Oklahoma Postgame Notes

Dec. 4, 2008

• Three-time defending Big 12 Player of the Week Blake Griffin scored a game-high-tying 25 points on 8-of-12 (.750) shooting. Griffin added six boards, two assists and one block in 37 minutes of action.

• Griffin has scored at least 20 points in six of OU's seven games this year (he had 18 in the other). His six boards were his fewest of the season by nine (he grabbed at least 18 rebounds in five of the team's six previous games).

• Griffin entered the game averaging 12.2 free throw attempts per contest and went 9-for-13 this evening. He is 44-for-64 (.688) from the line over the last five games after going 9-for-22 (.409) over the first two.

• Austin Johnson scored a season-high 17 points (15 in the first half) on 7-of-12 shooting. His only other double-digit scoring game this season came last Friday against Purdue (11). Johnson scored 11 of OU's first 14 points tonight and knotted the game at 14-14 with a layup at the 15:19 mark of the first half after the Sooners fell behind 9-0.

• Taylor Griffin netted 10 points (all in the second stanza) and was a rebound shy of his first double-double of the season while also recording a career-high-tying four blocks. The senior has scored in double figures in four of the last five games.

• USC's 9-0 start tonight marked OU's second largest deficit this season. The Sooners twice trailed Purdue by nine in their last outing, while UAB led by 11 at the 2:55 mark of the first half in Oklahoma's 77-67win two days earlier.

• The Sooners improved to 6-5 all-time against USC. Tonight's win marked OU's first over the Trojans since the 1983-84 season opener when Oklahoma won 92-91 in Los Angeles, Calif.

• OU is 4-2 against the Trojans in Norman, although its last home victory prior to tonight's contest came during the1962-63 season (66-56).

• Tonight's meeting marked the first true road contest for USC. The Trojans were 7-4 in road games last season, winning five of their last seven road meetings.

• Oklahoma's 7-0 start is its best since the 2003-04 season when it began 10-0.

• The Sooners picked up their first victory over a Pac-10 opponent since beating Cal 74-65 on March 22, 2003, in the second round of the NCAA Tournament in Oklahoma City.

• OU scored 11 second-chance points after intermission on five offensive rebounds. The Sooners did not record an offensive board in the opening stanza. USC had 15 second-chance points in the first half on eight offensive rebounds, but was limited to two points on a single offensive board after halftime.

• Oklahoma scored 16 points off of 14 USC turnovers while limiting the Trojans to just four points on the Sooners' eight turnovers.

• OU was outrebounded (34-25) for the first time this season after outboarding its first six opponents by an average margin of 9.0 rpg.

• USC's Dwight Lewis scored 25 points on 8-of-15 shooting, three days after scoring a career-high 26 points against San Francisco.