No. 24 Men's Basketball Blows Out High Point, 107-63

Dec 15, 2001

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K. Sampson I

K. Sampson II

K. Sampson III

NORMAN, Okla. (AP) - Hollis Price and Ebi Ere did all the damage. Transfer Jabahri Brown drew all the attention.

Price had a game-high 26 points and Ere added 21 as No. 24 Oklahoma beat High Point 107-63 Saturday night.

Brown, who transferred from Florida International and had not played in 19 months, entered early in the first half to a loud ovation.

Brown finished with five points, eight rebounds and four blocks in 28 minutes.

"I was kind of shaky, kind of nervous at first," said Brown, who grabbed his first rebound 34 seconds after taking the floor. "Hollis told me to just take my time and let the game come to me. That's what I tried to do. Once I settled down, I got into the flow."

Price and Ere were in the flow, too.

Price scored 15 points in the first half and added 10 in a 21-6 run late in the second half that put the game out of reach.

The Sooners (6-1) broke open a close game early with a 27-11 run. Price started the surge with a 3-pointer and followed it with a steal and a layup.

Ere capped the run with a three-point play that gave Oklahoma a 35-15 lead with 5:55 left in the half.

Aaron McGhee had 13 points for Oklahoma, while Jason Detrick added 12.

Dustin Van Weerdhuizen led the Panthers (3-6) with 16 points. Ron Barrow added 11 points.

Coach Kelvin Sampson was impressed with Brown's performance.

"Jabahri was really nervous during shoot-around, so I had him sit beside me the first two or three minutes of the game," Sampson said. "I grabbed his leg and said, 'Are you ready to go?' and I thought he was going to hyperventilate.

"I told him it's just a game and to go in and block some shots, grab some rebounds and break a sweat. I'm happy with how well he played, and I know he's only going to get better."

Sampson began clearing his bench early in the second half.

"I don't know if the game could have played out any better for us," Sampson said. "I didn't want Hollis and Ebi to play 40 minutes. We were able to get some quality minutes for some kids and rest some of our starters."

Including Saturday's game, Oklahoma will play four games in a seven day stretch - including a game against No. 3 Maryland on Friday.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

No. 24 Men's Basketball Blows Out High Point, 107-63

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