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NORMAN, Okla. -- With his Oklahoma Sooners looking listless and trailing upstart Abilene Christian at halftime on Friday, coach Lon Kruger switched two of his starters for the second half, looking for some sort of spark.Rashard Odomes, one of the benched starters, received the message. Once he exited the bench, he scored seven of his 13 points during a three-minute span midway through the second half, helping Oklahoma turn a two-point lead into a nine-point advantage -- a run that proved decisive in a 72-64 win.Jordan Woodard scored 16 points for Oklahoma (4-1), which had to rally from an early 10-point deficit. Oklahoma won for the 58th time in its last 60 nonconference home games, but the Sooners -- a Final Four team a season ago, albeit with only two returning starters -- struggled mightily against Abilene Christian (2-2), a Southland Conference program in its final year of transition from NCAA Division II into Division I.Abilene Christian was much the aggressor in the first half, Oklahoma coach Lon Kruger said. We came back with a little bit better energy in the second half, but not (with) the number of good possessions that we need to have in a ball game. Theres a lot to learn from that one. Credit to Abilene Christian for how well they played and how hard they played. Hopefully it got our attention a little bit.The Sooners overcame poor shooting from the field (36.4 percent) and the free-throw line (63 percent) and the smaller Wildcats outrebounded Oklahoma 42-40.The Wildcats were up 30-26 at halftime and were tied with Oklahoma as late as the 13-minute mark. But their top player, Jaylen Franklin, left the game with an apparent knee injury with 14:51 left after scoring 11 points and didnt return. The Wildcats proved unable to keep up with Oklahoma down the stretch in his absence.Abilene Christians propensity for fouling proved to be its undoing. The Wildcats committed 32 fouls and Oklahoma ended up shooting 46 free throws, making 29, while Abilene Christian went 9 of 19 from the line. The Wildcats outscored Oklahoma 55-43 from the field despite committing 22 turnovers.When you go through transition, you play a bunch of these games, Abilene Christian coach Joe Golding said. Obviously, were trying to turn the program where we can come in here and compete in these games. If we keep competing, well eventually get one.Abilene Christian wasnt expected to offer much resistance against the Sooners. Abilene Christian was coming off a home loss to Charleston Southern and the Wildcats win in their most recent road game, at New Hampshire on Nov. 17, had ended their 20-game nonconference road losing streak that dated to November 2011.Even so, the Wildcats overcame 16 fouls to lead at halftime, having trailed for all of 23 seconds to that point. They used a 7-1 run to build a 15-5 lead on a layup by Jaren Lewis at the 12:35 mark. Consecutive baskets by Franklin in the final 73 seconds of the half gave Abilene Christian its four-point halftime lead.A 3-pointer by Jovan Crnik gave the Wildcats their last lead at 33-32 with 18:28 left. Woodard answered with a 3-pointer for Oklahoma and with the score tied 39-39, he threw an inbound pass off the back of Abilene Christians Hayden Howell, grabbed the carom and laid the ball in the basket while being fouled. He hit the free throw with 12:46 left and the Sooners led the rest of the way.Odomes had two baskets and went 3 for 5 from the line during his second-half flurry and Darrion Strong-Moores 3-pointer put the Sooners up 54-45 with 7:53 left. With Abilene Christian within 64-59, Odomes drove the lane and dunked to start an 8-0 run that sealed the win for Oklahoma.Weve just got to get back in the lab, back in the gym, and get some reps in in practice and get things going again, Woodard said.Lewis finished with 12 rebounds and eight points for Abilene Christian, while Khadeem Lattin had nine points and nine rebounds for Oklahoma.BIG PICTURE:Abilene Christian: It can only get easier schedule-wise for the Wildcats, as Oklahoma was the only major-conference foe on their schedule. The rest of Abilene Christians nonconference slate will be against teams with which the Wildcats should be competitive, with one tough test at New Mexico next week.Oklahoma: After taking third in the Tire Pros Invitational in Orlando, the Sooners showed they still have plenty of kinks to work out before facing tougher opponents like Wisconsin, Wichita State and Memphis.TIP-INS:Woodard, a senior point guard, jumped two spots to No. 25 on the Sooners career scoring list with his 16-point outing. Woodard, who now has 1,236 career points, passed former NBA player Garfield Heard and David Little. . Oklahoma is 3-0 all-time against Abilene Christian, having won by 24 points in December 1969 and 49 points in December 1982, a game in which Wayman Tisdale scored 51 points on a still-standing school-record 22 field goals.QUOTABLE:They had a big tournament trip . and they come back here and its tough to motivate them. We probably dont motivate them like some teams do. Im sure there was some waking up on (their part). But they woke up. Theyve got a good team. Theyre going to be really good down the road. You can tell the pieces are there for them. -- Golding on the Sooners performance against Abilene Christian.UP NEXT:Abilene Christian: Returns home for a game against Division III Howard Payne (Texas) on Sunday