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 The Sooners traveled to Texas and slammed the 10th-ranked
Longhorns 70-49 Monday night at the Frank Erwin Center.
The game followed Oklahoma's 10-point win over No. 22 Baylor on
Saturday, giving the Sooners back-to-back victories over ranked foes
to start conference play.
The Big 12 is crowded with would-be contenders -- six conference
teams are ranked between No. 10 and No. 21 in the latest Associated
Press poll -- but the Sooners (11-3, 2-0 Big 12) are proving they
are ready for the rigors of league play.
Oklahoma did it exactly how coach Lon Kruger wanted against Texas,
with an effort predicated on defense.
"Our goal is to contest shots every possession and not give up
anything easy in the paint," Kruger said. "This club is moving in a
good direction relative to the conference."
Sooners guard Isaiah Cousins hit two 3-pointers in the first three
minutes of the second half, sparking a 9-2 run to begin the period
as Oklahoma surged ahead by 26 points.
 That all but buried Texas, which struggled to find the mark all
night. The Longhorns (12-3, 1-1) shot 30 percent from the field and
28.6 percent from 3-point range.
"At halftime, we were telling each other don't let them come back,"
Sooners forward TaShawn Thomas said. "We've got to stay humble, keep
our foot on the pedal. That's one big thing that coach told us when
we came in the locker room was don't let up."
Guard Buddy Hield scored 13 points to lead Oklahoma, which had five
players score in double digits. Cousins added 12, Thomas scored 12,
guard Dinjiyl Walker had 10 and guard Jordan Woodard scored 10.
"It's not like we got a big, leading scorer that if he has an off
night then we're struggling," Kruger said. "That helped a lot. The
key with this group is they really don't care who scores on a given
night. They know that they move the ball very well and they just
want to get a good result."
Guard Javan Felix scored 13 points to lead Texas. He was the only
Longhorn who scored in double figures.
Oklahoma established a double-digit lead a little more than seven
minutes into the first half when forward Ryan Spangler hit a
3-pointer to cap an 11-0 run and put the Sooners ahead 13-3.
Texas made just two of its first 16 field-goal attempts. Felix and
guard Isaiah Taylor each hit a 3-pointer, but those were the only
baskets for the Longhorns in the first 11 minutes as Oklahoma took a
21-6 lead.
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"We just got frustrated and we let it affect our defense, and we
can't let that happen because we pride ourselves in being one of the
best defensive teams in the country," Felix said. "We didn't play
like that tonight." After Texas center Cameron Ridley finally
scored the Longhorns' first points from inside the arc, Oklahoma
reeled off another 6-0 run and grabbed a 19-point lead, tying its
largest of the first half, on Thomas' layup 4:35 before the break.
Texas shot a dismal 20 percent from the field and 18.2 percent from
3-point range in the opening 20 minutes. The Longhorns didn't
attempt a free throw in the first half.
However, it was the overall effort, not the poor shooting, that
worried Texas coach Rick Barnes.
"I'm disappointed," Barnes said. "I didn't think we showed any type
of toughness at all. I didn't think we showed any type of fight."
Spangler led Oklahoma with nine points in the first half and Hield
added seven as the Sooners surged ahead 33-14 at halftime.
NOTES: Oklahoma swept the two Big 12 regular-season games against
Texas last season, including winning both teams' conference opener
88-85 in Austin. ... By scoring 14 points in the conference opener
at Texas Tech on Saturday, Texas F Jonathan Holmes passed 1,000
points for his career, becoming the 34th Longhorn to do so. ... The
Longhorns got 37 bench points in a 70-61 victory at Texas Tech on
Saturday, including G Javan Felix's game-high 15 and C Cameron
Ridley's 13. Meanwhile, Oklahoma's starters scored all but two
points in the Sooners' 73-63 home win over Baylor. Texas' bench
outscored Oklahoma's 24-14 Monday.
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