subscribesubscriber servicescontact usabout ussite mapBuy a Classified
Sat, Nov 21 2009 

Resources

print this story   Print this story
  Post to del.icio.us

Photos


Louisville's Jerry Smith (34) covers a loose ball as Oklahoma's David Godbold defends in the first half of a Second Round NCAA East Regional basketball game in Birmingham, Ala., Sunday, March 23, 2008.. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee))
Wilfredo Lee / Associated Press


Published March 23, 2008 11:26 pm - BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — One team came out hot and stayed that way. The other didn’t. The scoreboard reading “Louisville 78, Oklahoma 48” pretty much identified which was which.
The Sooners’ season came to an abrupt and ugly end in the second round of the NCAA Tournament’s East Regional at BJCC Arena.
“That pretty much summed it up,” OU’s Blake Griffin said about an afternoon when the Sooners could do little right and the Cardinals could do little wrong. “Louisville is a good team and they had a really good day. I think it was combination of both. Today wasn’t our day at all.”
Louisville, which advanced to the Sweet 16 and a meeting with No. 2 seed Tennessee in the East Regional semifinals Thursday, was too big, too athletic and too deep for the Sooners to handle.


Season over for OU men


John Shinn
The Norman Transcript

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — One team came out hot and stayed that way. The other didn’t. The scoreboard reading “Louisville 78, Oklahoma 48” pretty much identified which was which.

The Sooners’ season came to an abrupt and ugly end in the second round of the NCAA Tournament’s East Regional at BJCC Arena.

“That pretty much summed it up,” OU’s Blake Griffin said about an afternoon when the Sooners could do little right and the Cardinals could do little wrong. “Louisville is a good team and they had a really good day. I think it was combination of both. Today wasn’t our day at all.”

Louisville, which advanced to the Sweet 16 and a meeting with No. 2 seed Tennessee in the East Regional semifinals Thursday, was too big, too athletic and too deep for the Sooners to handle.

Earl Clark led the Cardinals with 14 points and Jerry Smith added 12. It wasn’t one particular player who did the Sooners in. It was what seemed like an endless rotation of pressure.

Seven Cardinals scored seven points or more.

OU knew what to expect. The Cardinals’ full-court pressure was no guarded secret. But the Sooners didn’t get a full grasp of what was coming until the game tipped off.

“When you get out there and that pressure hits you, and that speed and that athleticism and the length that Louisville constantly throws as you, it becomes more difficult to do what you know you’re supposed to do,” OU coach Jeff Capel said.

The Sooners handled it well enough for about 10 minutes.

David Godbold hit his first three 3-point attempts and Tony Crocker added a fourth with 12:30 left and the Sooners only trailed 14-12.

But the Cardinals (26-8) exploded for a 24-8 run to close the first half. Will Scott hit a lunging 3-pointer at the first half buzzer to Louisville up 44-22 at the break.

If OU hadn’t figured out by then it wasn’t going to be its day, just about everyone else in the arena had.

With 4:15 left in the first half, Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl got up and left his courtside seat. He knew which team he would be studying for Thursday’s East Regional semifinal.

“It was our best performance this year,” Louisville forward Terrence Williams said.

Hard to debate his assessment.



print this story    email this story   






autoconx
Premier Guide
Find a business

Walking Fingers
Maps, Menus, Store hours, Coupons, and more...
Premier Guide

Find a job! Find a Home! Find a car!

Premium Jobs

RN's, LPN's
Sooner Home Health Care
LOOKING FOR A FEW
GOOD NURSES

Positions in Norman - OKC & Surrounding area
...>MORE

PCAs, LPN Case Managers, RN Case Managers
We Are Opening In Your Area Soon!! New Job Opportunities With An Established Agency!!

Are you working late ho
...>MORE

PURCELL MUNICIPAL HOSPITAL
EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT
UNIT CLERK
Fulltime Position, Sun – Thur.
6:00 pm – 2:30 am
Must be able to mu
...>MORE

Rudy’s Bar-B-Q is Looking
for Open Availability,
Reliable, Dependable People
for a High Paced Position.
Part-time & Full-time Need
...>MORE

Youth Care Specialist
Crossroads Youth & Family Services
is now taking applications for the following positions:

Youth Care Sp
...>MORE

RN's, LPN's
Sooner Home Health Care
LOOKING FOR A FEW
GOOD NURSES

Positions in Norman - OKC & Surrounding area
...>MORE

Part-Time College and Young
Adult Coordinator Needed
College and Young Adult
Coordinator needed for a large church located near the Univer
...>MORE

The Chickasaw Nation
Is accepting applications for the following vacancies:

*Internal Auditor (Ada) (Job ID: 13057)
*House Pa
...>MORE

See all ads

Premium Homes

HOLIDAY SPECIAL!
3764 River Oaks Dr • New Roof!
$135,000!!! • 3Bd/2.5Bth/2Car
Huntington Real Estate
Call Jo 405-360-100
...>MORE

See all ads

Premium Extras

See all ads


 

Community Newspaper Holdings, Inc.CNHI Classified Advertising NetworkCNHI News Service
Associated Press content © 2009. All rights reserved. AP content may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Our site is powered by Zope and our Internet Yellow Pages site is powered by PremierGuide.
Some parts of our site may require you to download the Flash Player Plugin.
View our Privacy Policy
Advertiser index