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Villanova falls to No. 7 Oklahoma in Hawaii

HONOLULU - Despite sweltering conditions inside of Pearl Harbor's Bloch Arena, Villanova had trouble heating up in its visit to Hawaii.

HONOLULU - Despite sweltering conditions inside of Pearl Harbor's Bloch Arena, Villanova had trouble heating up in its visit to Hawaii.

Oklahoma had no such issues and the seventh-ranked Sooners hit 14 three-pointers on 26 attempts in a 78-55 win over the Wildcats on Monday in the first game of the Pearl Harbor Invitational doubleheader at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam.

Oklahoma guard Isaiah Cousins went 4 for 4 from behind the arc and led five Sooners in double figures with a game-high 19 points, 6 rebounds and 10 assists. Guard Buddy Hield hit four three-pointers in the first half in an 18-point performance, forward Ryan Spangler finished with 11 points and 10 rebounds and the Sooners (6-0) never trailed while sending Villanova (7-1) to its first loss this season.

"It was a great test, we knew we'd be playing an outstanding team," Villanova coach Jay Wright said. "We knew if they're clicking on all cylinders and we don't get after them and take them out of what they do, this could happen.

"It's not the kind of team you want to get behind on. We have not started well in any game this season and when you do it against a team like that and you gotta come from behind against a team like that, you're going to be in trouble and that's what happened."

While Oklahoma shot 46 percent from the field, Villanova went 8-for-30 in the first half and finished at 32 percent.

Phil Booth, Josh Hart and Ryan Arcidiacono all had 10 points for the Wildcats, who finished 4-for-32 from three-point range.

"We got into the paint, we got to the rim, we just couldn't buy a three," Arcidiacono said.

After ceremonies commemorating the 74th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor Monday morning, the event opened with a top-10 matchup featuring Villanova, No. 9 in the Associated Press poll and No. 6 in the USA Today coaches poll against Oklahoma, No. 7 in AP and No. 8 in the coaches poll.

Hield set the tone for the Sooners by hitting four three-pointers in the first 6 minutes, 10 seconds and Cousins drained two in Oklahoma's 18-8 opening surge.

"They're a really good team, a very experienced team with a lot of juniors and seniors," Arcidiacono said. "We're a young team but we just can't start games like that, put ourselves in a hole against teams like that."

When Oklahoma finally cooled, Villanova pieced together a 14-2 run, holding the Sooners to one field goal in a span of 3:50 and tying the game on two Hart free throws with 2:55 left in the first half.

The Wildcats went 8-for-11 from the free-throw line while Oklahoma attempted just two, making both, and the Sooners led 32-26 at halftime.

The second half started much like the first with Oklahoma stretching the lead with three more three-pointers. The Sooners opened up a 45-32 lead when Spangler hit a three from the top as the shot-clock buzzer sounded.

Oklahoma continued to pull away while holding Villanova a season-low point total.

"We just didn't play the defense we usually play and the way Villanova expects to play," Arcidiacono said. "That's something we'll have to get better with, but it's definitely a great learning experience and a great overall trip."