VILLANOVA, Pa. - Randy Foye was the best of Villanova's four guards on Saturday and the fourth-ranked Wildcats beat No. 5 Oklahoma 85-74 in the season's first matchup of teams ranked in the top five.
Foye had a career-high 32 points for Villanova (4-0), which had to listen all week to people wondering if the Wildcats' small lineup because of a knee injury to forward Curtis Sumpter could handle a good frontcourt like Oklahoma's.
The guards answered the question with defensive pressure that didn't allow the Sooners (4-1) to have any kind of perimeter game in the second half when Villanova pulled away.
It was one of the best performances in an injury-riddled career for the 6-foot-9 Fraser. The senior, who is coming off double knee surgery in May, had scored a total of 13 points in the first three games.
Taj Gray had 22 points for Oklahoma and fellow forward Kevin Bookout added 15. They combined for 27 of Oklahoma's 39 points in the second half as the Sooners guards were unable to get off shots let alone make them. Terrell Everett had 11 points and nine assists for the Sooners.
Oklahoma had a 21-10 rebound advantage in the first half, which ended tied at 35, but Villanova had a 10-8 advantage in the second half.
Gray scored on a long layup with 14:45 to play and tied the game at 50. That's when the Wildcats went on a 16-5 run fueled by the backcourt pressure. Foye, whose previous best was 28 points in last season's NCAA tournament against North Carolina, was 14-for-21 from the field, including 3-for-8 on 3s.
NO. 2 TEXAS 93, TEXAS-ARLINGTON 55: Daniel Gibson had a career-high 29 points to lead the No. 2 Longhorns to a 7-0 record, their best start since they won the first 14 games in 1981-82.
Gibson, who was averaging 10.5 points after scoring 14.2 per game last season, made 12 of 19 field goals, including four of 10 from 3-point range. He had six assists and one turnover.
NO. 12 ILLINOIS 65, XAVIER 62: Dee Brown and James Augustine carried the scoring load and Marcus Arnold's inspired play off the bench late in the second half helped host No. 12 Illini rally from an early 15-point deficit. Augustine scored 23 and Brown had 20.
NO. 13 MICHIGAN ST. 72, ARK.-LITTLE ROCK 67: Spartans senior center Paul Davis scored 17 of his game-high 23 points in the final 20 minutes. Davis scored the first nine points of the second half for Michigan State (5-2), sparking a 16-3 run that broke a 30-30 halftime tie with the Trojans (3-2).
Maurice Ager scored 22 and Shannon Brown had 14 for Michigan State. Lekheythan Malone led Arkansas-Little Rock with 19 points. Elijah Muldrow had 15, Zack Wright scored 14 and Rashad Jones-Jennings had 10.
HOUSTON 69, NO. 15 ARIZONA 65: Oliver Lafayette scored 28 points and the Cougars scored their second straight upset of a Top 25 team. Houston (2-3) was the highest-ranked team to lose to Houston since the Cougars upset third-ranked Memphis 69-67 in 1996.
Hassan Adams came back from an early benching to score 21 for the sloppy Wildcats, who committed 21 turnovers and shot 35 percent (22 of 63).
NO. 14 IOWA 72, VALPARAISO 59: Jeff Horner scored a season-high 19 points and Mike Henderson tied a season best with 15 as Iowa won the Hawkeye Challenge for the 20th year in a row. The Hawkeyes are 47-1 overall in their tournament since it began in 1982.
NO. 17 INDIANA 79, EASTERN MICHIGAN 63 : Robert Vaden scored 18 points and freshman Ben Allen added a career-high 15 for the Hoosiers. The victory was coach Mike Davis' 100th in six seasons at Indiana (4-1), making him the second-fastest to the 100-win mark in school history. Only Bob Knight achieved the feat faster, doing it in five seasons.
