Southern Hospitality

OU 68, Southern 54

Taj Gray continued his resurgence with 22 points and 14 rebounds and Kevin Bookout added 16 points as the Sooners committed a season-low 10 turnovers and benefited from 27 offensive rebounds.

"We dominated every phase of the game. We could not make a layup, we couldn't make a free throw, we couldn't make an open jump shot," Oklahoma coach Kelvin Sampson said. "Had we done all those things, we'd be sitting here talking about how great we played."

The Sooners were only 5-for-24 from 3-point range and shot 38 percent overall. This was the last “tune up” game for Oklahoma before the West Virginia Mountaineers come to Oklahoma City Thursday night. A win over West Virginia would establish the Sooners as the frontrunner of the Big 12 Conference.

Around the Rim, Big 12

Could They Have Possibly Been Over-Rated?



A week after getting run off the floor by the Duke Blue Devils the Longhorns blew their chance at redemption Saturday by getting run off their home court by the unranked Tennessee Volunteers, 95-78.

The Longhorns may have a talented starting 5, maybe a bit over-rated, but this team lacks depth. That will result in this team not winning a championship.

On the Losing Side

The only other two Big 12 teams to lose this weekend were the Texas Tech Red Raiders and the Iowa State Cyclones

UNLV used a 19-8 run at the start of the second half to gain control of the Raiders who are now just one game above .500.


Je'Kel Foster scored 28 points and Ohio State went on an 18-7 run down the stretch to beat Iowa State 70-67 on Saturday night, giving the Buckeyes seven straight wins to open the season for the first time since 1990-91. The Cyclones are still at 6-3 and are beginning to play some solid basketball.

The good news for the conference is that there are now no teams with a losing record. The Kansas Jayhawks have the conferences worst record at 4-4.

Other Weekend Scores
Saturday December 17th
Chicago St 65 @ Nebraska 76
Bethune-Cookman 61 @ Kansas St. 74
Savannah St. 34 @ Texas A&M 67
UC Irvine 80 @ Colorado 96
Sunday December 18th
Mercer 61 @ Oklahoma State 97

Big 12 Power Rankings
How I rank the teams based on who I think would beat who on a neutral floor.
1. Oklahoma 6-1
2. Texas A&M 7-0
3. Texas 8-2
4. Kansas State 7-1
5. Colorado 6-1
6. Nebraska 7-2
7. OSU 7-3
8. Iowa State 6-3
9. Texas Tech 6-5
10. Missouri 4-3
11. Kansas 4-4
12. Baylor 0-0

Looking Ahead

Mon., Dec. 19
Pepperdine at Kansas
North Carolina A&T at Nebraska

Tue., Dec. 20
Colorado at TCU
Kansas State at Northern Illinois

Wed., Dec. 21
Missouri vs. Illinois
Alabama A&M at Nebraska
Texas Tech vs. Arkansas
Iowa State vs. South Florida

Thu., Dec. 22
Oklahoma State vs. Tennessee
Mercer at Colorado
Northern Colorado at Kansas
Texas State at Texas
Oklahoma vs. West Virginia
Auburn at Texas A&M
Iowa State vs. Oregon St./Northwestern St.

Fri., Dec. 23
Iowa State vs. To Be Determined