FanHouse TaylorGriffin

The story wasn't going to be about Kansas winning. Seriously. The Jayhawks never had a chance of grabbing the headlines. Even with Bill Self's crew closing out an impressive Big 12 road win, ESPN analyst Fran Fraschilla was still discussing the lack of impact this game would have on Oklahoma's NCAA tournament resume.

That's because Blake Griffin didn't play. And that's not to take away from Kansas' impressive 87- 78 win over the Sooners in Norman, Okla., but it would be completely unrealistic to think this is the same Oklahoma team with Griffin on the bench.

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The game hinged upon if outside shooting could trump an inside game. It worked for most of regulation for the Purdue Boilermakers, but the three-point shooting well ran dry late in the game, Robbie Hummell fouled out, and the Oklahoma Sooners rode the back of the Griffin family to victory in the NIT Season Tip-Off Championship today.

With all the defensive attention inside on Blake Griffin -- and rightfully so -- his brother Taylor stepped up for the Sooners with a 19 point, seven rebound effort. Oh, don't worry; Blake got his, too, as he compiled 18 points and 22 rebounds, despite being double and triple-teamed routinely. Freshman guard Willie Warren threw in 22 points of his own, benefitting from the attention the inside game was getting.

At one point, Purdue led by nine and had hit half of their three point attempts. Alas, they missed their last seven attempts from behind the arc, and the points in the paint and free throw discrepancies caught up with them.