Colorado Hands Sooners Third Straight Loss

Originally Published: Feb 17, 2010 10:28 PM CDT

Corey DeMoss
Oklahoma Sports Staff Writer

BOULDER, Colorado – The Oklahoma men made a late-game push, but it was not enough to overcome a big deficit on the way to a 77-67 loss to Colorado Wednesday.

Willie Warren and Tiny Gallon were both back in the lineup after missing Bedlam, but neither could save OU’s struggling offense. Gallon only played for 15 minutes and scored four points, but Warren fared significantly better.

Warren and Tommy Mason-Griffin each scored a game-high 19 points, but they were the only Sooners (13-12, 4-7) to contribute any consistent scoring. Andrew Fitzgerald scored nine, but all of those came in the first half.

The two teams stayed close for much of the night, and Colorado held a 33-30 lead at halftime. But the Buffaloes (12-13, 3-8) went on an 8-0 run in the second half, then extended their lead to as much as 15 with six minutes remaining.

With time running out, OU finally went on a run of its own and scored eight straight. But it was too little, too late. Colorado made clutch free throws to extend the lead and finish off the Sooners.

OU finished shooting 46 percent from the field and 37 percent from 3-point range. Warren and Mason-Griffin shot a combined 6-of-9 from beyond the arc; the rest of the team went 1-for-10.

Colorado benefited from much more consistent and widespread scoring. Four different Buffaloes scored more than 13 points, with Cory Higgins leading the way with 17.

The Sooners have now lost three in a row and will finish the season face five consecutive ranked teams – Kansas State, Kansas, Baylor, Texas and Texas A&M. Their next game will come at 5 p.m. Saturday against No. 7 Kansas State.