The Daily’s Clark Foy stopped by the OU men’s basketball team’s practice Monday afternoon and caught up with several players as they prepare for Saturday’s game against Texas.

MASON-GRIFFIN HELPS PICK UP SLACK

Freshman guard Tommy Mason-Griffin has had to take on a bigger role recently, as some of the Sooners’ top players have missed games with injury over the past few weeks, including sophomore guard Willie Warren and senior guard Tony Crocker.

“I’m pretty much in the same role even without Willie [Warren] and Crocker playing, but that takes a lot of scoring out of our offense,” Mason-Griffin said. “I just want to step in and be more aggressive.”

WHAT’S WRONG ON THE ROAD?

OU has not lost home game this season. However, the team has struggled mightily on the road. Mason-Griffin said his team needs to get the right mentality and finish games.

“It’s disappointing because we can’t seem to pull through at the end on our road games,” Mason-Griffin said. “Teams make a run on us and we just feel like the game is over with. But once we figure out mental toughness and don’t get too high or low on the road, we should be fine.”

CRITICISM OF WARREN

Warren has received some criticism lately from the media about his performance and his attitude. Junior guard Cade Davis said that criticism is unwarranted.

“I don’t think he deserves [the criticism] at all,” Davis said. "He’s a great player, and a team player. He’s just been struggling, and maybe he could’ve handled some situations better but that just comes with the frustration of not playing up to his expectations."

Davis also mentioned that Warren has been playing through some pain as of late.

“He [Warren] was pretty banged up against Nebraska,” Davis said. “He’ll come back and we’ll come back as a team, we’ve just got to keep working harder.”

SOONERS SEEK INSIDE BOOST FROM WRIGHT

Senior forward Ryan Wright has been on the court more and more as the season has progressed, and Wright said he is up to the task.

“The past three games I’ve been playing extended minutes,” Wright said. “I started against Iowa State, so I expect to be playing a lot of minutes against Texas. I’m just getting ready this week for the challenge.”

Wright said practice this week will be crucial to stopping the forward for the Texas Longhorns.

“It’s going to be a challenge for the big men to step it up on the inside with our rebounding and our post defense,” Wright said. “It is definitely going to be a big week for us in practice.”