Oklahoma Men Win Big Over Arkansas

Originally Published: Dec 2, 2009 9:32 PM CDT

Recap | Box Score

Corey DeMoss
Oklahoma Sports Staff Writer

NORMAN, Oklahoma -- Senior guard Tony Crocker recorded his first double-double of the year and four Sooners scored in double digits to lead the OU men’s basketball team to a 67-47 victory over Arkansas Wednesday.

Crocker led all scorers with 16 points and added a career-high 16 rebounds. Willie Warren and Tommy Mason-Griffin both scored 13, and Cade Davis added 11.

Davis also shut down Arkansas' main scoring threat, Rotnei Clark. Clark, who was averaging more than 28 points per game coming in, scored just 11 on 5-of-13 shooting.

“Coming in, we knew his stats,” Davis said. “We knew he was shooting the ball really well; I think he’s leading the country in 3-point percentage. I took it upon myself to try to limit his shots, and obviously we came out with a win.”

Clark is originally from Oklahoma and helped Verdigris High School win a 3A state championship. He averaged 40.9 points per game in high school and his 3,758 career points are the most in Oklahoma high school history.

“It was a special game for me being able to be back in the state and knowing I had a lot more family and friends and people that I knew from here that were going to be at the game,” Clark said. “It was a tough game to lose, but any game that we lose is going to be tough. I hate to lose.”

Arkansas (2-5) led for most of the first half, but OU (4-3) went on a 14-2 run to end the half and went into the locker room with a 34-27 lead. The Sooners did not let up after halftime, starting the half on a 14-3 and gaining a sizable lead they would never give up.

The OU defense smothered the Razorbacks, holding them scoreless for almost four minutes in the second half. Arkansas shot just 37 percent from the field, and scored by far the least amount of points in a game this season.

The Sooners won in virtually every category, getting more rebounds, assists and blocks and committing fewer turnovers.

The win gives OU two in a row after a rough three-game losing streak and brings the Sooners back above .500 for the first time since Nov. 21. They will try to keep that success going when they host Arizona at 6 p.m. Sunday.