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OU men's basketball: Still room for improvement

 
BY JOHN HELSLEY | Published: December 1, 2008    Comment on this article Leave a comment
photo - The Sooners’ Blake Griffin, left, leaps to save the ball from going out of bounds as Purdue’s E’Twan Moore, right, Nemanja Calasan (44) and Robbie Hummel look on during the Sooners’ victory over Purdue on Friday. AP Photo
The Sooners’ Blake Griffin, left, leaps to save the ball from going out of bounds as Purdue’s E’Twan Moore, right, Nemanja Calasan (44) and Robbie Hummel look on during the Sooners’ victory over Purdue on Friday. AP Photo

Leave it to Blake Griffin to add some levity to No. 11-and-rising Oklahoma’s most promising beginning under Jeff Capel — and the basketball program’s best start since 2003-04.

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OU’s win over Purdue in the NIT Season Tip-Off title game was the program’s first over a non-conference top-10 foe away from Norman since the 2003-04 squad beat No. 5 Michigan State in Auburn Hills, Mich.

The Sooners have won both games so far this season against Top 25 teams, turning the tide on recent history. OU went 2-8 last year against teams from the Top 25.

Looking back

→Beat No. 21 Davidson 82-78

→Beat No. 10 Purdue 87-82, OT

Looking ahead

→No. 6 Texas (Jan. 12 and Feb. 21)

→No. 22 Kansas (Feb. 23)

The Sooners are 6-0 and already own wins over two Top 25 teams, yet Griffin sees the warts along with the beauty marks.

"I think we’re right where we need to be right now,” Griffin said, "but we can’t settle.

"We need to keep improving.”

And the best news for the Sooners: they can improve, dramatically.

For your consideration:

→OU’s guards haven’t yet found their perimeter stroke. Cade Davis has been clutch off the bench, knocking down 13-of-31 shots from beyond the arc.

But starters Tony Crocker and Willie Warren have combined to make but 14-of-59 (23.7 percent), and the Sooners overall are making 3s at just a 29.5 percent clip. With teams overloading attention on Griffin, that’s not good enough.

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