: A combo guard, Woodard moved off the ball this season to allow Cousins to run the point. Woodard isn't flashy, but he rarely makes mistakes and is averaging 1.6 turnovers per game, a solid number for a guy who plays 29.8 minutes. Most notably, he has dramatically improved his performance from beyond the arc. He made just 37 percent of his threes as a freshman and only 25.4 percent of them last year. But through 36 games in 2015-16, Woodard has made 61 more three-pointers (78) than he did last season (17).

Signature moment: Woodard made six of nine threes and scored 27 points in a Jan. 4 loss at Kansas. He also scored 20 first-half points in a victory over Baylor in Waco, Texas. Most impressive, though, is how he has shot from beyond the arc during the NCAA tournament. Through four games, Woodard has made 11 of his 19 three-point attempts. That includes a 5-of-6 performance in a Sweet 16 win against Texas A&M, when Woodard scored a team-high 22 points.   

Notable: Woodard was one of the top high school guards in the state of Oklahoma (along with Stevie Clark, who signed with Oklahoma State and was eventually dismissed) and committed to the Sooners early. He led Edmond Memorial High School to the 6A state title game each of his final three seasons, winning the championship as a sophomore and as a senior, when he registered a steal and a buzzer-beating tip-in for a 49-48 win.

Woodard's older brother, James, averaged a team-high 15.4 points for Tulsa this season. Always adept at getting to the foul stripe, Jordan tallied more than half of his points (146 of 341) from the free-throw line as a freshman in 2013-14.

Ryan Spangler

Justin K. Aller/Getty Images

Position: Forward

Height/weight: 6'8", 234 pounds

Class: Senior

Hometown: Tuttle, Oklahoma

Rivals.com recruiting rank: Unranked in the class of 2011

Key stats: He shoots 54.8 percent from the field, which ranks third in the Big 12, and ranked second in the conference in rebounding with 9.2 boards per contest. He led Oklahoma in rebounding in 24 of 36 games. He owns 30 career double-doubles, third-most among active Big 12 players. He averages 10.3 points per game but only 6.3 in this year's NCAA tournament.

Quick scouting report: A strong, physical bruiser who sets the tone in the paint, Spangler is a tough matchup for opposing bigs because of his ability to handle the ball on the perimeter and shoot the three. Spangler's offensive numbers have slipped in recent weeks, as he failed to score in double figures in eight of his last 14 games.

Signature moment: Spangler (and not Hield) was the best player on the court during a 71-49 victory over rival Oklahoma State in Norman on Feb. 24. In what was easily his top performance of the season, Spangler scored a team-high 26 points on 10-of-13 shooting and snared 14 rebounds. He also turned in a particularly strong effort in a Jan. 4 loss at Kansas by grabbing a season-high 18 rebounds.

Notable: Spangler threw for 71 touchdowns and 6,951 career yards as a high school quarterback and had a fastball that clocked in the low 90s. But when it came to picking a sport in college, basketball was his first choice.

Despite growing up less than 30 minutes from Oklahoma's campus, Spangler was not offered a scholarship by former Sooners coach Jeff Capel. Instead he signed with Gonzaga and averaged 2.5 points and 2.4 rebounds as a freshman in 2011-12. Though he loved his teammates and the coaching staff, Spangler was homesick in Spokane, Washington. But he wasn't unhappy for long. Oklahoma fired Capel in spring 2011, and new coach Lon Kruger was quick to offer Spangler a scholarship after Gonzaga granted him a release.

Khadeem Lattin

J Pat Carter/Getty Images

Position: Forward

Height/weight: 6'9", 208 pounds

Class: Sophomore

Hometown: Houston

Rivals.com recruiting rank: No. 122 in the class of 2014

Key stats: He was voted to the Big 12's All-Defensive Team and led the nation's best conference in blocks with 2.7 during league play. He registered at least six blocks on five occasions.

Quick scouting report: The Sooners have an elite rim protector in Lattin, who is one of the more athletic big men in the country. He runs the court well and can also put the ball on the floor in emergency situations, a payoff from his days as a high school small forward. Lattin plays with tremendous bounce and energy and has developed good chemistry playing alongside a foursome that has started 104 straight games. Although he's not known as a scorer, he has a nice touch from mid-range and will capitalize if he's left wide open.

Signature moment: Lattin had some impressive performances during nonconference play, but his coming-out party occurred in a Jan. 4 loss at Kansas, when he registered 10 points, six blocks and a career-high 14 rebounds against the eventual Big 12 champion. He also made his presence felt with eight blocks in a Jan. 26 victory over Texas Tech.

Notable: Not many players in the NCAA tournament have a lineage quite like Lattin. His mother, Monica Lamb-Powell, won three WNBA titles with the Houston Comets. And his grandfather, David "Big Daddy" Lattin, was a starter on Texas Western's famed 1966 squad that beat Kentucky in the NCAA title game. Lattin is one of two Houston natives in the Final Four who was home-schooled. The other is North Carolina's Justin Jackson.

Jason King covers college sports for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter @JasonKingBR