Cliff Brunt | The Associated Press | February 3, 2018 Trae Young credits stellar freshman season to film study Young, the nation's leader in scoring and assists, has helped Oklahoma climb to a No. 12 ranking. Share NORMAN, Okla. — All those film sessions with the coach are paying off for super freshman Trae Young. MORE: Texas Tech at TCU, Oklahoma-Texas highlight games to watch Young, the nation's leader in scoring and assists, has helped Oklahoma climb to a No. 12 ranking heading into Saturday's game at Texas. The 6-foot-2 point guard has thrived in coach Lon Kruger's offense. The Sooners are leading the nation in scoring at 90.7 points a game. How big of a scorer is @TheTraeYoung? If you only counted his points after halftime during Big 12 play (21.3), he'd still be leading the conference in scoring. pic.twitter.com/VGEaknnE9Z — Oklahoma Basketball (@OU_MBBall) February 2, 2018 Young and Kruger are doing the most damage after making halftime adjustments — Young is averaging 21.3 points on 52.9 percent shooting during the second half of league games. Kruger has given Young freedom in the offense but reins him in when necessary. Young has been a willing student and is averaging 30.3 points and 9.5 assists. Bubble breakdown: Who's positioned to get an NCAA tournament bid? "It's a very close relationship," Young said. "We watch film all the time. Even after good games, we watch film and we pick out just the bad parts in the game and stuff I can get better at because I'm not at my peak yet. I feel like I can always get better. I'm always trying to improve, so he's definitely helped me improve in that area." In OU's last two wins, @thetraeyoung has scored points on shots. That's efficient. pic.twitter.com/ZuEWW9xmL7 — Oklahoma Basketball (@OU_MBBall) February 1, 2018 Young has saved his best for thrillers at home. He scored 22 of his 27 points in the second half in a 75-65 win over Texas Tech on Jan. 9. He had 24 points in the second half against TCU and five more in overtime in a 43-point outburst that helped Oklahoma beat the Horned Frogs 102-97 on Jan. 13. He had 18 of his 26 after the break in an 85-80 win over Kansas on Jan. 23. On Tuesday, he scored 31 of his 44 points in the second half to help the Sooners top Baylor 98-96. MARCH MADNESS SHOP Young said it's all part of the plan. "If you watch NBA games, you'll see James Harden or even (Russell) Westbrook — I'll throw Westbrook out there," Young said. "He'll have 10 assists in the first half and only eight points but then end up with 30 and 14 because he'll get everybody involved, and whenever everybody's involved, you can't help (defensively). Then, in the second half, you're worried about everybody else, and then that will be more driving lanes for you to score." Podcast: Sean Miller, Mark Few talk experience and success in era of one-and-dones Young said things have gone as he envisioned when he chose his hometown Sooners over Kentucky and Kansas. The Sooners trail Kansas by a game in the Big 12 race. Always find a way. #Commit pic.twitter.com/8NSL0dk0ru — Oklahoma Basketball (@OU_MBBall) January 31, 2018 "I felt like the way coach Kruger coached — his offense really fit my game and stuff like that," he said. "That was a really big key reason why I came here. Everything he told me is happening, so I can't thank him enough." Even with all Kruger expected from the McDonald's All-American, Young exceeded his expectations out of the blocks. MORE: Games that will impact the AAC, ACC, Big 12, Big East, Big Ten, Pac-12 and SEC title races "No one could have projected him doing what he did the first 10 to 12 games," he said. "That was off-the-charts great." .@TheTraeYoung is on the cover of February's SLAM Magazine. First #Sooner to grace the cover while at OU Only the third cover in the last 27 issues to feature a college player pic.twitter.com/r5pxmORlFf — Oklahoma Basketball (@OU_MBBall) January 31, 2018 Young made his first major adjustment after a loss to Oklahoma State, when he scored 48 points on 14-for-39 shooting in a loss. He listened to those who questioned if he shot too much or was undisciplined. And he listened to his coach, who said he wanted him to remain aggressive but be smarter. Young learned quickly. Against Kansas, he scored 26 points and took only nine shots. Against Baylor, his 44 points came on just 20 shots. "That's the challenge," Kruger said. "Keep him aggressive, keep him confident, and yet keep the ball moving, make the right basketball play. From the start, we've talked about focus on getting better every day, make the right basketball play, be about others, be about teammates, be about community, and he's done a great job in all of those areas." This article was written by Cliff Brunt from The Associated Press and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network. Please direct all licensing questions to legal@newscred.com. Oklahoma vs. Ole Miss: The 2022 Men's College World Series final matchup that no one expected Few expected Ole Miss and Oklahoma to make it out of the regional round, now the two will face off for a chance at the 2022 Men's College World Series championship. READ MORE Peyton Graham joined elite company — with Barry Bonds! — after huge MCWS game Oklahoma's Peyton Graham put up 4 hits and 2 steals in the Sooners' win over Notre Dame, a stat line not seen in the Men's College World Series since Barry Bonds in 1984 for Arizona State. READ MORE Oklahoma sweeps Texas in dominant fashion to win back-to-back WCWS national titles Oklahoma downed Texas 10-5 in Game 2 of the WCWS national championship series to clinch its second consecutive national title. Jocelyn Alo won the 2022 WCWS Most Outstanding Player award. READ MORE