AU Men's Basketball Falls to No. 12/14 Oklahoma, 83-54, In Season Opener

Nov. 14, 2008

Box Score

WASHINGTON - The American University men's basketball team was defeated by No. 12/14 Oklahoma on Friday night, 83-54, as the Eagles opened play in their 83rd season in Norman, Okla. Brian Gilmore led the way for AU with 16 points, including 12 in the second half, and Garrison Carr added 11 but the Eagles could not overcome a slow start in the first half.

"We're disappointed with how we played and came away certainly very impressed with how Oklahoma played," Head Coach Jeff Jones said. "We didn't make shots early and I think that affected other areas of the game. It would be nice if we could shoot better but if we don't shoot the ball well we need to do other things to give ourselves a chance."

American (0-1) opened the first half forcing three Oklahoma (1-0) turnovers through the first six minutes of play. AU's defense kept the Eagles in the game early as they shot just 1-for-11 from the field and trailed OU 9-5 with 13:13 remaining. Trailing 14-5 with 10:09 to play, Gilmore hit a three to cut the Sooner lead to six, 14-8, but OU responded quickly with six straight points to move its lead to 12, 20-8. Garrison Carr connected on a pull up jumper for his first field goal of the night with 7:35 remaining to bring the score to within nine, 21-12. A Blake Griffin basket on Oklahoma's next possession started a 10-0 run as the Sooners began to distance themselves from the Eagles. Carr heated up as the half neared an end, scoring seven points with under four minutes to play, but the Eagles would take a 47-24 deficit into the half.

OU continued its strong play as the second half opened and took a 52-24 lead on an Austin Johnson three just under two minutes in. Back-to-back buckets by Gilmore and Derrick Mercer cut the Sooner lead to 53-30 at 16:05. Trailing 61-30 with 11:38 on the clock, Gilmore began to heat up as he connected on a three and scored a two-point bucket the next time down the court to move the score to 61-35. Gilmore would later add two more baskets and finished the half with 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting. After a Jordan Nichols layup with 5:43 to play made the score 72-47, AU struggled through a four-minute drought which resulted in a 9-0 Sooner run and moved their advantage to 81-47. Nick Hendra scored two baskets in the final two minutes of play as Oklahoma took the win by the final margin of 83-54.

Gilmore finished the game with a team-high 16 points and two assists as he played a career-high 36 minutes. Carr added 11 points and four rebounds. Nichols led the team on the boards with eight, including five offensive, and chipped in four points and two assists.

Oklahoma was led on the offensive end of the court by a trio of double-digit scorers. Griffin recorded a game-high 24 points on 9-of-11 shooting and also pulled down 18 rebounds. Cade Davis scored 11 points for the Sooners off the bench and Willie Warren added 10.

American will return to action on Monday, Nov. 17, as the Eagles host St. Francis (Pa.) at 7:30 p.m. in their 2008-09 home opener. AU will hold a special pregame ceremony to unveil its 2008 NCAA Tournament banner and the first 2,500 fans through the Bender Arena doors will receive a free commemorative replica mini-banner courtesy of GEICO. Tickets to the game are priced at $13 for sideline reserved seats and $9 for endline reserved. Tickets can be purchased online by clicking here. Fans unable to make it to the game can still follow all the action on their computer live via Eagle Vision All*Access.