before a Wednesday road trip to another marquee foe, New Mexico.Oklahoma: Hosts Northern Colorado on Tuesday to prep for what figures to be a tough nonconference road game at Wisconsin on Dec. 3. Eddie George Youth Jersey . With their top three point guards and Kobe Bryant all sidelined by injury, the Lakers signed Marshall out of the D-League on Friday before their home game against Minnesota. Jurrell Casey Titans Jersey . Denis Coderre, the former federal MP who was elected mayor on Nov. 3, has drawn the ire of some Montreal Canadiens. During last nights game he tweeted: "Hello? Can we get a one-way ticket to (minor-league) Hamilton for David Desharnais please. http://www.titansstoreonline.com/Black-99-Jurrell-Casey-Womens-Jersey/ . Thousands of fans at Mosaic Stadium will be cozying up to each other in an effort to stay warm in chilly temperatures and block the Prairie wind that locals say can knock your socks off. Earl Campbell Womens Jersey . 1 position. The Mustangs (6-0), who beat Queens 50-31 last weekend, earned 17 first-place votes and 287 points in voting by the Football Reporters of Canada. Western was last ranked first in the country in October 2011. Kevin Byard Youth Jersey .05 million next season unless Graham and the Saints subsequently agree on a long-term deal. The designation was released Monday after the deadline passed for NFL teams to use franchise or transition tags on players becoming free agents. MINNEAPOLIS -- Kristaps Porzingis and Karl-Anthony Towns are building a tantalizing rivalry for the NBAs new age.Carmelo Anthony let the kids have their fun until it was time to go home.Porzingis had 29 points and eight rebounds and Towns had 47 points and 18 boards, but Anthony hit the winning jumper with 2.3 seconds left, lifting the New York Knicks to a 106-104 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday night.I mean the skys the limit for those two guys in this league, said Antony, who had just 12 points on 4-for-15 shooting before splashing the winner over Andrew Wiggins outstretched hand. With Towns, the way hes playing, Kristaps getting better and better each day, theyll be around for a long time and, you know, theyll be the face of this league in a couple years.The 21-year-old Towns is the third-youngest player in the last three decades to have at least 45 points and 15 rebounds in a game.The Wolves used a 20-3 run to tie it at 102 with under a minute to play, but Porzingis threw Gorgui Dieng aside for a putback slam and Anthony tipped the inbounds pass on Minnesotas final possession to thwart the comeback.I think it was a good show for everybody, Porzingis said. But the most important is we got the win.Brandon Jennings scored 12 points off the bench and Porzingis had a big block against his friend and draft classmate Towns to help the Knicks weather the loss of Joakim Noah, who sat out with a sprained left ankle. New York made 13 3-pointers to Minnesotas four.After the Timberwolves lost to Utah on Monday, a despondent Towns vowed to do more to help his team win. He came out a man on fire, scoring 22 points on 8-for-8 shooting and grabbing seven rebounds in the first quarter.Im so proud of all of my teammates, said Towns, whose Wolves fell to 5-13. The fight that we have every time were down to comeback and find a way to put ourselves back in a game is the reason why I think so many find the potential in us to be great.TIP-INSKnicks: SG Courtney Lee only played eight minutes because of a sprained left ankle. ... Coach Jefff Hornacek said F Lance Thomas, who has not played yet because of a sore left ankle, had a good workout during shootaround and will practice on Friday in the hopes of playing in the next game or two.ddddddddddddTimberwolves: Wiggins had 19 points, seven rebounds and four assists. ... Towns 22 points in the first quarter were two off of Chauncey Billups franchise record of 24. ... G/F Brandon Rush was inactive with a sore big toe that has bothered him for much of the season.SLAM SWATTEDThe two young stars rarely guarded each other, but Towns did go at Porzingis late in the second quarter, rising up to try to dunk on him only to have the Latvian emphatically stuff him for Towns first missed shot in 11 attempts.He tried, Porzingis said. He was being super aggressive. He was driving to the basket, shooting from the outside, playing in the post. He was doing everything. He was playing an overall game, and it was really hard to stop him.FOND MEMORIESThe Bulls made the playoffs all five seasons with coach Tom Thibodeau leading Derrick Rose and Noah. Rose and Noah were two players Thibodeau, now with Minnesota, deeply respected for their competitive drive and determination.You dont realize what you have with him until hes not around, Noah said. He used to tell me that when I played for him because we used to butt heads all the time. Hes definitely one of the tops in the business.FAMILIAR FACESTwo Knicks assistants have Minnesota ties, with Kurt Rambis a former head coach and Jerry Sichting spending a total of 13 years in two separate stints as an assistant.Its still special, Sichting said. I still know a lot of people in the organization and around town. I dont miss the winters around here, but I always enjoy coming back.UP NEXTThe two teams meet again in two days, this time in Manhattan on Friday night for a game in which Thibodeau will return to the arena he called home for seven seasons as a Knicks assistant. ' ' '