Oklahoma 58, Tulsa 48

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ Ten games into Jeff Capel's tenure at Oklahoma, his team is beginning to develop a hallmark as a tough defensive squad. <br/><br/>The Sooners got 11 points apiece from Michael

Thursday, December 21st 2006, 9:42 am

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ Ten games into Jeff Capel's tenure at Oklahoma, his team is beginning to develop a hallmark as a tough defensive squad.

The Sooners got 11 points apiece from Michael Neal and Austin Johnson and they held Tulsa to its lowest scoring output of the season for a 58-48 win Thursday at the All-College Classic.

``Defense is where we want to hang our hat,'' Capel said.

The Sooners (7-3) have held five of their opponents to 48 points or less and have picked up all seven of their wins when holding foes to less than 40 percent shooting.

Tulsa (8-2) shot only 28 percent, its worst in coach Doug Wojcik's two years as coach, had 10 shots blocked and committed 19 turnovers.

``They really defended today,'' Wojcik said. ``I thought they really disrupted our shots. They contested almost every jump shot.''

Rod Earls hit a career-high five 3-pointers on eight attempts, but his teammates combined to go 1-for-12 from long range. Tulsa had won seven games in a row, all at home and against lesser foes, and was looking to break a three-game losing streak against the Sooners.

``To play at that level, you've got to really be strong and aggressive,'' Wojcik said. ``I thought they were more aggressive.''

That's exactly the plan the Sooners had. Entering the game, Capel figured Tulsa got about half of its points in transition. The Sooners allowed no fast-break baskets by the Golden Hurricane.

``Instead of us being on the defensive, we're attacking on the defensive end,'' Oklahoma forward Taylor Griffin said.

Neal finished an 8-1 run with a 3-pointer to make it 51-40 and give the Sooners enough room to hold off a late Tulsa comeback try. He also had a right-handed dunk and made 4-of-6 free throws down the stretch to keep the Sooners ahead.

All but two of Neal's points came in the final four minutes.

Tulsa pulled back within 53-48 after a steal by Rod Earls led to Jamel McLean's two-handed jam, but went cold again after that.

``We tried our hardest. We fought and clawed but we never could get over the hump,'' said Earls, who led Tulsa with 16 points.

Oklahoma opened a 30-22 advantage when Longar Longar dropped in a layup on the first possession after halftime. Tulsa closed to within 34-31 after Ben Uzoh hit 2-of-4 free throws on back-to-back possessions, but that's as close as it got.

Crocker, Uzoh's high-school teammate at Warren High School in San Antonio, responded with a three-point play and Taylor Griffin's layup pushed the lead back to eight.

Crocker finished with 10 points. Uzoh had seven points on 1-for-9 shooting.

Tulsa missed 10 of its first 11 shots but was able to stay in the game from the free-throw line. The Golden Hurricane tied it at 13 after Earls' second 3-pointer and a two-handed jam by McLean.

The start of the game was delayed about 10 minutes by a shot clock malfunction.