Center. The Sooners put a damper on the anniversary festivities with an 81-73 victory, spoiling the Titans' fifth appearance overall in the NIT. ORU, coming off an 11-16 season in 1980-81, relied on the contributions of both young and old throughout the campaign. Freshman center Mark Acres became just the third first-year player to lead the team in scoring, joining Dana Lewis in 1967-68 and Richard Fuqua in 1969-70, by averaging 14.6 points per game. Acres also paced the Titans in rebounding with an 8.1 average. Senior guard Gary 'Cat' Johnson finished second behind Acres with a 14.2 scoring mark and sophomore forward Lester Gill placed third with 12.2 ppg. Acres earned AP honorable mention All-American accolades for his efforts. The Titans, in their third season under head coach Ken Hayes, opened the season 7-3 and used that momentum to overcome injuries and a tough conference slate to qualify for the NIT berth.