University of Oklahoma Athletics
Oklahoma Postgame Notes
January 10, 2009 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 10, 2009
• No. 6 Oklahoma improved to 15-1 overall and to 3-1 on the road with a 61-53 win at Kansas State. It was the Wildcats' first home loss this year (they were 10-0).
• The Sooners won their first road game against a Big 12 North opponent since beating Kansas State 69-68 four years ago, snapping a string of nine straight losses.
• OU held the Wildcats to 28.5 points below their season average and to 10 points below their previous season low (63 versus Iowa). K-State's 53 points tied as the second fewest surrendered by OU in a regular season conference game during the Jeff Capel era.
• Sophomore Blake Griffin finished with game highs of 29 points and 15 rebounds for his nation-leading 13th double-double of the year. His three assists today marked his eighth game this year with at least three handouts, while his 13 field goals were one shy of his career high.
• Today's contest was Griffin's 11th 20-point effort of the season and fourth in the last five games. He has recorded at least 15 rebounds in half of OU's 16 outings.
• Freshman Willie Warren was 4-for-6 from the field and 2-for-2 from 3-point range to finish with 10 points. It was the fifth straight double-digit scoring game (13th of the year) for the four-time Big 12 Rookie of the Week. He is 14-for-24 (.583) from 3-point range in the team's four road contests.
• Junior Tony Crocker (seven points) was held to single-digit scoring for just the second time in the last nine games. His career-high-tying four steals, however, were a factor defensively as Kansas State committed a season-high-tying 20 turnovers (it entered the game averaging 13.4 turnovers).
• The Sooners held Kansas State to a season-low .327 field goal mark (KSU's previous low was .364 versus Kentucky). The Wildcats shot just .257 (9-for-35) in the second half.
• OU won for the fourth time in its last five trips to Kansas State, and improved to 102-89 in the all-time series. The Sooners' last three wins in Manhattan came by a combined four points. The last time OU won by a larger margin at K-State than today's eight-point difference was in 1992 (117-76).
• Oklahoma hosts No. 7 Texas on Monday at 8 p.m. CST (ESPN). The Sooners, who own a 45-27 all-time record against the Longhorns, will be looking to end a six-game losing streak in the series. OU was picked No. 1 in the preseason Big 12 coaches poll while Texas was picked No. 2.
