BURNT ORANGE - Sooners lead throughout in victory over the ‘Horns

The Oklahoma Sooners (13-9, 4-4) lead from start to finish Saturday, dropping the Texas Longhorns (19-4, 5-3), 80-71. In the process the Sooners extended their home court winning streak to 12 games and added to the Longhorns recent struggles.

On a day dedicated to Wayman Tisdale Oklahoma showed heart. With pre-season All-American Willie Warren still limited with a nagging ankle injury, the Sooners once again looked elsewhere for scoring opportunities. And got them.

Tommy Mason-Griffin scored a team-high 24 points and Cade Davis chipped in 20 points and 10 rebounds to collect his second double-double of his career as Oklahoma held off a second half Texas rally to preserve the victory.

Oklahoma caught fire in the first half, shooting 9-16 (56.3%) from three point range en route to an 18 point halftime lead. The Sooners finished the half on a 14-1 run, and held on to close out the game.

Texas did manage to cut a 19 point second half deficit down to five in the final two minutes, but could not close the gap primarily due to poor free throw shooting. The ‘Horns continually got to the free throw line but could not convert their opportunities, shooting an abysmal 10-27 (37%) from the stripe.

Freshman Avery Bradley scored 21 points to lead the Longhorns, who have lost four of six games since reaching the school’s first number one ranking two weeks ago. Gary Johnson added a double-double scoring 11 points and grabbing 10 rebounds.

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Dexter Pittman picked up his third foul early in the second half, but did post decent numbers considering he never could consistently get going. He finished with eight points and 13 rebounds in 21 minutes of action.

Oklahoma survived multiple second half Texas rallies, answering with big baskets from different players.

With Texas working on a 7-0 run a little over midway through the second half, Mason-Griffin ended it with an NBA-ranged three-pointer from the left arch and a defender in his face.

Texas would later go on an 18-7 run, but Griffin again would answer with a big three to push Oklahoma back to a nine point lead.

Texas managed one more push, but Warren would score his only bucket of the game with 1:49 left and extend the Sooners’ lead back to eight. Oklahoma would finish the game hitting seven of eight foul shots.

Ryan Wright scored 11 points and 14 rebounds to contribute a double-double of his own.

By Michael Roark
Big12-fans.com Oklahoma Sooners Correspondent

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