If there ever was a time for Oklahoma coach Jeff Capel to call in sick, Monday was the day.
Oklahoma didn’t need its head coach. The Sooners probably didn’t need any coaches at all.
Maryland Eastern Shore came to Norman with just one win under its belt and had just suffered an 88-56 loss to Nebraska. Capel missed Monday’s game due to a stomach virus and was being treated at Norman Regional Hospital. But as expected the Sooners still rolled, beating the Hawks 100-64.
Assistant coach Mark Cline took Capel’s place.
“I went and saw him and he looks good,” Cline said. “I expect him to be back tomorrow or Wednesday at the latest. “He texted me and told me the situation. He just wanted us to conduct business as usual.”
The Sooners are now finished with their non-conference schedule. OU will enter Big 12 Conference play 14-1 and will travel to Kansas State at 7 p.m. Saturday. OU has not started this well since it began 15-1 in the 1987-88 season, guided by Billy Tubbs. The Sooners went to the national championship game that season.
A sparse crowd saw the Sooners dominatee.
“It was fun, but there were some moments that weren’t so fun,” Cline said. “There were a few possessions where I thought we didn’t play as hard.”
The opponent probably had something to do with that.
“You like the big games,” Taylor Griffin said. “Conference is what you look forward to and the Big 12 is a great conference.”
The Hawks (1-9) called a timeout after an OU miss with 8:43 left in the first half and Willie Warren immediately hit another 3-pointer to increase the lead to 29-15. OU outscored the Hawks 22-7 the rest of the half to take a 48-22 lead at the break.
Blake Griffin finished with 20 points and had a double-double — 14 rebounds, 15 points — by the half. He finished with a game-high 16 rebounds in only 22 minutes.
“It wasn’t hard to get focused,” Griffin said of his coach being out. “We found out Sunday that he was sick. Coach Cline told us what the situation was and he took over. Coach (Capel) just wanted business as usual and that’s what we did. In my opinion, coach (Cline) is a great coach. We just had to stay focused. It’s more mental than physical.”
The Sooners pushed the lead to 30 points 5 minutes into the second half.
Cline substituted liberally in the second half. Reserve center Orlando Allen scored a season-high 10 points. Tony Crocker and Willie Warren each had 15 points. Thirteen Sooners saw playing time.
Neal Pitt led UMES with 18 points.
“I’m new to this,” Cline said to open the postgame press conference. “I’ve been an assistant for 20 years and, yeah, it was fun. I just hate the way it happened because he’s my best friend. I’ve known Jeff since he was in the fifth grade, so he’s like family to me.”
Scott Moore
366-3535
smoore@normantranscript.com
OU Sports
Sooners roll without their coach
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