Men's Basketball Cruises Past Central Connecticut St., 66-44

Nov 12, 2001

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Press Conference I

Press Conference II

By OWEN CANFIELD
AP Sports Writer

NORMAN, Okla. (AP) - With his team hanging in there against No. 25 Oklahoma, Howie Dickenman spent part of a second-half timeout trying to make a point with his Central Connecticut State players.

"I had to say it three times - `Hollis Price can shoot,"' Dickenman said. "Guess what? He came out and buried a 3-point shot from the top of the key."

The basket started a run in which Price scored 11 straight points, part of a surge that carried the Sooners to a 66-44 victory Monday night in the first round of the Preseason NIT.

The Sooners will play at No. 15 Michigan State in the second round Wednesday. Michigan State beat Detroit 80-70 in a first-round game Monday.

Price finished with 20 points and was 6-of-10 from 3-point range for the Sooners, who outscored Central Connecticut 33-3 from behind the arc.

"Their team did a good job of competing and we just had to answer, and we did," said Price, one of only two starters back from a team that went 26-7 last year and won the Big 12 tournament. "It's like Coach said, returning guards and big men, they've got to step up. Tonight I thought I did a good job of doing that."

Central Connecticut scored the first eight points of the second half to take a 31-29 lead and only trailed 42-40 at the 10:00 mark. Then Price and the Sooners took control.

Price made consecutive 3-pointers to give the Sooners a 48-40 lead with 7:48 left. About a minute later, he scored on a backdoor layup. Then he hit another 3 from the top of the key for a 53-40 lead with 5:30 left.

Blake Johnston hit a 3-pointer on an assist from Price, and Ebi Ere added a short jumper to finish the run and make it 58-40.

"That's a veteran stepping up," Sooners coach Kelvin Sampson said of Price. "That's the confidence he's developed.

"I've said all along that I think there's a lot of good guards in the league this year and I hear a lot of people talk about a lot of guards, but I wouldn't trade this one for any of them."

Jason Detrick had 12 points and Ere scored 11 for Oklahoma.

Corsley Edwards had 16 points and nine rebounds for the Blue Devils, who scored just four points over the final 10 minutes. They finished with 22 turnovers.

The Sooners got two 3-pointers by Detrick and one by Quannas White in a 13-3 run that gave them a 16-8 lead midway through the first half. The Blue Devils turned the ball over on eight of nine trips during that stretch.

A brief run by Central Connecticut cut the margin to 16-14 before Price hit a baseline 3-pointer to start an 11-2 spurt that gave the Sooners their biggest first-half lead, 27-16.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Men's Basketball Cruises Past Central Connecticut St., 66-44

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