John Shinn
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — One team came out hot and stayed that way. The other didn’t. The scoreboard reading “Louisville 78, Oklahoma 48” pretty much identified which was which.
The Sooners’ season came to an abrupt and ugly end in the second round of the NCAA Tournament’s East Regional at BJCC Arena.
“That pretty much summed it up,” OU’s Blake Griffin said about an afternoon when the Sooners could do little right and the Cardinals could do little wrong. “Louisville is a good team and they had a really good day. I think it was combination of both. Today wasn’t our day at all.”
Louisville, which advanced to the Sweet 16 and a meeting with No. 2 seed Tennessee in the East Regional semifinals Thursday, was too big, too athletic and too deep for the Sooners to handle.
Earl Clark led the Cardinals with 14 points and Jerry Smith added 12. It wasn’t one particular player who did the Sooners in. It was what seemed like an endless rotation of pressure.
Seven Cardinals scored seven points or more.
OU knew what to expect. The Cardinals’ full-court pressure was no guarded secret. But the Sooners didn’t get a full grasp of what was coming until the game tipped off.
“When you get out there and that pressure hits you, and that speed and that athleticism and the length that Louisville constantly throws as you, it becomes more difficult to do what you know you’re supposed to do,” OU coach Jeff Capel said.
The Sooners handled it well enough for about 10 minutes.
David Godbold hit his first three 3-point attempts and Tony Crocker added a fourth with 12:30 left and the Sooners only trailed 14-12.
But the Cardinals (26-8) exploded for a 24-8 run to close the first half. Will Scott hit a lunging 3-pointer at the first half buzzer to Louisville up 44-22 at the break.
If OU hadn’t figured out by then it wasn’t going to be its day, just about everyone else in the arena had.
With 4:15 left in the first half, Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl got up and left his courtside seat. He knew which team he would be studying for Thursday’s East Regional semifinal.
“It was our best performance this year,” Louisville forward Terrence Williams said.
Hard to debate his assessment.
The Cardinals shot 59.3 percent (32-for-54) from the field and 24 of those baskets came off assists.
The Sooners never found any offensive rhythm and had to settle for too many jump shots. They were just 15-for-47 from the field and committed 16 turnovers.
“It just got a little out of hand when they made a big run and we really couldn’t respond to that,” said Godbold, who scored a game-high 15 points.
Taylor Griffin added 11. Blake Griffin added eight points and was the focus of constant double teams.
The post, however, belonged to the Cardinals. OU center Longar Longar scored just two points on 1-for-8 shooting and the Cardinals enjoyed a 44-20 scoring edge in the paint.
“I really can’t find a weakness in the way the guys played tonight,” Louisville coach Rick Pitino said. “They did a tremendous job.”
The Sooners enter the offseason knowing the program is heading in an upward direction, but facing some uncertainty.
Rumors have flown that Capel is leaving to go to South Carolina.
“I’m planning on being here, hopefully, for a long time,” Capel said Sunday after being asked if he’s coached his last game at OU.
He also talked at length about the lengthy strides his team made in his second season. OU went from 16-15 a year ago to 23-12, finished fourth in the Big 12 Conference and reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
The future looks very bright. It’s even brighter if Blake Griffin elects to return for his sophomore season. Following the game, he said he’ll take the next three or four weeks to make a decision.
His brother, Taylor Griffin, will be a senior next season and admitted there’s a lot to consider.
“I’m split just because, as a brother, you want what’s best for him,” Taylor said. “As a teammate, I would want what’s best for the team.
“Ultimately, the brother comes out more than the teammate. We’re going to talk about it with my parents, Coach Capel, some of the people that are really close. I really can’t tell you anything about what I think he’s going to do.”
It was a good year for the Sooners. But already there’s buzz around next season.
John Shinn
366-3536
jshinn@normantranscript.com
