Oklahoma 89, Texas-Arlington 60

Saturday, December 16th 2006, 10:46 pm

By: News On 6

NORMAN, Okla. (AP) Tony Crocker scored 18 points to lead four Oklahoma players in double-figures as the Sooners defeated Texas-Arlington 89-60 in non-conference play Saturday night.

Michael Neal had 17 points, while Longar Longar and Austin Johnson added 16 and 13 points respectively, to help the Sooners (6-3). Taylor Griffin added career-highs in rebounds (13) and assists (7).

Texas-Arlington (3-5) was led by Brandon Longs career-best 22-point performance.

Oklahoma trailed early thanks to the first of Longs 6 3-pointers, but a Crocker 3-pointer gave the Sooners the lead for good at the 16:13 mark. Johnson then capped a 15-5 run with another 3-pointer that put the Sooners in front 20-10 with just minutes left in the half.

Long did his best to keep the Mavericks within striking distance, connecting on consecutive treys, the latter cutting the lead to 23-18 with 9:27 left before intermission.

But a 3-point play from Longar and back to back buckets by Johnson and Crocker kept the Mavericks on their heels. OU finished the half with a decisive 20-8 run that built the lead to 43-26 at the break.

Oklahoma forced 19 turnovers and limited Texas-Arlington to 37 percent shooting from the field. The Sooners blocked a season-high 8 shots, including a career-high 5 by Longar. Oklahoma also dominated the boards by a 48-26 margin.

Neal scored only 2 1st-half points, but dished out 5 assists and produced 3 steals. He connected on 5 of 7 shots in the 2nd half and finished with 5 steals, 6 assists and 5 rebounds.

Jermaine Griffin was the only other Maverick in double-figures, as he added 10 points and a team-high 6 rebounds.