Freshman Blake Griffin plays just five minutes due to a knee injury.
| |
|
|
 |
| |
1st |
2nd |
F |
|
KU |
40 |
45 |
85 |
|
OU |
20 |
35 |
55 | |
| Stats Comparison |
OU |
KU |
| Points |
55 |
85 |
| FG Made-Attempted |
21-64 |
31-58 |
| FG Percentage |
.328 |
.534 |
| 3P Made-Attempted |
4-16 |
6-16 |
| 3P Percentage |
.250 |
.375 |
| FT Made-Attempted |
9-10 |
17-18 |
| FT Percentage |
.900 |
.944 |
| Rebounds |
31 |
40 |
| Turnovers |
11 |
7 | |
| Longar |
21 |
Points |
17 |
Jackson |
| Griffin, T. |
8 |
Rebounds |
9 |
Rush |
| 2 Players |
2 |
Assists |
5 |
2 Players |
| 4 Players |
1 |
Steals |
3 |
Chalmers |
| 2 Players |
1 |
Blocks |
3 |
Aldrich | |
| | |
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) -- Whatever
slim chance Oklahoma might have had against No. 3 Kansas
on Monday night evaporated five minutes into the game
when Blake Griffin went up for a rebound and "came
down kind of funny."
The rest of the night, the Sooners' 6-foot-10 freshman
standout looked on glumly from the bench with an ice
pack on his left knee as the Jayhawks cruised to an
85-55 victory, hanging with No. 1 North Carolina and
No. 2 Memphis as the only unbeatens in Division I.
Darnell Jackson had 17 points and eight rebounds
and Brandon Rush had 16 points and nine rebounds for
the Jayhawks (17-0, 2-0 Big 12), who have won 31 of
their last 32 games and are off to their best start
since the 1996-97 team began 22-0.
Griffin, the Big 12's freshman of the week after
scoring 53 points in his last two games, hobbled to
the bench and then to the locker room with what coach
Jeff Capel said was a sprained knee. He was to undergo
an MRI on Tuesday.
Without Griffin, the Sooners (12-5, 0-2) were missing
their leader in scoring, rebounding and steals and
looked hopelessly outmanned against a deep and talented
Kansas team that's hardly been challenged so far this
season, let alone defeated.
"I don't know if it sealed the deal," Kansas
coach Bill Self said, "but I'm sure that deflated
them right there. We didn't get their best shot."
Griffin said he went up for a rebound and then felt
his knee pop.
"I was just trying to go up for a rebound.
I kind of got pushed and I came down wrong. I twisted
it or something," he said. "At first, it
hurt a lot. When I got back to the locker room it did
not hurt that bad."
Jackson, who began the game with a huge dunk off
the opening tip, was disappointed Griffin went out.
"I was looking forward to playing against him," Jackson
said. "I hope he gets well because he's a great
player. We told ourselves we would go out there and
play hard no matter what."
Trailing 40-20 at halftime, the Sooners opened the
second half with a 5-0 run. But Mario Chalmers scored
six consecutive points in an 11-0 run capped by Rush's
fourth 3-pointer, and Oklahoma called a timeout with
16:32 left and the Jayhawks leading 51-25.
"We got off to a better start in the second
half with that quick 5-0 run, but then we got into
taking some bad shots. Kansas is tremendous," Capel
said. "They are going to be a tough team for anyone
to beat."
Longar Longar had 21 points for the Sooners, hitting
double figures for the eighth time in nine games, but
could not stop Kansas from putting its biggest whipping
on Oklahoma since a 91-61 victory in 1978.
Darrell Arthur had 14 points and Chalmers added
13 for Kansas, which shot 53 percent against an Oklahoma
defense which had been holding opponents to 39 percent.
The Sooners were 21-of-64 from the field (33 percent).
Without Griffin, they were outrebounded 40-31 by Kansas'
deep frontcourt.
Making Griffin's loss even worse for the Sooners
is the absence of backup Keith Clark, who has been
declared academically ineligible. Oklahoma was forced
to play walk-on Beau Gerber.
Kansas took a big early lead and already seemed
to have full command of the game when Griffin went
out. A few minutes later, David Godbold's 3-pointer
sliced the lead to 23-14. But the Jayhawks went on
a 10-0 run. Arthur hit four consecutive free throws
to kick-start the spree and Jackson pulled down two
rebounds and Sherron Collins had back-to-back buckets,
capping the run with a jumper from the top of the key
for a 35-16 lead with 3:17 left.
Tony Crocker had 10 points for the Sooners.
"We outhustled and outrebounded them," said
Rush, a 6-foot-6 junior who has scored 35 points in
the last two games. "We played our type of game."
Oklahoma has a good perspective on the three nation's
unbeaten teams, having played two of them. The Sooners
lost to No. 2 Memphis 63-53 on Nov. 15.
"I think (the Jayhawks) are better," Capel
said. "They are the best team we've played and
we have played some really good teams. They are so
balanced. They shoot better than Memphis. They are
bigger. They are probably equally as good in transition
but this team passes the ball better.
"I don't think it's close, this is the best
team in the country."