Mason-Griffin's Big Night Leads Sooners to Victory

Originally Published: Jan 27, 2010 10:42 PM CDT

Recap | Box Score

Corey DeMoss
Oklahoma Sports Staff Writer

NORMAN, Oklahoma – With leading scorers Tony Crocker and Willie Warren both out due to ankle injuries, Tommy Mason-Griffin and Cade Davis picked up the scoring and led OU to an 89-84 victory over Iowa State Wednesday.

The Sooners (12-8, 3-3) led by as much as 21 in the first half, but had to survive a late scare when Iowa State (12-8, 1-4) hit back-to-back 3-pointers to cut the lead to three with less than two minutes remaining. Mason-Griffin responded with clutch free throws to seal the win for OU.

The injuries to Crocker and Warren left OU shorthanded, forcing Mason-Griffin to play the entire game and Davis to play all but one minute. They carried the Sooners’ offense all night, combining to score 62 of the team’s 89 points. Mason-Griffin alone scored a career-high 38 points, the most by any Big 12 player this season.

Mason-Griffin could not be stopped from the opening tip-off. He finished shooting 13-of-21 from the floor – including 5-of-10 from behind the arc – and 7-of-7 from the free-throw line. Davis finished with 24 points on 9-of-17 shooting.

The rest of OU’s offense was virtually non-existent. No other Sooner scored more than 10 points or made more than 50 percent of their field goals.

Oklahoma never trailed, but the two teams stayed close as the game began. The Cyclones cut the advantage to one point at 16-15, but the Sooners took advantage of ISU mistakes to go on a 14-0 run. Iowa State committed a total of 14 turnovers in the first half to help OU go into the locker room with a 48-32 lead.

Iowa State slowly cut into the Sooners’ lead throughout the second half until Marquis Gilstrap and Chris Colvin hit 3-pointers on consecutive trips down the floor to cut the lead to 82-79 with 90 seconds left, the closest they had come since the first half.

ISU then committed two unnecessary fouls, allowing the Sooners to extend the lead again. Gilstrap hit another 3-pointer as time wound down, but it was too late for the Cyclones.

The win snaps the Sooners’ two-game losing streak and brings them back to .500 in conference play. They will now go on the road to face Nebraska at 12:30 p.m. Saturday.