Streaky Oklahoma Showing Boom and Bust Potential with Big Win over Villanova

A 23-point win against a previously unbeaten Top 10 team is as much a cause for celebration this early in the season as anything is.

A scan of the box score from seventh-ranked Oklahoma's 78-55 win on Monday night over No. 9 Villanova at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii will only further steel the opinions of those who feel the Sooners are legitimate contenders not just to unseat Kansas in the Big 12 but to make a Final Four run.

Yet there were times during that performance when the Sooners' nickname seemed as fitting as any in the country, speaking to what lies ahead in 2015-16 for a very good team that still has plenty of room to get better.

Sooner or later, Oklahoma is going to have a game where it's not able to light it up from outside and will need to establish an offensive identity inside the three-point line.

Sooner or later, it will be unable to force an opponent into taking bad shots and thus won't just get to shrug off wasted possessions that lead to prolonged scoring droughts.

And sooner or later, Oklahoma will find itself matched up against a team that can do everything as well as it can—if not better—likely resulting in a loss that will force the Sooners to become a more complete team.

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Oklahoma (6-0) entered Monday first in Division I in field-goal defense (32.6 percent) and ninth-best against the three, and that was before holding Villanova to 31.7 percent from the field. It helped that the Wildcats attempted 32 three-pointers and made only four, rarely taking the ball inside and using their speedy guards in a way that would produce results.

The Sooners, a 44.6 percent three-point shooting team coming in, made 14 of 26 shots from outside, including six of nine attempts in the first six minutes and eight seconds of play.

It's hard to not look dominant—and draw attention away from flaws—when your shots are falling and the opponent is throwing up bricks.

But as quickly as those threes can be strung together, so too can they stop falling. And without another avenue to take, droughts can (and will) happen.

Oklahoma has shot better from outside the arc than within it in its last two games, going 14-of-34 on two-point attempts against Villanova. That contributed to a nearly six-minute stretch late in the first half when it failed to score, missing nine straight shots including seven that were layups or short jumpers.

Throw in five turnovers, and an 11-point lead disappeared.

Its lack of a go-to scorer inside was a question mark coming into the season and will remain the case until someone emerges in the frontcourt.

Ryan Spangler, a 6'8” senior, is a career 58 percent shooter but is attempting fewer than six two-point shots per game this season. 

The Sooners could get away with Spangler being more of a glue guy last season because of the presence of TaShawn Thomas, but without him, they need a reliable option in the paint to counter the inevitable cold stretches.

Spangler had 11 points and 10 rebounds on Monday for his fourth double-double of the season. But those efforts haven't exactly come against stellar opposing big men like the ones he and Oklahoma will have to contend with up and down the Big 12 schedule.

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Oklahoma has a plus-11.8 rebounding margin through six games, which is among the best in the country. However, in its two closest games so far—the opener at Memphis and a Nov. 29 home win against Wisconsin—it was a combined minus-12 on the offensive glass.

It's tempting not to mess with a recipe that tastes so good so often, with Buddy Hield and Isaiah Cousins able to score points in bunches and a ball-hawking lineup giving opposing shooters little room to work with.

But outside of Villanova, none of the Sooners' other foes this year rank better than 223rd out of 351 Division I teams in shooting.

At least four of Oklahoma's six remaining games before conference play will be against teams currently ranked 41st or better in shooting, and four Big 12 teams are in the top 50.

"We just have to keep our focus and build off this win and prepare for the next one," Hield told reporters after Monday's game.

Oklahoma has also benefited from a leisurely pace to its nonconference schedule so far, the trip to Pearl Harbor notwithstanding. It's had at least two full days off between every game so far, with its next contest not until Saturday at home against Oral Roberts.

The Sooners haven't played their preseason tournament, which comes during Christmas week when they make a second voyage to the islands to play in the Diamond Head Classic.

It probably won't be until that visit to Honolulu that the Sooners face real adversity ahead of Big 12 play. If not, the opening slate of conference action—Jan. 2 vs. No. 4 Iowa State, Jan. 4 at No. 2 Kansas—could feel like running the gauntlet after having jogged through a pillow fight.

Statistics courtesy of Sports-Reference.com.

Follow Brian J. Pedersen on Twitter at @reaBJP.