OU 89, Iowa State 84: TMG, Shooting the 3 and Craig Brackins

When Tommy-Mason Griffin is hitting his shot with consistency, he’s close to unguardable. When its falling almost every time it goes up, like last night, defenses just don’t have a chance. Before the game against Texas Tech, Mason-Griffin told Willie Warren he was going for 30. He just missed, with a then-career-high 26 points. With Crocker out, 30 points was a modest estimate when he shoots it like he did last night.

He can create space, most often with his jab step and pull up, and the elevation on his jumper makes his lack of height a non-factor on offense. So far this season, I don’t think he’s even come close to getting a jumper blocked. Defensively, he’s still not fantastic, but he’s probably shown as much improvement as any one else on the team.

On Tuesday, Warren compared him to Jameer Nelson. Definitely apt.

Who knows what’s in the 5-11 Mason-Griffin’s future? But 10 or so NBA scouts watched last night’s game, and I’m sure Warren isn’t the only one who saw the similarities. Nelson, at 6-0, developed into an All-Star in just five seasons.

As a senior at St. Joseph’s, Nelson won the Wooden and Naismith Awards scoring 20.6 points, 4.7 rebounds, 5.3 assists, three steals and shot just under 40 percent from 3-point range.

I’m not going to get carried away with what’s basically just three games where he’s looked like the best player on the floor. But in the seasons that follow, does anyone think it’s THAT outlandish that Mason-Griffin could average near the same?

- Oklahoma finally got some threes to drop in the first half, but they cooled off considerably toward the end of the game. Hitting eight of their first 11 gave them confidence everywhere else on the floor, but when they stopped dropping, Iowa State started chipping away at the lead. The Sooners finished 3-of-15 to shoot 11-of-26 from three for the game. It’ll be interesting to see how they shoot it on Saturday at Nebraska.

- Iowa State’s Craig Brackins probably lost some money by coming back. He passes the eye test better than almost any other player in college basketball, but his production has dropped almost five points and two rebounds. Marquis Gilstrap’s arrival is part of that, and Brackins’ assists are up, but games like last night show why he’ll have some growing up/toughening up to do once he gets in The League.