Oklahoma Eliminates Eastern Illinois, 109-50

Dec 18, 2001

Quotes

NORMAN, Okla. (AP) - Oklahoma coach Kelvin Sampson got exactly what he wanted against overmatched Eastern Illinois with a showdown against No. 2 Maryland only three days away.

"I was concerned about how many minutes we'd have to play our starters tonight," Sampson said after the No. 22 Sooners beat the Panthers 109-50 Tuesday night to extend their winning streak to seven games. "Even though our guys haven't played that many minutes (the last three games), it worked out perfect."

Aaron McGhee led Oklahoma (8-1) with 22 points, Hollis Price and Daryan Selvy each had 18, and Jason Detrick added 15 points and a career-best 10 rebounds. McGhee, who was 8-of-9 from the field, played only 19 minutes, while Price played 16 minutes.

The duo helped Oklahoma shoot 72 percent from the field (23 of 32) during the first half en route to a 60-26 lead.

"I thought it was a great effort by our kids," Sampson said. "I'm not easily impressed by my team, but this game tonight was absolutely the best, that first half defensively was about the best I've ever had a team play."

The Sooners broke the game open with a 24-6 run that made it 32-12 with 9:08 left in the first half. McGhee scored eight of 18 first-half points during the run.

"I was just having fun out there," McGhee said. "There shouldn't be any pressure on us, and that's the way we played tonight as a team."

Eastern Illinois (7-4) had won six consecutive games, including victories over Indiana State and Loyola-Chicago, but shot only 30 percent (18-of-60) and was outrebounded 57-22.

Panthers forward Henry Domercant came into the game as the No. 6 scorer in the nation with a 24.7 average. Domercant managed 20 points, but was 6-of-21 from the field.

"They was aggressive and they defended our motion offense very, very well," Eastern Illinois coach Rick Samuels said. "They took us out of our offense in the first half, plus they shot 71.9 percent.

"That's hard to beat. It was very frustrating."

Oklahoma opened the second half with a 23-1 run. The Panthers didn't score in the second half until the 11:40 mark.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Oklahoma Eliminates Eastern Illinois, 109-50

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