Toreros lasso #25 Sooners, 76-64

ANCHORAGE – Senior Brandon Johnson scored 22 points to lead a balanced San Diego attack Wednesday night as the Toreros earned a 76-64 upset of 25th-ranked Oklahoma in first-day action at the Carrs/Safeway Great Alaska Shootout at Sullivan Arena.

USD (3-1) also got 13 points from center Robert Mafra and a 10-point, 10-rebound double-double from forward Chris Lewis to earn the win in its first-ever Shootout appearance.

All-America candidate Willie Warren led Oklahoma (2-2) with 30 points, knocking down all 12 of his free throws, but the Big 12 Conference squad shot just 33 percent from the floor and was outrebounded 42-31. No other Sooner scored in double figures.

San Diego – picked to finish sixth in the West Coast Conference's preseason poll – took control from the start with a 12-3 run. But the Toreros hit a cold spell midway through the half as OU turned the tables and took a 20-14 lead with 7:36 left.

That would be the Sooners' most inspired surge of the evening, however, as Johnson went on a scoring spree to give San Diego a 33-27 lead at the break. The 6-0 guard, coming off an injury redshirt season, scored 18 of his points in the opening stanza, including a 35-foot, fadeaway three-pointer at the buzzer.

OU never got closer in the second half, falling behind 50-35 on a layup by Mafra at the 14:40 mark, and trailing by as many as 23 points (72-49) with 5 minutes remaining.

San Diego, now with a 1-0 record in Pool B play, will try to earn a spot in the championship game when it takes on Houston at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. The Sooners must turn around and face Houston on Thanksgiving evening at 7:30 p.m. in the Cougars' first game of the tourney.

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