Chris
Lloyd Noble Center has been home to Golden Era of Oklahoma basketball
In a few years, the Sooners will vacate the friendly confines of Lloyd Noble Center, which has been the home of OU men’s and women’s basketball for 50 memor
Lloyd Noble Center has been the home of Oklahoma Sooner basketball for the past 50 years. Over that time, it has been home to the greatest players and Sooner basketball teams of all-time.
Much like Yankee Stadium has been called the “House that (Babe) Ruth Built,” Lloyd Noble Center has been known as the house Alvan Adams built and Wayman Tisdale filled. Otherwise, it is referred to simply as the LNC.
Lloyd Noble Center has been part of what will go down in history as the Golden Era of Oklahoma basketball. The era began with the arrival of Billy Tubbs as head coach in 1980. Tubbs’ OU teams won 333 games in 15 seasons (1980-94), the most under any OU basketball coach. One hundred ninety-four of those wins were at home in Lloyd Noble Center, where the Sooners were a remarkable 194-28 under Tubbs, a home winning percentage of .874.
Over a seven-year stretch from the 1983-84 season through the 1989-90 campaign, the Sooners amassed an astounding 108-2 record on the LNC home court. That included five undefeated home seasons.
In 11 seasons as coach of the Oklahoma men, Kelvin Sampson’s teams also did a superb job of protecting their home court. The Sooners were a combined 151-18 (.893) at home under Sampson.
