With Tony Crocker and Willie Warren both out with injuries, OU was in dire need of somebody to step up at home Wednesday against the Iowa State Cyclones in place of their top two scorers.

However, one did not. Two did.

Bruised and beaten, the ailing Sooners were able to get the best of ISU, downing the Cyclones in a blowout-turned-home-scare 89-84.

Young gun Tommy Mason-Griffin was first to shine, hitting the first eight Sooner points. Mason-Griffin ended the half with 18 points off of 7-9 shooting from the field, 4-5 from the three point arc.

Renown this season for his relentless hustle and heart, junior guard Cade Davis stepped in to compliment Mason-Griffin’s hot start.

Davis shot the lights out as well, shooting 5-10 from the field and 2-4 from the three-point arc, good for 14 first-half points. He also added three steals.

As a team, the Sooners shot often throughout the first half and shot well, a deadly combination when a team shoots as many three pointers as OU does. The team finished the first half shooting 50 percent from the field and 8-15 (53 percent) from the three-point line.

The deadeye shooting led to a 19-7 OU run that plagued the Cyclones from the 12 minute mark until under eight minutes left in the half.

Capel’s crew enjoyed a healthy 48-32 lead at half. On the season, the Sooners have averaged a Big 12 best eight three-pointers per contest, equal to what they had in Wednesday night’s first half.

While their defense was a bit under par, ISU did not play an all around poor first half. As a team, the Cyclones were shooting an efficient 13-24 (54 percent) from the field and 4-6 from three point range.

ISU standout forwards Craig Brackins and Marquis Gilstrap had just five and four first-half points respectively. The duo has averaged over 31 combined points throughout all of their regular season games before their loss in Norman.

Mason-Griffin was the go to guy coming out of the locker room for the second half, hitting the Sooners first five.

Young teams are thought to be streaky, however, and OU is no exception.

After being on the wrong end of a 16-point game after the first half, the Cyclones came out hustling and were able to trim the lead down to seven points with eight and a half minutes remaining in the game.

The Sooners were almost left without three of their starters when Davis hit the floor hard after a rare double-foul call. He would leave the court briefly, heading right over to the scoring table and subbing back in.

With five minutes left, the Sooners were up by a mere three points. The Cyclones had traded buckets and gone on many short-runs to slowly but surely chip the lead down and were right on the verge of taking the lead.

Despite not seeing the bench for a single minute of game play, Mason-Griffin could not be denied. He put up nine points in the final five minutes along with fellow-freshmen Tiny Gallon’s five to barely hold the Cyclones off till the end.

Mason-Griffin set a new career high for the third week straight with 38 points. He also added six assists, two steals and nailed five shots from three-point range.

Davis would finish with 24 points, while freshman big man Tiny Gallon would finish with nine, seven of which came in the second half, and six rebounds.

While they dominated in the first, the second half clearly was a different story, other than the play of Mason-Griffin and Davis, who combined for 60 of OU’s 89 points.

OU hit just three from downtown after hitting eight in the first. They were outscored 52-41 by the Cyclones, who turned the ball over just four times in the second after coughing it up 14 times in the first.

Lucky for the Sooners, basketball is a two half effort, and they were able to hang on to win in the last few minutes of the game.

OU takes on Nebraska at 12:30 p.m. in Lincoln on Saturday. Right now, the return of Crocker and Warren is uncertain.