OU Men Down Samford by 27 in Opener

NORMAN, Okla. (AP) - With its top two scorers failing to produce, No. 6 Oklahoma depended on second, third and even sixth chances to beat Samford.

Kevin Bookout scored 13 points and grabbed 10 rebounds and Michael Neal added 15 points on five 3-pointers to help the Sooners win their season opener 68-41 on Saturday.

Oklahoma didn't allow Samford a single offensive rebound, and Bookout had five of the Sooners' 21 offensive boards.

On one first-half possession, Oklahoma grabbed five of its own missed shots, but still came away empty.

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"We'd shoot and miss, get the rebound, shoot and miss, get the rebound, shoot and miss, get the rebound and shoot and miss," Oklahoma coach Kelvin Sampson said.

In all, Oklahoma had a 42-14 rebounding advantage over Samford, which started five players who were 6-foot-7 or shorter.

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"It was taking us three and four shots just to score," Sampson said. "But I don't worry about that. The encouraging part is how we fought for the rebounds.

"We are really going to have to work on finishing our plays because it shouldn't take three and four rebounds to finally make the basket."

Oklahoma opened the second half with a 22-5 run and led 49-22 after Nate Carter's reverse layup with 9:59 to play.

Taj Gray, whose only basket of the first half was a dunk that gave the Sooners a 27-17 halftime lead, scored Oklahoma's first six points of the second half and Carter - who left the game briefly in the first half with an injury - also scored six points in the run. He finished with 10 points.

Samford got within 57-37 on Randall Gulina's 3-pointer from the top of the key, but couldn't pull any closer as Oklahoma won its 12th straight home opener and its 26th in the last 27 seasons.

Gray, the Big 12 preseason player of the year who averaged team-highs with 14.6 points and 8.2 rebounds last season, finished with eight points and four rebounds - all offensive - in 23 minutes.

"I thought Taj was fighting Taj a little bit," Sampson said.

Terrell Everett, who was second on the team last season with an average of 12.5 points, scored seven on 3-for-10 shooting.

The Bulldogs (1-2), sending players slashing to the basket from the perimeter in the Princeton style offense, made their first five shots for an 11-6 lead following Gulina's 3-pointer from the left wing.

Sampson said it took a while for the Sooners to get used to the deliberate offense, which can eat 30 seconds off the clock each possession.

"They play unlike anybody else we play," Sampson said. "We don't play anybody who plays like that."

The Sooners surged back to tie the game at 13, then reeled off a 12-0 run started by back-to-back 3-pointers by Neal. Bookout scored in the lane, Everett hit a jumper and Chris Walker added two free throws for a 25-15 Oklahoma lead.

The Bulldogs hit only two of their 14 shots over the final 13 minutes of the half, and then made only two field goals in the first 10 minutes of the second half as Oklahoma's lead grew.

"I think down the road for us, we're going to be a much better basketball team. We're going to be able to score against people like us," Samford coach Jimmy Tillette said. "It's hard to cut and move with fluidity when you're guarded by people that are stronger, faster and more physical."

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