Loyola Gunners Off Target Against OU

The mega-scoring undercurrent from Loyola Marymount’s 136-103 loss to Oklahoma here Saturday night seemed more important than the final score itself.

“This was for bragging rights of who could score the most,” said OU’s Stacey King, who scored 28 points and grabbed a career-high 23 rebounds.

The game was full of big numbers, however. Seven players scored 20 or more points. The key statistic was Loyola’s low shooting percentage. The Lions (1-3), hit 40 percent of their shots for the game, just 34 percent in the second half. Loyola also coughed up the ball 27 times.

“We played pretty well, but ran out of gas a bit,” said Loyola Marymount Coach Paul Westhead. “In the running game, it’s crucial to sustain what you started out to do. Oklahoma (7-1) had a lot of runs--in the beginning, middle and end.”

Oklahoma Coach Billy Tubbs said the Sooners, who led, 64-63, at halftime, changed the nature of the game in the second half when it shifted defenses to a half-court man-to-man.

“What we were doing was not working,” he said. “We were playing hard, but that kind of team can take advantage of that.”

Many thought this game had a chance to break several NCAA scoring records. Friday’s edition of USA Today billed the game as a “run-and-gun match made in heaven.” Loyola entered the game averaging 116 points, giving up 111.

The Sooners entered averaging 102.7 points, while giving up 87.

Oklahoma, which scored 152 points this year against Oral Roberts, reached 125 with about four minutes left, but never came close to reaching the NCAA record of 164 points by a single team, which Loyola set earlier against Azusa-Pacific.

Still, the 239 points scored by both teams gave fans, and a national cable television audience, their money’s worth. And don’t look for Loyola to change much.

Said Lion Hank Gathers: “We live and die by the run-and-gun. We’ll do the same next game.”