Prior to the start of Oklahoma’s conference contest against No. 6 Baylor, Steven Pledger could be found at the north basket of Lloyd Noble Center. He launched shots from the west corner of the floor while bouncing to the beat of Jay-Z’s “Moment of Clarity.”

While searching for an artist’s serenity, he worked on the nuances of his game; adjusting his sight; taking care in his stance; showing focus, patience; tending the tools of a marksman.

He performs a specific regimen before each game because it is important to warm up his stroke. One of the drills he performs is called “one-hands.”

“Right at the end of shoot-around before games, I’ll go right in front of the rim and do about three or four of them,” Pledger said. “Just to get my eye on the goal.”

It’s those kinds of small, seemingly inconsequential drills that Bobby Whittington thinks make for an ideal sharpshooter.

Whittington is the range master and owner of Badlands Tactical Training Facility in Grandfield, a southwest Oklahoma town near the Texas border.

He said great 3-point shooters exhibit the kinds of qualities that good snipers possess. The mindset of a marksman has helped Pledger shoot 42.7 percent from 3-point range and 90 percent from the free-throw line this season.

“To collate basketball shooting to marksmanship, it’s all about muscle memory,” Whittington said. “Being able to mount that rifle the same way every time, doing what needs to be done the same way every time. It’s just like basketball shooting.

“You’ve got to line that ball up, send it with enough force the same way every time accurately to hit the target.”

Pledger is diligent in his work so he can function without having to meddle with his mechanics during games.

He is the kind of player whose play on the hardwood might inspire some sportswriters to use the word “unconscious” to describe his shooting ability when the ball seldom touches anything other than nylon after it leaves his finger tips.

But he, like most marksman, described what he feels during those moments of excellence in finer terms.

“It’s kind of like a blank feeling a little bit,” Pledger said. “It’s more of me just really talking to myself the whole time.”

He’s constantly building his confidence as a shooter in practice and during the most tenuous moments of the game.

Reminding himself that he has the skill to hit a crunch-time 3-pointer or a decisive set of free throws is a part of Pledger’s mantra.

“I just keep hyping myself up in my head,” he said. “I just have to keep making myself keep going after it.”

As a pure two-guard — the kind of offensive player who makes his or her points by coming off of screens and spotting up for 20- to 23-footers — Pledger has to be committed to shooting the basketball.

Just like Celtics two-guard Ray Allen.

“I model myself after Ray Allen,” Pledger said. “I studied his game a lot.”

Pledger exhibits shades of Allen during his headier days as a Milwaukee Buck.

Perhaps that’s why the junior from Chesapeake, Va., chose to model his game after the player best known for his performance as Jesus Shuttlesworth in Spike Lee’s film, “He Got Game.”

He worked hard as a child to become the kind of shooter he is.

He credits his father for his work ethic and attention to detail in his craft.

“Before I could even go outside to play, I had to work out with my father outside by ourselves for about two hours,” he said.

During those afternoons, Pledger and his father could be found performing any number of drills and exercises.

“Everything in the book — running, doing shots off cones and chairs, coming off curl screens and a whole bunch of different stuff,” he said.

The Sooners’ leading scorer allowed his father to push him. He allowed his father to help him become a great basketball player — and make no mistake, you can be nothing other than great to start in any sport at the Division-1 level.

However, it does take time for cream to rise to the top. Pledger averaged just 6.2 points per game as a freshman and 10.9 points as a sophomore in his two years under former Oklahoma coach Jeff Capel.

Coach Lon Kruger’s new system allows Pledger more freedom to roam, freedom to score. He averages 17.2 points per game, and his play has been noticed by his teammates.

Junior point guard Sam Grooms said Pledger’s ability to shoot the basketball impresses him.

“He’s probably the best shooting guard I’ve ever played with when he’s on — period, point-blank,” Grooms said.

Point-blank — shoot.