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NORMAN, Okla. (AP) -- Maryland hadn't played in a while and it
showed, although Oklahoma gets some of the credit for that.
|  | | Oklahoma's Ebi Ere soars for a pair of his 19 points in the Sooners' upset at home. |
The Sooners held No. 2 Maryland to 38 percent
shooting, forced the Terrapins into a season-high 21 turnovers and
held Juan Dixon to just 11 points in a 72-56 victory Friday night.
Ebi Ere scored 19 points and Aaron McGhee had 16 points and 11
rebounds as the Sooners (9-1; No. 21 ESPN/USA Today; No. 22 Associated Press) won their eighth in a row and ended
Maryland's eight-game winning streak.
"This one's special because I know how good Maryland is,"
coach Kelvin Sampson said. "This is certainly one of the best
defensive performances we've had."
Maryland (8-2) was coming off a 10-day break for final exams.
The Terps missed a number of open shots, although coach Gary
Williams said the layoff had nothing to do with Oklahoma's
rebounding dominance in the second half when the Sooners broke the
game open.
"It might affect your ball-handling, your shooting, but in terms
of the intensity level, I thought Oklahoma took it to us in the
second half," he said. "That's one of those things that happens
in college basketball -- you don't always play the games when you'd
like to play them. But that's not a reason to lose the game."
The Terps had a 22-18 edge on the backboards in the first half,
when they trailed by just two. But Oklahoma outrebounded them 26-14
in the second half.
Jabahri Brown, a 6-foot-10 transfer from Florida International
who only became eligible last weekend, had 14 rebounds, 11 on the
defensive end.
"This is a great feeling," Brown said. "This is why I came to
Oklahoma, to be in situations like this."
McGhee picked up two fouls in the first half and played just
nine minutes. The game was tied at 38 when McGhee made a free throw
and a follow shot to start an 8-3 run that gave the Sooners the
lead for good, 46-41. Maryland turned the ball over five times
during that stretch and missed four of five shots.
The Terps closed to 52-49 when Byron Mouton came up with a
steal and a layup with 7:17 left, but Maryland didn't make another
field goal for six minutes.
Meanwhile Quannas White hit a short jumper, McGhee had a
three-point play and two free throws, and Ere hit a 3-pointer from
the left corner to cap a 10-0 spurt that made it 62-49 with four
minutes left. The Terps got no closer than 12 after that.
"They outworked us tonight," Maryland guard Steve Blake said.
"We didn't execute the way we can. They played well and we
didn't."
Dixon, who came in averaging 18 points a game, scored nine in
the first half but got only three shots in the second. Chris Wilcox
led Maryland with 15 points.
Hollis Price, Oklahoma's leading scorer at 18.4 points a game,
scored six and didn't make a basket until the 2:46 mark of the
first half. But Oklahoma held its own without him, thanks to eight
points from Brown and seven from reserve Daryan Selvy.
"When you're playing on the road, you've got to do a lot of
things right against a ranked team," Williams said. "We didn't do
enough things right tonight to win the game." | 
Terrapins vs. Sooners