Norman, Okla. ? With its top two scorers failing to produce, No. 6 Oklahoma depended on second, third and even sixth chances to beat Samford.

Kevin Bookout scored 13 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, and Michael Neal added 15 points on five three-pointers to help the Sooners win their season opener, 68-41, Saturday.

Oklahoma didn’t allow Samford a single offensive rebound, and Bookout had five of the Sooners’ 21 offensive boards.

On one first-half possession, Oklahoma grabbed five of its own missed shots, but still came away empty.

“We’d shoot and miss, get the rebound, shoot and miss, get the rebound, shoot and miss, get the rebound and shoot and miss,” Oklahoma coach Kelvin Sampson said.

In all, Oklahoma had a 42-14 rebounding advantage over Samford, which started five players who were 6-foot-7 or shorter.

“It was taking us three and four shots just to score,” Sampson said. “But I don’t worry about that. The encouraging part is how we fought for the rebounds.

“We are really going to have to work on finishing our plays, because it shouldn’t take three and four rebounds to finally make the basket.”

Oklahoma opened the second half with a 22-5 run and led, 49-22, after Nate Carter’s reverse layup with 9:59 to play.

Nebraska 73, Yale 64

Lincoln, Neb. – Wes Wilkinson came off the bench to lead Nebraska with 14 points, and the Cornhuskers beat Yale in the John Thompson Basketball Challenge.

The Huskers held Yale to just seven points in the final 61â2 minutes to secure the victory. Nebraska (2-0) led by as many as nine late in the first half. But an 8-0 run helped Yale (1-1) cut the Husker lead to two at the half. Wilkinson hit his first shot of the second half to push the lead to four.