The men’s basketball team became the first team in the country to reach 22 wins following its 77-71 victory over Texas A&M Wednesday night at Lloyd Noble Center.

The win gives the Sooners their best start in school history at 22-1.

Sophomore forward Blake Griffin recorded game-highs in both points (16) and rebounds (14), giving him his nation-leading 19th double-double of the season.

The two seniors made sure Griffin didn’t carry the scoring load alone. Senior forward Taylor Griffin finished with 13 points of his own while senior guard Austin Johnson added 11 points and four assists.

The first half got off to a slow start, but a Johnson-to-Blake ally-oop ignited a 16-3 OU run, giving the Sooners a 27-12 lead.

Despite two 3-pointers in two minutes from sophomore guard Cade Davis, the Aggies managed to scratch their way back and enter halftime only down by eight.

“We did a good job out of the gate,” Blake said. “We got up 15, we just relaxed and we let up. They did a good job of capitalizing when we were relaxing.”

A&M picked up where it left off at halftime, as the Aggies took advantage of offensive rebounds and OU turnovers to open the half on a 10-2 run, tying the score at 42. The Aggies finished the game with 19 offensive rebounds.

“Pretty much the whole game I felt like they wanted it more,” Blake said. “It’s embarrassing to us to give up that many offensive rebounds.”

Two baskets from junior forward Ryan Wright and a three from freshman guard Willie Warren helped give the Sooners a 59-55 advantage, but A&M’s Josh Carter responded with three three’s of his own, putting the Aggies up 66-59.

The turning point seemed to be at the 5:36 mark, when A&M’s junior center Chinemelu Elonu was called for his fifth foul after contesting junior Juan Patillo, who finished with 7 points and four blocks in just 12 minutes, for a rebound.

Patillo also had a steal and three rebounds. Blake said that Patillo has been providing instant energy off the bench for the Sooners.

“That’s why he is so important to us, because of the intangibles,” Blake said. “He does what nobody else on this team can do. Since he’s come out of his redshirt he’s been there. But it shouldn’t come down to that. We should [not] have to wait for him to bring the [energy].”

The Sooners scored 6 straight points, and a pair of free throws from Warren tied the game at 69-69.

“For us to play as poorly as we did, and then for us to come back, that said a lot about our team,” Blake said.

Taylor then drove inside and scored on a layup with 46 seconds remaining, giving OU a 71-69 lead. On the following play, an errant A&M pass gave the Sooners the ball back, and solid free throw shooting sealed the victory for OU.

“This was big,” A&M head coach Mark Turgeon said. “We felt like we didn’t give them our best shot when they came to us. We gave them our best shot tonight and they were still better than us.”

-Eric Dama/The Daily

22-1 OU off to best start ever

Ranked No.2 for the first time all season, OU had a little something extra to play for against Texas A&M Wednesday night in Lloyd Noble Center.

With OU holding the nation’s best record they also had an opportunity to reach 22-1, the best record for an OU men's basketball team.

Aiming to reach the best record in school history, many people assumed OU would end the night on top.

Loose balls, charges, long rebounds and multiple and one dunks would take the game in a different direction.

The Aggies outrebounded the Sooners 43-31 in the game and had 8 second-chance points compared to OU’s 2 in the first half.

Still OU, got out to an early first-half lead.

It looked like it might be another Big 12 beat down thanks to outstanding bench play from the Sooners.

Free throws and 3-pointers lit up the score board in the first half as OU shot 10 of 17 from the line and hit four of 10 from beyond the arc.

Due to early foul trouble, head coach Jeff Capel was forced to look at his bench to make big plays and sophomore guard Cade Davis stepped up by knocking down three of his four 3-point attempts.

The second half told a different story, however, as A&M fired back.

The Sooners were plagued by a lack of hustle and an abundance of turnovers and A&M took a 50-to-48 lead over the Sooners with just under 12 minutes left. The Aggies grabbed 19 offensive rebounds on the night.

With the nation’s best record at stake, OU was forced to answer.

The Sooners finished the game with stingy defense (back-to-back blocks by junior Juan Patillo) and some clutch shots from senior forward Taylor Griffin.

Griffin hit a layup with just over a minute left to put the Sooners back up by two, and then the 68 percent free-throw shooter hit two free throws at the end to seal the game.

The Sooners, who have never won a national title but have made multiple Final Fours, have never started a season 22-1.

They are now 8-0 in the Big 12 and are on pace to nab a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament.

-Daniel Martin/The Daily