Oklahoma at USC

Devon Jefferson in the first half, and OJ Mayo in the fourth quarter were too hot to handle for the Oklahoma State Sooners, and USC won this defense-intensive game. Despite the hard defense, the game was more watchable than the final score may indicate.

Regular readers of this blog knew how good Devon Jefferson was months ahead of time. The rest, found out this week after two solid games against the Southern Illinois wrestling team and the Oklahoma Dookies.

Austin Johnson, strep throat and all, single-handedly brought the Sooners back in the game in the second half, but then Tim Floyd spun a web around him, and took him out, just like he did with touted physical specimen freshman Blake Griffin. Keith "Moose" Clarke had his moments on offense, showing potential if he continues to work and improve his game.

So what did we learn from this game? USC is for real, as we had predicted, and despite the diva moments from OJ Mayo, the team plays defense for real. The Oklahoma Sooners are a team mending and blending, with a new coach and players, and has the potential of getting an NCAA bid, but they have to earn it the hard way. In a worse case scenario they'll probalby be invited to the inaugural College Basketball Invitational (CBI), aka not-good-enough-for-the-NIT.