Strong Second Half Propels Sooners Past Golden Hurricane

Jordan Woodard hit for career highs with 24 points and eight assists to lead Oklahoma over Tulsa 101-91 on Saturday.

The freshman point guard got the better of his older brother James individually and overall Saturday as Jordan's Sooners (9-1) beat James' Tulsa squad.

Jordan scored 17 of his points from the free-throw line, while sophomore James led the Golden Hurricane with 19 points. Shaquille Harrison and Pat Swilling Jr. added 17 for Tulsa (3-7). Swilling hit on five treys.

Oklahoma placed five players in double figures, including Buddy Hield's 23, as the Sooners won their fifth consecutive game.

The Sooners, already without backup point guard Je'lon Hornbeak, lost sophomore forward Ryan Spangler late in the first half with an injury to his right calf. Hornbeak broke his foot early in the week and is expected to miss four to six weeks.

Spangler, who had six rebounds in the first half, briefly returned to the game after suffering the injury but did not go through warmups after halftime and had his leg wrapped heavily.

Hornbeak's injury forced the Sooners to rely much more on Jordan Woodard's scoring and he proved worthy with his career day that came on just 3 of 4 shooting.

In Spangler's absence, D.J. Bennett and Tyler Neal picked up the slack, with Neal scoring 12 off the bench.

Oklahoma turned the ball over a season-low seven times and out-rebounded Tulsa 43-32.

The Sooners led by 12 points late in the first half after controlling things most of the way.

But the Golden Hurricane dominated the final 6:20 before the break, outscoring Oklahoma 19-9 to cut the deficit to two, 40-38, at halftime.

But the Sooners turned up the pace in the second half, scoring 20 points -- 10 by Hield -- in the first six minutes to regain control.

Much of the game was contested at the free-throw line with the teams combining to take 78 foul shots. The Sooners scored 34 of their points from the line.

The meeting was the first since the 2008-09 season between the in-state teams.