Oklahoma stops Arkansas
TULSA, Okla. (AP) — Javian McCollum had 20 points, five rebounds and four assists to lead undefeated No. 19 Oklahoma to a 79-70 victory over Arkansas in the third annual Crimson & Cardinal Classic on Saturday.
Otega Oweh scored 14 points, Rivaldo Sores added 13 points and seven rebounds and Milos Uzan finished with 11 points for Oklahoma (9-0), which won by nine-or-more points for the eighth time this season.
Khalif Battle led the Razorbacks (6-4) with 13 points. Jeremiah Davenport scored 12 points.
Arkansas coach Eric Musselman was ejected from the game with 15:50 remaining after being called for two technical fouls for arguing with the officials. It was not clear what Musselman was complaining to the officials about. The Razorbacks trailed 48-33 at the time.
BIG PICTURE
Oklahoma: After shooting just 31.8% from the floor in their last game, a 72-51 win over Providence on Tuesday, the Sooners connected for a season-high 56.1% (23 of 41), with nearly-identical halves of 56% (14 of 25) in the first and 56.3% (9 of 16) in the second.
Arkansas: After a strong start to the season that had them solidly in the top 20, the Razorbacks have struggled with a 3-4 record in their last seven outings. Arkansas was in the game until late in the first half, tying the game at 23 on Khalif Battle’s free throws with 4:26 left in the opening half. But OU closed the half on a 14-2 run to take a 37-25 lead into halftime. The Razorbacks scored the first six points of the second half to pull to within six, but Oklahoma reeled off a 15-2 run over the next 3:30 and Arkansas never got closer than nine the rest of the way.