By John Shinn
With 34 seconds left Wednesday night, Oklahoma's Tony Crocker and Cade Davis were finally able to catch their breath. The Sooners were up by 20 against Arkansas and there was nothing left for them to do.
The previous 391?2 minutes, however, they had done everything to deliver the Sooners' 67-47 victory Arkansas at Lloyd Noble Center.
"We need leadership. This is something this team has been desperately missing -- leadership from within the team," OU coach Jeff Capel said.
The Sooners (4-3) got a huge dose of it from Crocker and Davis.
It wasn't so much the points, though they combined for 27. It was both of them doing every little thing they could to get the Sooners back on track.
Crocker, who's been a guard through the first three years of his career, was a 6-foot-6 power forward Wednesday. And had the numbers to back it up.
He pulled down a career-high 16 rebounds in 36 minutes.
"I was just trying to get as many rebounds as I could," Crocker said.
Davis's job was easier in theory. He was supposed to be in Arkansas' Rotnei Clarke's hip pocket all night. He got there when the game tipped off and stayed there until he exited the game.
Clarke, who was the leading scorer in Oklahoma high school basketball history, entered the game averaging 26.7 points. He finished with 11 points and didn't make a 3-pointer until there was 2:32 left in the game.
"Coach gave me that opportunity tonight," Davis said of the effort on Clarke. "Coming in, we knew his stats ... I just took it upon myself to try to limit his shots."
Defense was the story for the Sooners Wednesday night. The lack of it played a massive role in the Sooners' three-game losing streak starting Nov. 21 at Virginia Commonwealth and carrying through losses to San Diego and Houston in the Great Alaska Shootout. The Sooners gave up at least 76 points in all those games and 100 to the Cougars. Wednesday was their first home game since the slump.
But it wasn't an offensive masterpiece by any stretch for the Sooners. They shot 50 percent from the field (23-for-46). Crocker led the Sooners with 16 points. Willie Warren and Tommy Mason-Griffin both added 13 and Davis tossed in 11.
The blowout wouldn't have been possible with a 3-point barrage that started with 3:30 left in the first half. The Sooners trailed 22-14 at that point, but closed with 20-5 run. All but two of the points came from 3-point range. Crocker and Mason-Griffin both hit two during the stretch. Davis and Steven Pledger also added bombs.
Pledger hit the last from the wing right before the first-half buzzer sounded to give OU a 34-27 lead.
The Razorbacks (2-5) never really threatened from there.
Marshawn Powell led Arkansas with 12 points. Clarke finished with 11.
OU just didn't give them much room to get off shots. The Razorbacks, who came to Lloyd Noble Center averaging 86.2 points a game, shot 37 percent for the game (20-for-54) and were just 3-for-18 from the field.
"We're proud of that," Capel said. "It's a good step."
John Shinn 366-3536 jshinn@normantranscript.com
