Balanced Attack Leads Sooners Past Demons

The Oklahoma Sooners let a big second half lead slip away on Wednesday in a loss to Creighton. There was no encore on Sunday.

The Sooners used a 22-6 run to close the first half and cruised from there to a 90-68 win over Northwestern State on Sunday afternoon.

Oklahoma had finished the first half strong against Creighton Wednesday night but took their foot off the gas and allowed the Bluejays back in the game. After halftime against the Demons, the Sooners led by as many as 27 and led by about 20 points for most of the half.

The Demons mounted one serious rally in the second 20 minutes, going on a 13-2 run to close within 12 points with 9:02 remaining, but the Sooners responded with a methodical 9-0 run to push the lead back to 21. The Demons missed six shots and had two turnovers during the Sooners' response, which effectively put the game out of reach.

The Sooners got back on track by having some of their key players get on track on an individual level. Isaiah Cousins led the Sooners in scoring with 20 points, hitting 8-of-12 from the floor, including a 4-of-5 clip from 3-point range.

After struggling through the first two games, Jordan Woodard was solid for the Sooners, scoring 13 points and dishing out nine assists. Woodard got back to his bread and butter from a year ago, the free throw line. Woodard made nine trips, making seven of them. He still had six turnovers, out of 20 the Sooners had as a team on Sunday.

Dinjiyl Walker broke out of his offensive slump to start the season by hitting all three of his 3-point attempts on his way to scoring 13 points.

Buddy Hield scored 16 points and Ryan Spangler added 13 points and nine rebounds for the Sooners.

Zeek Woodley led the Demons with 26 points and Marvin Frazier scored 11 points.

The Sooners now head to the Bahamas for the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament over Thanksgiving. The tournament is one of the biggest collection of teams this side of the NCAA tournament, and it's a great opportunity for the Sooners to put themselves on the national map. Oklahoma faces UCLA first on Wednesday at 1:30 p.m., before facing Butler or North Carolina on Thanksgiving Day.