Oklahoma's Blake Griffin (23) looks to make a move against UT's Dexter Pittman on Saturday in Austin, Texas.

Norman, Okla. ? Bill Self and his Kansas University basketball players hope to see Oklahoma phenom Blake Griffin on the court tonight — not on the bench in street clothes — for the eagerly anticipated KU-OU Big Monday showdown at Noble Center.

“We talked about that as a group today. We all hope he is able to play, though we probably won’t know until game time if he will,” KU coach Self said after practice Sunday.

“Even though there’s very little preparation time, we hope he will play.”

The status of one of college basketball’s best players was uncertain Sunday. OU medical personnel continue to monitor the condition of the 6-foot-10, 251-pound sophomore, who suffered a concussion in Saturday night’s 73-68 loss at Texas.

Griffin did not practice Sunday night.

OU coach Jeff Capel said a decision on Griffin’s status would be made sometime before today’s 8 p.m. tipoff.

“The most important thing is him and his future. You don’t want to do anything to risk any further damage, so that’s the most important thing,” Capel told the Associated Press. “We’re going to proceed with caution with this and make sure he’s OK. And we’ll move on whichever way we have to, with him or without.”

Griffin, who averages 22.2 points and a nation’s-best 13.8 rebounds a game, played just 11 minutes Saturday. He scored two points with three rebounds in a loss that dropped OU (25-2) into a tie for first place in the league with KU (22-5).

Both teams have 11-1 conference marks.

“It looked like Lex Luthor brought the Kryptonite out, and you saw Superman walking around there,” Capel said of the dazed look on Griffin’s face after taking shots to the head from 6-10, 300-pound UT center Dexter Pittman and another by point guard Dogus Balbay.

“After the game was over with and on the plane, he just looked tired. He looked really fatigued, and that was really about it,” Capel told the AP. “I didn’t really bother him or ask him, ‘How are you doing?’ or anything like that.”

Capel said initial results from an MRI were encouraging, but monitoring was necessary overnight and into today before the final call on his status could made.

“When you have an injury to the head like that, you never know. You just don’t really know. That’s the tough part of it,” Capel said.

Self said the Sooners would remain tough to beat with or without Griffin on board.

Freshman guard Willie Warren, who hit six three-pointers, exploded for 27 points versus the Longhorns.

“I thought they played very well against Texas,” Self said. “Either way, we know they are capable of playing at a high level.”

He was asked if it’d be difficult to prepare one game plan for OU with Griffin, one without.

“We only have one day anyway. There are only a few minutes to prepare,” Self said.

A year ago, Griffin hurt his knee in the first four minutes of the Jayhawks’ 85-55 victory over the Sooners on Jan. 14, 2008, in Allen Fieldhouse.

“I like Blake a lot. I was disappointed he was hurt,” Self said. “To be honest, I like when the other team’s best player gets two early fouls and has to be taken out. But in that situation, you never want to see a good player taken out because of injury.

“We played so well in that game. He would have impacted the game differently. I don’t know if he would have impacted it in a way where there would have been a different result.”

KU center Cole Aldrich, who was a reserve last year, also was saddened to see Griffin suffer an early injury against the Jayhawks.

“It was unfortunate he got hurt. He screwed his knee up at our place last year,” Aldrich said. “It’s a whole new game at Oklahoma. It’s on the road for us, a big game for us.”

It’s a bigger game and bigger victory, potentially, if Griffin is on the court. His 22 double-doubles lead the nation.

Griffin’s 40-point, 23-rebound in a 95-74 rout of Texas Tech on Feb. 14 in Noble Center had Tech coach Pat Knight shellshocked.

“Have you guys ever seen the movie, ‘The Terminator?’ That’s what that kid is like,” Knight said.

“That kid has no facial expressions. He just plays and it’s like every kid out there on him is like Sarah Connor, and he’s just going to take his time and kill ’em. That kid is good.”

KU’s Aldrich realizes how tough it is to go for 40 points and 20 boards.

“40 and 22? There’s few people that have played ball in the last few years who can do that,” Aldrich said. “DeJuan Blair at Pitt is a beast himself, too. He’s good. One thing that makes Blake so good is knowing where the ball is coming off, going to the hole strong and trying to dunk everything.”

Griffin is expected to unseat North Carolina senior Tyler Hansbrough as national player of the year.

“We had (Kevin) Durant and (Michael) Beasley (in Big 12 the last two years). Now we have Blake, who is maybe as dominant as those two are,” KU Self said of a healthy Griffin.

“There’s no question who the No. 1 pick (in 2009 NBA Draft) is. There will not be a debate. This dude is that good. At least the majority of NBA people I come in contact with say so.

“He’s athletic, tough, wants to be a player. He’s a nice young man, seems to be a good teammate, has all the pieces to be a great pro. He’ll get you 22, 23 and 10-12 every night or more than that.”

Self’s not the only one who believes Oklahoma will have both the Heisman Trophy winner (Sam Bradford) and AP national basketball player of the year (Griffin) in the same school year.

ESPN’s Dick Vitale and Jay Bilas recently deemed the Sooner star the front-runner with a few weeks left in the regular season.

“I’ll tell you what I love about the kid,” former Indiana and Texas Tech coach Bob Knight told the Daily Oklahoman. “You can say he’s really physical and he knocks people around, but he gets knocked on his (butt) and never changes expression. He just gets back up and plays. And I love that.”

Hall of Famer Knight made those comments BEFORE Griffin became just the third player in OU history to record a 40-point, 20-rebound game. Wayman Tisdale accomplished the feat with 61 points and 22 rebounds against Texas-San Antonio in 1983. Alvan Adams went for 43 points and 25 boards against Iowa State in 1975.

“I think he’s the best player in the country,” Capel said. “I know there are a lot of other great ones, but I wouldn’t trade him for any of them. I’ve never competed — or coached — against anyone like him. He’s unique.”

He has yet to make it official that he’ll be headed to the NBA Draft, though that’s expected to be a mere formality.

ESPN.com’s Chad Ford said Griffin is “the consensus No. 1 pick in the draft.”

“Griffin has excellent athleticism and toughness and an NBA body. He is a great rebounder and has also become a vastly improved offensive player this season,” Ford wrote on ESPN.com.

“While he may not have the superstar potential of a Kevin Durant or Greg Oden, his willingness to bang down low and do the dirty work has won him fans in NBA circles.”