At one point during the second-round game between Oklahoma and Michigan, as star Sooners forward Blake Griffin bled from his elbow and nose (and possibly his heart, as he thought of all the people in the world he could not save with his superior basketball talent), CBS' Tim Brando went all Thom Brennaman-on-Tim Tebow: "Griffin is a once-in-a-lifetime talent," Brando exclaimed, one of a bevy of superlatives he launched in Griffin's direction.The validity of that statement's up for heavy debate, but Griffin certainly turned in an impressive performance on Saturday, posting 33 points and 17 boards to pull No. 2-seed Oklahoma past upset-minded Michigan, 73-63, and into the Sweet 16.
Oklahoma needed everything Griffin could offer, too, because Michigan played the Sooners even for much of the game. The Sooners led just 30-29 at the half, despite Michigan's Manny Harris missing 15 minutes of play in the first half with two fouls.
The second-seeded Sooners surged ahead by 13 midway through the second half, but Michigan again responded, inching back within five at the 6:58 mark on a long C.J. Lee 3-pointer. That would be as close as Michigan could get, though, with Oklahoma using a Willie Warren floater, deep Austin Johnson 3-pointer and six Griffin points to put the game on ice.
Even with the loss, Michigan has to be satisfied with its first trip to the dance in more than a decade. The Wolverines took out a solid Clemson team in round one, then gave Oklahoma all it could handle. Meanwhile, the Sooners stay alive, but it's hard to envision them lasting much longer without a bump up in play.
Despite Griffin's 17 rebounds, seven of which came on the offensive side, the Sooners outrebounded Michigan by just three, 34-31, and allowed the Wolverines to grab 13 offensive rebounds. Oklahoma did get 16 points from Warren and 12 from Austin Johnson, but also settled for 19 3-pointers -- shooting 31.6 percent -- despite Griffin's dominance down low.
Unless Oklahoma can shoot a higher percentage from the perimeter in the coming rounds, the road will get tougher. Michigan seemed content to give Griffin his points, so long as no one else went off, and the strategy nearly worked. A team like Syracuse or North Carolina, with more offensive weapons than Michigan, might be able to overwhelm the Sooners, no matter how many Griffin, Brando's "Superman," pours in.
Latest Tourney Cheerleader Photos
GREENSBORO, NC - MARCH 21: The North Carolina Tar Heels cheerleaders perform during the second round of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament against the Louisiana State University Tigers at the Greensboro Coliseum on March 21, 2009 in Greensboro, North Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)
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GREENSBORO, NC - MARCH 21: A cheerleader for the Louisiana State University Tigers cheers against the North Carolina Tar Heels during the second round of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament at the Greensboro Coliseum on March 21, 2009 in Greensboro, North Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)
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PORTLAND, OR - MARCH 21: A Washington Huskies cheerleader performs during a break in the action against the Purdue Boilermakers during the second round of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament at the Rose Garden on March 21, 2009 in Portland, Oregon. (Photo by Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images)
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North Carolina cheerleaders get in the spirit as their team face LSU in the first half of their NCAA Tournament game on Saturday, March 21, 2009, in Greensboro, North Carolina. (Chuck Liddy/Raleigh News & Observer/MCT)
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PHILADELPHIA - MARCH 21: A UCLA Bruins cheerleader performs during the game against the Villanova Wildcats during the second round of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament at the Wachovia Center on March 21, 2009 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)
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BOISE, ID - MARCH 20: Cheerleaders for the Florida State Seminoles dance during the game against the Wisconsin Badgers in first round of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament at the Taco Bell Arena on March 20, 2009 in Boise, Idaho. (Photo by Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images)
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BOISE, ID - MARCH 20: Cheerleaders for the Wisconsin Badgers perform during the game against the Florida State Seminoles in the first round of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament at the Taco Bell Arena on March 20, 2009 in Boise, Idaho. (Photo by Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images)
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BOISE, ID - MARCH 20: Cheerleaders for the Florida State Seminoles dance during the game against the Wisconsin Badgers in first round of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament at the Taco Bell Arena on March 20, 2009 in Boise, Idaho. (Photo by Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images)
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BOISE, ID - MARCH 20: Cheerleaders for the Florida State Seminoles dance during the game against the Wisconsin Badgers in first round of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament at the Taco Bell Arena on March 20, 2009 in Boise, Idaho. (Photo by Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images)
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BOISE, ID - MARCH 20: Cheerleaders for the Florida State Seminoles dance during the game against the Wisconsin Badgers in first round of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament at the Taco Bell Arena on March 20, 2009 in Boise, Idaho. (Photo by Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images)
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
3-21-2009 @ 9:53PM
duet2it said...
