No. 6 Sooners Dominate No. 18 Missouri, 84-71

Jan 21, 2002

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Postgame Video

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While Clarence Gilbert argues a call, Hollis Price knocks down an uncontested 3-pointer on the other end.
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Jabahri Brown starts the break with a blocked shot and hustles down the court for the follow-up tip.
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Daryan Selvy comes up with the steal and is rewarded with an easy two-handed jam.
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By OWEN CANFIELD
AP Sports Writer

NORMAN, Okla. - It's usually a tight fit when Oklahoma and Missouri meet. Not this time.

Sixth-ranked Oklahoma, getting 24 points from Hollis Price and scoring on 14 straight possessions during one stretch, led by as many as 18 points in the second half and went on to an 84-71 victory over the 18th-ranked Tigers on Monday night.

The Sooners outrebounded Missouri 43-26 and bottled up the Tigers' inside scorers. They scored inside and outside during a late first-half surge that gave them control for good.

"Difficult to play against," coach Kelvin Sampson said of his Sooners (15-2, 4-1 Big 12). "The thing I liked about that is lot of those shots weren't coming out of our offense, they were coming off transition. Our defense was leading to our offense."

Missouri (14-5, 4-2) came in having won three straight and four of five. The Tigers have now lost eight straight to Oklahoma, although the previous three had been by a total of eight points.

Clarence Gilbert scored all but two of his 26 points on 3-pointers for Missouri, but that wasn't enough to offset the Tigers' lack of an inside game or an off night by Kareem Rush, the second-leading scorer in the Big 12 with a 19.6 average. Rush had 13 points, but was just 4-of-15 from the field.

"The reason Clarence got shots was because he was tough," coach Quin Snyder said. "Kareem has to be stronger. He knows that. We're going to him. We just have to be more productive in those situations where he's getting the ball."

Oklahoma was coming off a loss at then-No. 4 Kansas that ended a 13-game winning streak. Price started slowly, but the scoring of Quannas White and Daryan Selvy kept the Sooners going. Then three 3-pointers by Gilbert in just over four minutes gave the Tigers a 23-19 lead with 6:51 left in the half.

A follow shot by Aaron McGhee started an Oklahoma run that saw the Sooners hit 10 straight shots and score on their final 11 possessions before halftime to take a 44-31 lead. Price hit two 3-pointers and scored 10 points during the run, when the Sooners forced four of Missouri's 18 turnovers and converted them all into baskets.

"I just let the game come to me," Price said. "They passed me the ball and the ball was just falling tonight. You can't ask for more."

Oklahoma scored on its first three trips of the second half, capped by a 3-pointer by Price that made it 51-35. The Sooners pushed the margin to 18 a few minutes later and didn't let Missouri get closer than 11 after that.

White scored 14 points for the Sooners, while McGhee had 13 and Selvy 12.

Snyder wasn't happy about his team's poor rebounding, but said the Tigers will be OK.

"We're a totally different team today than three weeks ago," he said. "Three weeks ago, we would have come in here and gotten beat by 30. We can also be a different team three weeks from today, and that's the challenge."

University of Oklahoma Athletics

No. 6 Sooners Dominate No. 18 Missouri, 84-71

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