Mission accomplished for No. 19 Oklahoma

HILO, Hawaii (AP) _ It was mission accomplished for the Oklahoma Sooners at the Big Island Invitational Tournament. <br><br>When the Sooners (5-0) arrived in Hawaii for the eight-team, three-day basketball

Monday, November 27th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

HILO, Hawaii (AP) _ It was mission accomplished for the Oklahoma Sooners at the Big Island Invitational Tournament.

When the Sooners (5-0) arrived in Hawaii for the eight-team, three-day basketball carnival, Kelvin Sampson had a few goals on his agenda.

They head home today with the glistening championship trophy and several goals reached.

``When we came here, I wanted two things: one was to test our resolve on defense and to make sure we competed as hard as we're capable of competing,'' Sampson said after Oklahoma's surprisingly easy 78-60 victory over previously unbeaten Oregon State in Sunday's title game.

``We got better in both areas.''

But, leaving nothing to chance, he added, ``But we have a high ceiling. We can still get a lot better. We've got to stay focused and not get satisfied. We've got a lot of work to do if we're going to stay together.''

In overpowering Oregon State (4-1), the Sooners switched to long-range shooting after two games of inside muscle.

With J.R. Raymond leading the way, they hit 12 3-pointers in a well-distributed attack. Hollis Price, Nolan Johnson and Kelley Newton each added two and, for good measure, even forward Aaron McGhee got into the act with one.

McGhee, who opened the tournament with 32 points, was plagued by foul problems for the second straight night. He picked up two in the early going and wound up playing only 19 minutes.

``We were well-prepared,'' Sampson said of the team's effort. ``We were ready to play; real focused.

``Oregon State had been blowing out people (by an average of 35 points) and the kids felt that was a challenge.''

Defensively, Oklahoma permitted only two offensive rebounds.

``When you allow a big team like Oregon State only two off its own boards, you've accomplished something,'' he said. ``Again, that goes back to commitment; staying focused.''

Players off the bench, meanwhile, contributed 18 points.

Sampson cautioned that there's still room for improvement.

``We're still in November, so we're trying to find our niche,'' he said. ``They finding a way to play with each other _ finding their roles.

``This was a good challenge for us. All three opponents (Montana State, Tulane and Oregon State) all play different systems and the players adjusted well.''

OSU's Richie McKay said, ``I think we can beat a No. 19 team, but not tonight. They hit the open 3s and we weren't able to respond. But we'll be back in the mix.''

The Sooners seized control early.

Johnson and Price hit consecutive 3-pointers to cap a 17-5 run that led to a 40-25 halftime lead.

The Beavers got to within nine early in the second half, but Raymond converted three free throws and followed with back-to-back 3-pointers to blunt the comeback effort.

The lead was up to 29 points midway through the half before the Beavers put together a string of six 3-pointers in closing out the game.

Raymond finished with 21 points with Johnson contributing 18 and Price, the tournament's outstanding player, and Newton 10 apiece.