NORMAN, Okla.—Oklahoma coach Jeff Capel went with a whole new look in the second half: a totally different starting five and more casual attire.
Capel’s move to bench his starters worked, as transfer point guard Omar Leary scored 14 points to lead a dominant effort by the Sooners’ second unit in an 80-50 win against Denver on Friday night in the second round of the 2K Sports College Hoops Classic.
The reason for ditching his suit coat and tie at halftime? Well, that’s another story.
“What happens in the locker room pretty much stays in the locker room,” Leary said. “But we had some heart-to-hearts at halftime and we came out with some energy that was much-needed in the second half.”
Freshman Blake Griffin scored 15 points in a performance that left him dissatisfied and Tony Crocker added 12 on four 3-pointers, but the starters weren’t the reason the Sooners (2-0) moved on to face No. 3 Memphis in the semifinals next week at Madison Square Garden.
In fact, they watched from the bench as Oklahoma built its lead and played its best basketball.
The reserves gave the Sooners control of the game in the first half, and Capel rewarded them by putting them out on the floor to start the second half. He also ditched his brown suit coat, white button-up shirt and tie, and came out in a white polo shirt instead.
The inspired play continued, with the backups scoring 10 of the first 12 points after halftime to take a 51-28 edge when Leary hit a 3-pointer and then followed it with a nifty scoop shot in transition off an assist from Keith Clark.
“I think we’re a deep team, regardless of who’s getting it done at that time. I feel like we have five guys or six or seven guys that can come in off the bench and be ready to contribute at any time,” said Leary, who transferred to Oklahoma this offseason from Northeastern (Colo.) Junior College. “When your number gets called, you better be ready. That’s what we were tonight, and we were able to pick it up and get that victory.”
Once the starters returned 5 1/2 minutes into the second half, Denver (1-1) cut its deficit down to 57-39 on Joe Jackson’s 3-pointer before Oklahoma began distancing itself with a 12-2 run the starters got going and Leary topped off with another 3 to make it 69-41.
In between, Griffin had a highlight-reel dunk that showed off the athleticism that made him a McDonald’s All-American and one of the Sooners’ most highly touted recruits in years. He grabbed a loose ball tipped by his brother, Taylor Griffin, and headed to the rim for a two-handed jam.
“I was really happy with our second group that we put in. I thought they gave us energy, especially on the defensive end,” Capel said. “And our first group, I thought they responded. I liked how they were on the bench. they were encouraging. They didn’t go over and pout and they fed off of that second group of guys.”
David Kummer led Denver with 11 points on 2-for-8 shooting, and Jackson finished with 10. The Pioneers’ 19 turnovers led to 32 Oklahoma points.
“That’s our learning curve: Just do what we do. We don’t need any more than that,” said head coach Joe Scott, who suffered his first defeat with Denver after spending the last three seasons as Princeton’s coach. “Do what we do, get good at what we do, and what you’ll find out is we’ve got some OK guys too when we do what we do. We let it get away from us there and in these games, that’s all it takes.
“For us to even have a chance tonight, we’ve got to play perfect and our guys have to learn that that’s OK.”
Taylor Griffin also scored 12 points for Oklahoma, which shot 60 percent and made 13 of 23 from 3-point range.
Capel showed disgust with his starters early on, shouting about the scouting report as the team walked off the court for the first media timeout. A few minutes later, he made a wholesale substitution, and Oklahoma’s bench forced Denver into turnovers on five straight possessions during a 16-0 run that David Godbold finished with a layup to make it 31-14.
“It was a lot of different things. I just didn’t think those guys had the focus, the intensity, the energy that you need to get off to a good start and we have to figure out a way to correct that,” Capel said.
Kummer broke the string when he got behind the Sooners’ full-court defense for a layup. At that point, the Pioneers had committed 10 turnovers and attempted only seven shots.
