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Mount St. Mary's, Md.-Oklahoma Preview

Nov 13, 2009 - 7:30 PM By ALAN FERGUSON STATS Writer

Mount St. Mary's (0-0) at Oklahoma (0-0), 2:00 p.m. EDT

The Oklahoma Sooners might have lost Blake Griffin to the NBA, but they have another potential national player of the year ready to lead them this season.

Sophomore guard Willie Warren will try to help the 17th-ranked Sooners build off one of their best seasons in school history beginning Saturday against visiting Mount St. Mary's.

It will be undoubtedly difficult for Oklahoma to replace Griffin, who averaged 22.7 points and led Division I players with 14.4 rebounds per game. The No. 1 overall draft pick in this year's NBA draft and national player of the year also helped the Sooners reach the NCAA regional finals and register their fifth 30-win season in program history.

The Sooners will be without two other starters from that team - Griffin's brother, forward Taylor, and point guard Austin Johnson - but they have Warren, who averaged 14.6 points and 3.1 assists while earning Big 12 freshman of the year honors.

Without Griffin, he'll become the focus of the Sooners' offense.

"I think he has the chance to be one of the premier players in the country," coach Jeff Capel said. "Actually, I already think he is, but now he'll have the chance to show all of the things he can do."

Warren is also part of a pair of strong recruiting classes that could pay dividends this season for Oklahoma.

Two of those highly touted recruits, point guard Tommy Mason-Griffin and forward Tiny Gallon, are expected to start. Gallon led all scorers with 20 points at the McDonald's High School All-American game in April.

Guard Steven Pledger and forwards Andrew Fitzgerald and Kyle Hardrick are the other freshmen who could also see playing time.

Senior Tony Crocker returns to the backcourt after averaging 9.6 points and hitting 59 3-pointers, second to Warren's 67. Another senior, forward Ryan Wright, is expected to start alongside Gallon after spending his first three collegiate seasons - at Oklahoma and UCLA - as a reserve.

"One of the many things I'm excited about is that we have talent coming back, and we have some talented new guys coming in," Capel said. "We're going to be awfully young, but we definitely have some ability."

After consecutive 19-win seasons, Mount St. Mary's is the preseason favorite to win the Northeast Conference title as it returns its top three scorers, including senior point guard Jeremy Goode.

Goode was named the preseason all-conference team after averaging a career-best 14.9 points and shooting 37.2 percent from 3-point range during in 2008-09.

His backcourt teammate Jean Calou and forward Kelly Beidler also return after scoring in double figures last season, and Beidler averaged a team-leading 6.9 rebounds.

The Mountaineers will also try to rely on a defense that allowed 63.0 points per game last season. They've held opponents under 70 points in 49 of 67 games over the past two seasons.

"Again, a main focus for us is to be a good defensive team," coach Milan Brown said. "We have made being a good defensive team one of the staples of our program. With the speed and athleticism we have on the court, that side of the ball will again be a positive for us."

Goode led Mount St. Mary's with 12 points in its previous trip to Norman, an 81-57 loss on Jan. 7, 2008, but Blake Griffin scored 26 points and Crocker added 10.

Oklahoma, which is two victories shy of 1,500, has won the three meetings between the schools by an average of 33.7 points. The Mountaineers are 1-13 against ranked opponents, with their only win against Georgia Tech on Dec. 18, 1995.