By John Shinn
AUSTIN, Texas — Oklahoma came to the Erwin Center hoping to leave as the No. 1 team in college basketball. Instead it left with a 73-68 loss to Texas and Blake Griffin starring off into space.
The All-American forward played only 11 minutes and scored just two points and grabbed three rebounds. Two cheap fouls sent him to the bench after 7 minutes. He returned only to be whacked across the nose by Texas center Dexter Pittman with about 7 minutes left in the first half. He also collided with Texas point guard Dogus Balbay about a minute later.
The Sooner training staff wasn’t completely sure which contact caused the injury.
Griffin went to the bench about 4 minutes before intermission and never returned. OU head trainer Alex Brown had to walk him to and from the locker room to OU’s bench while Griffin walked slowly with a glassy expression on his face.
“It was time for everybody to step up and play a little harder, especially on defense. I think that’s where we lost the game,” said Taylor Griffin, who finished with nine points and eight rebounds. “We let them do what they wanted to do instead of what we talked about all week.”
Even without the likely recipient of every national player of the year award in college basketball, the Sooners (25-2, 11-1 Big 12) stayed in the game and led with less than 3 minutes to play.
Willie Warren put OU on his 19-year-old back and tried to carry the Sooners to their first win at the Erwin Center since 2005. The freshman scored 27 points with his last basket — a 3-pointer with 5 minutes left — coming with a severe cramp in his left leg.
“I just tried to make plays to help keep our team in the game, so down the stretch we would have chance for a tie or a win.”
It could have been OU’s biggest win of the season considering the circumstances.
Texas’ A.J. Abrams had other plans. The senior guard, who established a school record for most games played with 135, took over late in the game. He finished with 23 points, all but five coming in the final 8 minutes.
“I asked him if he could stop hitting shots,” Warren joked, “but he didn’t listen.”
The second-ranked Sooners played like they needed the win, but the Longhorns (18-8, 7-5) clearly needed it more. They’d lost four of their last five games and had put themselves on the NCAA Tournament bubble instead of their usual spot competing for a top seed.
“We needed a win and we got one,” Texas coach Rick Barnes simply stated.
OU trailed 69-68 after a tip-in by Juan Pattillo with 42 seconds left. OU finally got Abrams to miss on the following possession, but Pittman grabbed the rebound and converted to put the Longhorns up by three with 12 seconds to play.
Coming the other way, Tony Crocker got a good look to tie it, but hit the front rim. Two free throws iced the game for the Longhorns.
Texas ended a 13-game winning streak for OU.
“We gave ourselves a chance to win, but we’re really disappointed, because we felt like we let one go,” OU coach Jeff Capel said. “They made plays down the stretch and we didn’t. For the first time in a really long time, our team didn’t make those plays down the stretch.”
Capel said Griffin’s status will be evaluated today. The injury couldn’t have come at a worse time. Not only did it likely prevent the Sooners from grabbing the top spot in both national polls, it also occurred in the midst of OU’s biggest two-game stretch of the season.
OU hosts No. 15 Kansas (22-5, 11-1) at 8 Monday night at Lloyd Noble Center. A loss would put the Jayhawks in the driver’s seat for the Big 12 title. OU can regain its grip on the conference crown with a win.
Even if Blake Griffin can’t go, the implications won’t change, because of what happened Saturday.
“It’s not Blake and the Sooners, it’s Oklahoma,” Capel said. “We didn’t prove anything to ourselves. We lost and we’re disappointed. There’s no moral victories in our program.”
John Shinn
366-3536
jshinn@normantranscript.com
