Tyus too much for Kewpies

The Hickman boys’ basketball team lost to Hazelwood Central 73-60 in Florissant. The loss dropped the Kewpies to 3-5. Hazelwood improved to 5-0.

The Kewpies were led by senior Kyle Smith, who scored 29 points. Hazelwood was lead by junior Alex Tyus’ 26 points. Hickman assistant coach Dan Bachmeier said Tyus lived up to his expectations.

“Tyus is as good as advertised,” Bachmeier said. “Smith also had a good game, but this was a total team effort. They were probably the best team we’ve faced all season.”

The Kewpies’ next game is Thursday at Rock Bridge. The varsity game will begin 15 minutes after the conclusion of the junior varsity game, which starts at 6 p.m.

SOONER BASKETBALL: Oklahoma will face some of its most difficult tests of the season this week — both on the court and off.

When they’re not preparing to take final exams, the Sooners will have to cram for their biggest test before conference play begins — a Saturday game against Duke in Madison Square Garden.

The No. 7 Blue Devils represent the Sooners’ highest-ranked opponent so far this season. Oklahoma is 6-1 on the season, with its only loss coming against its only ranked foe — then-No.22 Washington.

The Sooners have won four in a row since then and coach Kelvin Sampson believes his team has shown improvement.

But he and his players aren’t necessarily viewing the game as an opportunity to see where they stand against the nation’s best.

“It’s just a test of two good programs to see where they’re at at the beginning of the season — to see what works and what doesn’t,” senior guard Jaison Williams said. “We’ll find out a lot about this team afterwards.”

Preparations for the game will be different than usual.

The Sooners have had to adjust their practice schedule to work around players’ exams. Instead of a late afternoon practice, they were shooting around at 10 a.m. Tuesday.

Sampson said several players had finals either immediately before or after practice.