Three-pointers help No. 7 Oklahoma beat No. 9 Villanova, 78-55

The answer for No. 7 Oklahoma in facing No. 9 Villanova came from afar.

The Sooners made a season-high 14 three-pointers, including four apiece by senior guards Isaiah Cousins and Buddy Hield, to cruise to a 78-55 victory over the Wildcats on Monday in the Pearl Harbor Invitational at Honolulu.

Cousins scored 19 points and Hield added 18 for Oklahoma (6-0), which never trailed.

Half of the Sooners’ field goals were three-pointers, including eight of 12 from behind the arc in the second half.

“Villanova is an experienced team too, but our coaches got us real prepared for this game,” said Hield, who was named to the preseason All-Big 12 team. “We watched a lot of film and we studied them real well and they had different schemes, but we came out and executed. We came out with a great team win.”

Josh Hart, Phil Booth and Ryan Arcidiacono scored 10 points each for the Wildcats (7-1), who shot 32% from the field and went four of 32 on three-point attempts.

The Sooners opened the game by making their first six field goals — all three-pointers. Villanova went on an 11-0 run to pull even at 26. The Sooners then scored the final six points of the half.

Villanova pulled to within 50-42 on a layup by Arcidiacono at the 11:10 mark of the second half, but Oklahoma answered with a 10-2 run, culminating with a three by Cousins to stretch its lead to 60-44.

at No. 4 Iowa State 84, Buffalo 63: Georges Niang scored a career-high 31 points and matched his career high with 12 rebounds for the Cyclones (7-0). Niang’s first double-double of the season was crucial for Iowa State, which let the Bulls (4-5) get within 47-46 early in the second half. Iowa State responded with an 11-0 run and a late closing push. Jarryn Skeete led Buffalo with 16 points.

at No. 11 Purdue 80, Indiana Purdue Indianapolis 53: A.J. Hammons had 14 points and Kendall Stephens added 13, and the Boilermakers are 9-0 for the first time since the 2009-10 team began the season 14-0. Darell Combs led IUPUI (3-7) with 14 points. Purdue used a 24-1 run in the second half to take a commanding 73-42 lead. Purdue entered the game leading the Big Ten in rebounding with 46.0 a game, but IUPUI stayed within striking distance in the first half by outrebounding the Boilermakers 20-16.

at No. 18 Butler 93, VMI 66: Kelan Martin scored 20 points and Roosevelt Jones added 14 to help the Bulldogs (8-1) win their fourth straight in emphatic fashion. The Keydets (3-5) of Virginia Military Institute were led by Julian Eleby with 21 points. Butler started pulling away with an early 11-3 spurt, then went on a 12-3 run to take a 39-19 lead less than 12 minutes into the game.

No. 24 Oregon 67, Navy 47: Dillon Brooks (19 points) led four Ducks players in double figures in a victory at Honolulu. Oregon (7-1) ended the Midshipmen’s seven-game winning streak, getting 20 points off 18 turnovers by Navy (7-3), which got 13 points from Will Kelly. The Ducks led 36-23 at halftime.