The OU men’s basketball team soundly defeated the British Columbia University Thunderbirds by a score of 93-53 in the team’s only preseason warm-up before they open the regular season.

“It’s good to play against someone else,” head coach Jeff Capel said. “We looked kind of how I expected us to look early in the season. At times we looked good, other times, not so much.”

Several members of the highly-touted Sooner freshman class gave solid contributions to the team’s victory. Freshman forward Tiny Gallon scored 10 points and brought in nine rebounds in 23 minutes of action. Fellow McDonald’s All-American freshman guard Tommy Mason-Griffin scored 12 points.

“Two freshmen I wasn’t worried about were Tiny and Tommy,” sophomore guard Willie Warren said. “I’ve been watching them play since they were like 5 and 6 years old.”

Freshman forward Andrew Fitzgerald scored 10 points and freshman guard Steven Pledger scored 14.

“It was guys like Pledger and Fitzgerald that I really wanted to see when the lights came on,” Warren said. “They really stepped up tonight.”

Warren led the Sooners in scoring with 23 points on 50 percent shooting. He scored a majority of his points off penetration, something he said is easier now that former Sooner Blake Griffin isn’t drawing double teams down low.

“The lane is more wide open now,” Warren said. “Last season Blake was down there and the lane was a little clogged up usually.”

Senior guard Tony Crocker was shut out in the first half and he remained scoreless for a large part of the second half, but he scored eight points late in the game off of two four-point plays.

British Columbia played the Sooners close for much of the first half, keeping the lead within single digits until near the end of the half. The Sooners held a 38-26 lead at the half.

“It was closer than we would have liked in the first half,” Warren said. “I told our team before the game, this needs to be a statement for us.”

Capel pointed out several areas where he said the team needed improvement, including defensive intensity and offensive execution.

In the second half, the physically overmatched Thunderbirds were unable to stay in the game. OU applied defensive pressure and forced turnovers to extend the lead to more than 30 points.

The Sooners outscored British Columbia 55-27 in the second half. They were helped by 10 three’s on and 62 percent shooting from long range in the second half. OU finished with 56 percent shooting from behind the arc.

“All of our guards can shoot the ball very well,” Crocker said. “So we expect it to be like this all year.”

Capel said that the biggest change in the offensive strategy is the increase in outside shooting this year.

“We’re going to shoot three’s this year, that’s something we’re going to do,” Capel said. “We chart our shots in practice, and we’ve been shooting the ball very well.”

British Columbia finished the game shooting 35 percent from the field, and only 17 percent on three-point attempts.

Freshman forward Kyle Hardrick did not play due to a knee injury, which Capel said was not serious. Junior center Orlando Allen also did not play. Capel said he was not injured, but would not specify the reason for his absence from the game.

The Sooners will open the regular season Nov.14 against Mount St. Mary at Lloyd Noble Center in Norman.