Field Level Media
Dec 18, 2018
Brady Manek scored 18 points to help Oklahoma extend its winning streak to six games with an 83-70 victory over Creighton on Tuesday night in Norman, Okla.
Christian James had his fourth consecutive double-double, producing 14 points and 12 rebounds, while Rashard Odomes, Miles Reynolds and Kristian Doolittle added 13 points apiece for the Sooners (10-1).
Oklahoma's bench outscored Creighton's 32-17.
Creighton (7-4) came into the game as the top 3-point shooting team in the country, hitting nearly 45 percent from behind the 3-point line.
However, the Bluejays missed their first 12 from behind the arc against the Sooners, not hitting a shot from long distance until just more than a minute remained in the first half.
Creighton finished 7 of 30 (23.3 percent) from 3-point range.
Martin Krampelj led Creighton with 19 points and 10 rebounds while Damien Jefferson added 16 points and Marcus Zegarowski had 12.
Oklahoma was on top for all but 4:24, taking the lead for good with a 22-4 run over a six-minute span in the first half that put the Sooners up 26-14.
Odomes fueled that Oklahoma stretch with eight consecutive Sooners points at one point, all in the paint.
When Odomes finished off a layup to put the Sooners up by 12 with 13:19 left in the half, he took a step off the court after being fouled to slap hands with Oklahoma athletic director Joe Castiglione in the front row.
It was Odomes' best scoring performance of the season and the top scoring performance for Doolittle, a junior, since his freshman season.
Oklahoma led by as much as 16 early in the second half, but the Bluejays chipped away at the deficit throughout much of the second half, using an 8-0 run to cut the margin to seven with 11 minutes to play.
The lead was again seven with just less than five minutes to go after Creighton's Damien Jefferson finished at the rim with a layup.
The Sooners quickly answered, though, as Manek drilled a 3-pointer from the top of the key to extend the lead to double figures once again.
The win was Lon Kruger's 150th as Oklahoma's head coach.
--Field Level Media