Sooners Take Down UCO In Exhibition Play

The Oklahoma Sooners men's basketball team took down Central Oklahoma in exhibition play Wednesday night, 94-66, in the Sooners' final tune-up before the 2012-13 season.

Freshman Buddy Hield came off the bench for OU to lead all scorers with 19 points on 7-for-13 shooting, including 3-for-4 from three-point distance. Fellow freshman Je'lon Hornbeak added 15 points, while Amath M'Baye had 11 points.

"Those guys play with good energy and that is one thing for sure that these guys are going to bring every night," OU head coach Lon Kruger said. "They are very competitive and enthusiastic in their play. They are just about getting better every day so it is exciting with these guys."

Cal Andrews and Christian Huffman led UCO with 11 points each.

Neither team shot the ball particularly well. The Sooners held UCO to just 35.8 percent shooting, while OU managed to shoot just 40.3 percent, including 7-for-23 from three point range.

The biggest difference came at the foul line, where the Sooners were 33-for-43, while UCO was 14-for-24.

The game was tight early, with OU leading by just a single point at 15-14. The Sooners then caught fire, going on an 18-0 run to blow the game open. UCO wouldn't threaten the rest of the night.

The exhibition took place at OU's McCasland Field House, home of the OU volleyball and wrestling teams. The OU basketball team also called the old building home before moving to the Lloyd Noble Center in the 1970's.

"It was a lot of fun, to be honest with you," M'baye said. "It was very packed. Everyone was around us and we could hear everything. It was fun, and I'm glad the crowd showed up. That's something I would like to do again."

Kruger actually played in McCasland as a player at Kansas State. The Sooners will play their Dec. 31 game against Texas A&M Corpus Christi at the Field House as well.

"I thought it was great," Kruger said of the atmosphere. "Of course my perspective is a lot different now too. At that point everything was loud and it was. Those teams were good back then. Oklahoma was good with Bob Prichard, Scott Martin, Mike McCurdy, Ted Evans and all those guys were very, very good. It was good to get back in here."

The Sooners open the season Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. against Louisiana-Monroe at Lloyd Noble Center.