With Blake Griffin out, the whole dynamic changes.
It had already taken on a different flavor with Oklahoma's loss Saturday night in Austin, as we were no longer going up against the supposedly unbeatable, 12-0 in Big 12 play Sooners. Still, we continued to be the underdogs, and it would still draw plenty of attention, to win in Norman.
And then, Blake Griffin got a concussion. Still, no big. He'll still play, and while he probably won't be 100%, they still have him. Still plenty of national respect to be earned, plenty of low-post experience to be gained.
But with the news that he won't be playing, most are actually expecting a win. To be honest, I kinda-sorta am. Expect isn't the right word to use, because I won't be shocked if we lose, but it won't surprise me to pull off a W. We have to do a bunch of things right, sure, to win, but it can certainly happen.
Without Griffin, though, there is a gaping hole down low. Feed the post, baby. And, this makes the offensive glass key from yesterday all the more pressing. We should be able to dominate second-chance points, and if we do, we should win. It just could be as simple as that.
I don't think it will be, and it will be a back-and-forth game for t he first 30 minutes-or-so. Then, aided by a couple of offensive boards from the Morris twins, and a couple of timely buckets from Relly Ice and Bradystar, we jump out to a ten-ish point lead. And while they make a couple of mini-runs to keep it close, they can never close the gap and we make free throws late. We win...
Kansas 81 Oklahoma 73
I wanted to say 83-79, but I don't think it'll be that close.
Oh, and this should definitely be a double-threader. I'll be here, and you should be to. It's on the road, it's on ESPN (I mean, who the hell doesn't get ESPN?), it's the game of the night, by a million. Just show up, eh?