No. 3 Texas rolls 68-52 as Sooners honor Bradford

NORMAN, Okla. – Jordan Hamilton scored 20 points, Gary Johnson added 14 and No. 3 Texas continued its perfect run through Big 12 play by beating Oklahoma 68-52 on Wednesday night.

The Longhorns (21-3) are off to a 9-0 start in league play for the first time since doing it in the Southwest Conference 23 years ago. All nine of the wins have been by double figures, the first time Texas has been so dominant to start conference play since the 1921-22 season.

Dogus Balbay had 12 points to help the Longhorns take control from the start, and Tristan Thompson and Cory Joseph scored 11 apiece. Texas used its usual stiff defense to limit the Sooners (12-11, 4-5) to 32 percent shooting.

Andrew Fitzgerald led Oklahoma with 16 points, and Steven Pledger scored 13.

There was plenty of star power around for the rematch of Texas' 66-46 blowout win in the first installment of the Red River Rivalry this season.

Oklahoma honored 2008 Heisman Trophy winner Sam Bradford at halftime, and his courtside seat was two spots down from country singer Toby Keith. Kevin Durant, the former Longhorns star who's now the NBA's scoring leader, sat behind the Texas bench.

There was hardly any drama from the start, though.

Balbay rushed down for an easy transition layup after Pledger started the game with a miss for Oklahoma, and Texas scored the first six points of the game. By the time Thompson's two-handed dunk on an alley-oop made it 14-4, the Longhorns had largely neutralized a packed Lloyd Noble Center on a night when the Sooners offered free admission to boost attendance with a couple inches of snow on the ground.

The Sooners missed 11 of their first 14 shots, fell behind by 15 midway through the first half and could never get within double digits after that.

Hamilton scored seven points during a 9-1 run that pushed the Longhorns' lead to 57-35 with 11:57 to play, and many fans started heading to the exits in the free white T-shirts given away to all in attendance.

Texas won for the 10th time in the last 12 games in the series, with the only losses coming the past two years at the Lloyd Noble Center.

Freshman Cameron Clark, who scored 25 points in Oklahoma's win against Baylor last week, was a non-factor for the second straight game. He scored two points after going scoreless in the Sooners' loss to Oklahoma State on Saturday.