Can Bo Show for Sooners? : Injured Loyola Shooter Needed Against Powerful Oklahoma Saturday

Will Bo show?

That will be the question when Loyola Marymount’s high-scoring basketball team faces powerful Oklahoma here Saturday.

The answer is of concern not only to Loyola and its followers but to Oklahoma Coach Billy Tubbs.

An effective Bo Kimble would help even the odds, which heavily favor the sixth-ranked Sooners (5-1) in their Lloyd Noble Center where they have won 79 of 82 games and have scored more than 100 points 46 times in that stretch.

First the good news for Loyola--Kimble practiced Thursday for the first time in several weeks and got medical clearance to suit up Saturday. Kimble took a Cybex strength test for his injured knee Wednesday and showed marked improvement.

The bad news is that Kimble, who has been doing therapy and exercises to strengthen the muscles around his right knee, is still experiencing pain and may not be in good game shape for the kind of all-out pace both teams expect Saturday.

Lions Coach Paul Westhead said Kimble won’t start, even if he plays. “He hasn’t practiced in a while,” Westhead said. “The Cybex test is one of the barometers. We know he’s not going to be 100% and in a groove to play. The question is whether he will be effective not being in a groove in a game like this.”

The kind of production a healthy Kimble could provide may be sorely needed by the Lions. The 6-5 guard often had his best games against the toughest competition last season, including back-to-back games of 32 and 36 points against Pepperdine.

With Kimble mostly sitting on the bench, the Lions have lost two games and have been getting nearly all their scoring from center Hank Gathers (33.7 average), guards Jeff Fryer and Enoch Simmons (18 points apiece) and forward Per Stumer (12.3). Kimble, who has played only 23 minutes in two games, is next, averaging 11 points.

Sandwiched around the two losses, however, Loyola (1-2) has scored 164 points against Azusa Pacific and last weekend rang up 146 against Athletes in Action and looked good doing so.

Earlier this week, Tubbs cautioned that the game might not be as high-scoring as expected. He pointed out that when his Sooners have played high-scoring Nevada-Las Vegas, the games have been in the 80s.

But in an interview Thursday, Tubbs said the game could approach the 300-point barrier many are expecting if both teams are shooting well. “I just hope we get about 200 of them,” he joked.

Westhead has steadfastly felt the match-up would produce a shoot-out. “From everything I see, it will be a very quick, high-scoring game,” he said. “We’re gonna shoot it whether you play good defense or not. It depends on them. If their offense has the green light, the score could be a lot like” last week’s 146-137 Athletes in Action game.

Loyola Notes

The game will be telecast by ESPN at 5 p.m. PST . . . Loyola is averaging 116 points, Oklahoma 102.7. Loyola is allowing 111, Oklahoma 95 . . . In the first NCAA statistics, Gathers leads the nation in scoring and is third in rebounding at 13.7 per game . . . Less than a month into the season, the teams who were 1-2 in the NCAA in scoring last season have virtually rewritten the record book. Loyola’s 164 against Azusa Pacific tied the single-team mark, and the combined 302 with Azusa Pacific was the first 300-point game involving a Division I team . . . In a 152-122 victory last weekend over Oral Roberts, Oklahoma set a mark for most points scored against a Division I school and the game recorded most combined points by two Division I teams. The Sooners also set a record for most points in a half with 87.