If the Fiesta Bowl match up between OU and West Virginia is anywhere near as physical as the basketball match up was then we are certainly in for an entertaining evening Wednesday.
Longar Longar scored 22 points and led a second half charge to lead Oklahoma to an 88-82 double overtime upset over the 23rd ranked Mountaineers. The game was as physical as a basketball game could be with bodies flying all over. Two of the most physical plays came in the second half. Sooner forward Blake Griffin was dropped to the floor after taking a shot to the face while chasing down a lose ball. Later on in the half Longar Longar dropped West Virginia guard Alex Ruoff with an inadvertent elbow to the face.
Oklahoma's post play was outstanding once again. Longar came on strong in the second half and made some crucial free throws to finish with his team high 22 points but Blake Griffin was absolutely stellar with 18 points and 16 rebounds.
Oklahoma's guards didn't play up to the level they had in the last two games against Arkansas and Gonzaga with a combined 12 turnovers but David Godbold was steady the entire game, Tony Crocker hit a huge three point shot with 6 seconds left in the first overtime and Austin Johnson was huge in the second overtime after Blake Griffin had fouled out. Combined the OU guards scored 40 points but were plagued with turnovers all night. The Sooners had four players score in double figures. Other than Longar's 22 and Griffin's 18, David Godbold scored 18 and Austin Johnson put up 13.
We'll chalk this up as Oklahoma's best win of the season and consider the competition but I still have to bring up the fact that the Sooners left 13 points at the charity stripe and had two more turnovers (20) than assists (18). On the other hand you have to give Jeff Capel and crew a ton of credit for over coming a hostile crowd on the road and their own mistakes to score their second consecutive upset victory over a top 25 team.