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Griffin helps Oklahoma hold off Anderson, Oklahoma State

Mar 8, 2009 - 1:31 AM NORMAN, Oklahoma (Ticker) -- Blake Griffin had 33 points and 14 rebounds, offsetting a terrific performance from James Anderson as fifth-ranked Oklahoma held on for an 82-78 victory over Oklahoma State on Saturday.

The Sooners' sophomore, who was playing in his third game since returning from a concussion, gave Oklahoma State headaches all day, shooting 12-of-15 from the floor en route to his 25th double-double of the season. His 14 rebounds brings his total to 425, breaking the Big 12 single-season record previously held by Kansas' Drew Gooden (423) during the 2001-02 season.

"I was just trying to get that swagger back I guess, get the team going," Griffin said. "I just decided to get excited and show a lot of emotion to get our team back in it this afternoon."

Anderson scored a career-high 37 points to keep the Cowboys close, but the visitors could never overtake the Sooners over the contest's final 20 minutes after trailing by six at the break.

"We just couldn't come up with that big rebound or that big shot," Cowboys coach Travis Ford said. "We put ourselves in position but we missed opportunities. You have to do things on the road and we just didn't and they did."

Omar Leary made a 3-pointer and Griffin knocked down a jumper to give the Sooners a 70-60 advantage with 7:21 remaining.

Oklahoma State (20-10, 9-7 Big 12) did not go away and Anderson's 3-pointer brought the Cowboys within 77-74 with two minutes to play.

Still clinging to a three-point lead with under one minute to play, freshman Willie Warren drilled a 3-pointer from the right wing to give Oklahoma an 82-76 lead with 28.7 seconds remaining, sealing the Sooners' triumph.

"The kid is a really good player and he made a huge shot for us," Oklahoma coach Jeff Capel said of Warren. "He has been doing that for us all year and he has been really good for us all year. We anticipate him being really good the rest of the year for us, making big plays."

Taylor Griffin added 15 points and seven rebounds and Warren finished with 11 for Oklahoma (27-4, 13-3), which had lost three of its past four games.

The contest was pretty even for most of the first half before Oklahoma used a 12-2 run to take an 11-point lead late in the session. Blake Griffin had 17 of his points in the opening 20 minutes and the Sooners went into the locker rooms with a 42-36 edge.