OU basketball notebook: Tiny Gallon posts impressive debut

BY DAVID UBBEN, Staff Writer, dubben@opubco.com Comments 1
Published: November 15, 2009

Tiny Gallon scored 18 points and was one of four freshmen to score in double digits, adding 15 rebounds for a double-double.

"And he did it in 22 minutes," said Oklahoma coach Jeff Capel. "He has the potential to be a very good rebounder, because he's really long, he's big, and he has good hands. It's just a matter, with Tiny, of getting him to understand how to use his body."

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Gallon, at 6-9 and 290 pounds, had five offensive rebounds, and a blocked shot. He also attempted a three-pointer in the second half, but missed.

"I want to average like 14 rebounds," Gallon said.

CLARK SIGNS WITH SOONERS

Cameron Clark, a 6-7 forward from Sherman, Texas, took advantage of the early signing period and signed his letter of intent to play for the Sooners. Clark is rated by Rivals.com as the nation's No. 30 hoops prospect, and is the second player to sign with the Sooners since the early signing period began on Wednesday.

"He has the ability to make some 'Wow' plays," Capel said in a release. "He shoots the ball very well from mid-range, and he can shoot it to three. He also has the ability to do things off the bounce. I anticipate him being a big-time wing player for us, a guy who can be a tremendous defender and one who'll be flying around making plays all over the floor."

Guard T.J. Taylor, out of Denison, Texas, signed his letter on Wednesday.

Clark committed to Oklahoma on Sept. 21, but was also considering Marquette and Oklahoma State.

PLEDGER MISSES ARE RARE

The transition to college hasn't been difficult for freshman guard Steven Pledger — in the box score at least.

Pledger hit eight of his nine shots on Saturday, including 4-of-5 from beyond the arc, to lead the Sooners in scoring with 21 points, all in just 19 minutes.

"Keep shooting like that, and you can be the high scorer every game," Willie Warren said to Pledger after the game.

In the Sooners lone exhibition game, Pledger hit four treys on six attempts, and was 5-of-7 from the field. His 21 points were the most from a bench player in Capel's tenure at Oklahoma.

Combined with his performance against British Columbia, Pledger is shooting 81 percent on the season, and 72.7 percent from three-point range.

FRESHMEN HOOK UP

Fellow freshmen Tommy Mason-Griffin and Gallon provided the game's best highlight with a thunderous one-handed alley-oop with 1:58 to play.

In transition, Griffin lofted the ball over a defender to a sprinting Gallon, who corralled the pass high above the rim with only his right hand and slammed it, bringing the crowd of 6,741 to its feet and providing the night's loudest ovation.

TRANSITION DEFENSE IMPROVES

Mount St. Mary's shot slightly better than 50 percent in the first half, with many of its 36 first-half points coming in transition or on easy lay-ups.

Capel addressed the breakdowns at half, and the Mountaineers shot just 37 percent in the second half.

"We started getting back," Capel said. "That was the main thing."

HARDRICK IN ACTION

After sitting out last week's exhibition win over British Columbia with a knee injury, Putnam City's Kyle Hardrick made his debut Saturday.

Hardrick played the final two minutes of Saturday's win, but did not record a statistic.