OU downs Huskers 72-61

Blake Griffin's 27 points and 18 rebounds against Nebraska proved why he's a strong candidate for National Player of the Year.


Oklahoma's 6-foot-11 sophomore led the No. 5 Sooners to a 72-61 win over the Cornhuskers on Wednesday night in Norman, Okla., but that outcome was in doubt until the game's last two minutes.


Nebraska coach Doc Sadler was pleased with how his team performed in every aspect of the game except free throws.


"You've got to give Oklahoma credit," he said. "I thought we had a five- or six-minute stretch there where Ade was in foul trouble and Ryan (Anderson) probably needed a blow but we couldn't give him one and they made a couple of plays and that was the difference in the basketball game.


"You're not going to beat many teams as good as Oklahoma going 5-for-14 from the free throw line."


Nebraska outplayed the Sooners early on thanks to a 17-point first-half performance from Ryan Anderson during which he made four 3-pointers. Anderson finished the game with a team-leading 19 points.


The Huskers led at halftime 38-32. Sadler said he was happy with how his team shot in the first half even though the score was higher than what he wanted it to be.


"That's the trap you fall into," Sadler said. "You maybe make some shots, but you forget the reasons that you're getting as open as you're getting because you're more patient and you handle the basketball for 20 or 25 seconds.


"We got impatient, tried to take it to the basket, and you're not getting anything at the basket with these guys. Then you come out in the second half and some of the shots you made in the first half, you're not making and that's what happens."


Griffin began to heat up in the second half, and the short Husker lineup didn't have an answer for him. Despite that, Nebraska managed to hang around and tied the game at 53-all with 8:27 left in the game.


OU's Austin Johnson's 3-pointer with 6:36 remaining broke that tie and gave the Sooners the lead for good.


A 9-0 run with about two minutes left sealed the win for OU and ruined NU's upset chances.


Sadler said he expected Griffin to get his points but that his team didn't do well stopping others. Johnson had 15 points for OU and Tony Crocker added 12.


On top of Anderson's 19 points, Steve Harley added 11 and Sek Henry had 10 for Nebraska.


Sadler said it all came down to free throws and mental mistakes toward the end of the game.


"I like our basketball team," Sadler said. "They gave you all the effort in the world. We made some mistakes taking it to the basket. Those are turnovers. You're not going to get it to the basket against that team, and get easy baskets. We continued to try four or five times and bad things happened."    

LUKENICHOLS@DAILYNEBRASKAN.COM