“I feel fortunate to get this win,” Oklahoma head coach Jeff Capel said after the hard fought one point victory in front of 10,103 fans at the Lloyd Noble Center.
Blake Griffin scored 25 points, but USC was able to hold him to only six rebounds and it was the first time all year that he did not supply a double-double.
While the Sooners were obviously not clickng on all cylinders they did have enough to pull out a win.
“I am pleased with the win,” Capel explained. “I am not necessarily pleased with how we played, but I am pleased to get the win, pleased to be 7- 0, and look forward to getting back to work tomorrow.”
The Trojans surged out to a quick 9-0 lead on the undefeated Sooners, but senior point guard Austin Johnson was able to step up big with an answer and nailed down 11 of OU’s first 13 points.
“We took a calculated risk early in the game by not guarding Austin Johnson and forcing him to take shots, keeping the ball out of (Blake) Griffin’s hands,” USC head coach Tim Floyd admitted.
“He was four-of-23 from the 3-point line, but then he made us pay. He made three shots, we extended and went to a couple other defenses and he did a nice job of knocking them down.”
“They played the percentages,” Capel acknowledged. “I thought that was huge for him to make some shots. He was big for us tonight.”
After trailing at the half by seven USC would be able to cut the lead down to one point twice in the second stanza.
The Trojans would trail by only three points with 18 seconds to go, but the Sooners would be able to grind out the narrow 73-72 victory.
“We found a way down the stretch to pull out the win,” Capel stated.