OU Mens Basketball Finishes 4-0 in Costa Rica

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica The Oklahoma men's basketball team concluded its exhibition trip in Costa Rica Sunday with a pair of victories in contrasting games. The Sooners, who finished 4-0 inside San Jose's Gimnasio Nacional, dismantled Barva de Heredia by a 100-34 score in the afternoon before hanging on to post a 79-69 win over Liceo in front of a vocal crowd. Both Barva de Heredia and Liceo are members of the Costa Rican professional league. Liceo is considered the league's top squad.

In the afternoon game versus Barva de Heredia, Oklahoma used blanketing defense and a dominating performance on the boards to record the 66-point triumph. OU held its foe to .164 field goal and .133 three-point shooting (2-for-15) while outboarding its by a whopping 79-25 count. Jason Detrick led six Sooners in double figures in scoring with his game-high 24 points and was followed by Kevin Bookout (15), Johnnie Gilbert (13), Lawrence McKenzie (12), Jimmy Tobias (12) and Drew Lavender (10).

Five Sooners grabbed at least eight rebounds on the afternoon. Redshirt freshman Larry Turner owned the paint in his 19 minutes of action as he snagged 16 boards, seven of them offensive. Bookout hauled in 14 rebounds for his second double-double in three games while Gilbert just missed his own double-double with nine caroms. Jabahri Brown also brought down nine rebounds while Detrick had eight.

The Sooners shot .446 from the field, .276 (8-for-29) from beyond the arc and .714 (10-for-14) from the free throw line.

In addition to his 10 points, freshman point guard Lavender handed out 12 assists, made five steals and turned the ball over only once. Junior guard Jaison Williams also fared well in the assists category with seven.

'We continue to get better,' said OU head coach Kelvin Sampson following the afternoon game. 'This was the best team we faced to this point. They were a little smarter and played a little more physical and smarter than our first two opponents. I was most impressed with Larry Turner and Johnnie Gilbert. Larry made the most of his time and Johnnie has improved so much. He has played at a high level in all three games.'

In the evening affair, the Sooners led by 17 at halftime and were up 21 midway through the second half before Liceo used a 23-8 run to make the score 73-67 with just over a minute to play. But Lavender calmly drained four free throws in the final minute to sew up the win.

'I'm happy that we got to play a game like our last one today,' said Sampson. 'We kind of walked to wins in the first three games and then faced a tough team tonight. Sometimes when you win easily against teams maybe not as good as you, the tendency is to gain a false sense of security. This game tonight was good for us.'

Continued Sampson, 'The entire trip was good for this team. We have so many new faces and some of our returning players are young, too. This gave us a chance to bond as individuals and learn some things about ourselves. We'll head into practice Oct. 18 already knowing things we need to improve upon.'

Lavender led OU in scoring against Liceo with 22 points. He was 7-for-13 from the field and 3-for-5 from three-point territory. Bookout contributed 20 points on 10-for-17 shooting and nine boards. Other double-digit scorers were Gilbert (13) and Tobias (11).

Detrick struggled to a 2-for-11 shooting night and scored just five points, but did manage to register nine rebounds and five assists. Brown, who is nursing a sore ankle, did not play in the second half versus Liceo.

OU shot .421 from the field, .368 (7-for-19) from beyond the arc and .800 (8-for-10) from the foul line while Liceo posted .404, .286 and .724 respective figures.

Sophomore guard De'Angelo Alexander, a Big 12 All-Reserve Team member last year, was in street clothes again Sunday as he recovers from a dislocated right shoulder sustained in practice last Monday. He is expected to be sidelined for approximately four more weeks.

Bookout was OU's leading scorer and rebounder over the team's four games, averaging 18.5 points and 10.8 boards. His .643 field goal percentage led the team and included an 11-for-11 effort in Saturday's evening game. Detrick averaged 15.3 points, 7.0 rebounds and 5.0 assists while Lavender averaged 14.5 points, 3.8 boards, 8.3 assists and 2.0 steals. Lavender was stellar from long range, nailing 9-of-17 three-point attempts (.529), and also made all nine of his free throw tries. The 5-7 guard produced an 8.3 assist-to-turnover ratio by virtue of his 33 hand-outs and four miscues.

Tobias scored in double figures in all four outings and averaged 13.0 points on .556 shooting. Gilbert scored 13 points in each of the final three games and posted averages of 11.5 points and 8.0 boards on the weekend. The junior shot .576 from the field and .800 (8-for-10) from the free throw line. Gilbert is a career .411 free throw shooter.

OU is scheduled to depart Costa Rica at 9 a.m. Monday and arrive in Norman at approximately 5 p.m.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

OU Mens Basketball Finishes 4-0 in Costa Rica

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