What a great year for the University of Oklahoma, been a great ride for OU fans, Good luck to the team. Thanks for the show.
Reply
3-22-2009 @ 2:33AM
L1Looker said...
Very poor commentary on the game. To begin with, Michigan did not "let Griffin get his". There were constant double and triple teams, causing multiple fouls on Michigan (the reason why Harris missed much of the first half). The defense was geared to stop Griffin, not allow him to score at will.
Secondly, it is probably hard for a Michigan fan to write the article, since they are going home, despite being "satisfied" with their performance. They lost dude! Give it up!
To sum it all up, get ready for a long run for Oklahoma, and a BIG dose of Griffin, who, when played fairly, simply is the college games very best player, and he will be a superstar in the MBA. Get used to it! Try reporting about the game instead of inserting slanted opinions against one of the teams. Judging by your article, I would not be suprised to find out that you have never banged away on the boards, or tried to hit a free throw, and maybe, you are reporting what all the ESPN announcers are saying! Get a job!
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3-22-2009 @ 11:44AM
sergeantruss said...
AOL writers do this all the time. I hate calling them sports writers or even writers at all. A true news writer does not inject their personal biases in an article and just states the facts. But these AOL idiots continually show their biases when they submit their trash for publication. It also is obvious to me that none of the writers ever had any athletic talent and probably never participated in sports their entire lives. I guess if you have no talent to play a sport, you just have to attempt to write about it.
3-22-2009 @ 12:03PM
SJones91 said...
"I guess if you have no talent to play a sport, you just have to attempt to write about it," say the guys spending their free time commenting on college basketball message boards. Nice.
I am also not sure what part of this you're so upset about. CBS did go over the top in its Griffin love and Oklahoma would have lost without his game. They didn't play that well and did shoot a lot of 3-pointers.
3-22-2009 @ 1:39PM
Matt Snyder said...
That's the problem, Russ ... you fail to understand that we're not "newswriters." You should feel free to click through the AP Recap we link on the game stories if you want simple newswriting. The purpose of FanHouse -- if you'll notice a certain word in the title -- is to inject the voice of the fan. Opinions come with this.
3-22-2009 @ 6:16PM
Skapanza said...
So, is the long and short of your comment that OU will have no problem winning the national championship with no improvement in play? Because I'm a Michigan fan and I'm pretty sure there are a lot of teams in the Tourney with more "MBA"-bound players than UM has. If Oklahoma couldn't put this game beyond a doubt until the closing minutes, how are they going to compete against single-digit seeds?
As a closing note, Matt points out the obvious that this is Fanhouse, and that dry, boring write-ups can be found easily on the AP wire. Maybe you should go there if you want to read news that's still too afraid to mention that the announcers gave Griffin the Tebow treatment by being so aggressively up on his nuts.
3-22-2009 @ 10:35PM
Don said...
Some classless comments from the OU fans. I understand that you thought Mr. Burke's comments were slanted toward UofM, but no need to go on the verbal attack. Maybe if you thought about the horrible broadcast the non-OU fans had to endure you would think a little differently. One player being touted as superman and those endless shots of his parents - sickening. The better team won, but I hope that is the end for them. Maybe a loss will stop the showboating that doesn't belong in college basketball!
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