NCAA News Wire
Oklahoma 61, George Mason 43
Jeff Hawkins is an award-winning sportswriter with more than four decades in the industry (print and digital media). A freelance writer/stay-at-home dad since 2008, Hawkins started his career with newspaper stints in Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, Upstate New York and Illinois, where he earned the 2004 APSE first-place award for column writing (under 40,000 circulation). As a beat writer, he covered NASCAR Winston Cup events at NHIS (1999-2003), the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks (2003-06) and the NFL's Carolina Panthers (2011-12). Hawkins penned four youth sports books, including a Michael Jordan biography. Hawkins' main hobbies include mountain bike riding, 5k trail runs at the Whitewater Center in Charlotte, N.C., and live music.
All posts by Jeff HawkinsUpdated15 Oct 2021
Junior guard Buddy Hield scored a game-high 17 points, leading No. 22 Oklahoma to a 61-43 victory over George Mason on Wednesday at the Lloyd Noble Center in Norman, Okla.
Hield made 7 of 13 shots from the field and 3 of 7 from 3-point range for Oklahoma (9-3), which has won five of its last six games. Junior guard Isaiah Cousins added 11 points and six rebounds for the Sooners.
Freshman center Shevon Thompson had nine points and 11 rebounds for George Mason (5-7), which shot 29.5 percent from the field and went 0 of 14 from beyond the arc.
George Mason led 9-6 early, but Oklahoma responded with a 14-2 run to take a 20-11 lead on a layup by junior guard Dinjiyl Walker with 7:45 to play in the first half.
The Patriots cut the deficit to six on a jumper by freshman forward Trey Porter with 6:39 to go in the half, but the Sooners used a 17-5 burst to stretch their lead to 18. Oklahoma led 37-23 at the break.
The Sooners shot 48.5 percent from the field in the first half and held the Patriots to 34.6 percent.
George Mason trailed by 12 after senior forward Vaughn Gray scored with 15:58 remaining in the game, but the Sooners outscored the Patriots 9-2 in the next 4:23 to take a 55-32 lead on a layup by Hield with 11:35 remaining.
The Patriots cut the deficit to 17 on several occasions in the final 10:43, but they couldn’t get any closer.
