Oklahoma basketball: Sooners to play Villanova in Big 12/Big East Challenge
By Chip Rouse
![HOUSTON, TX - APRIL 02: Jalen Brunson #1 of the Villanova Wildcats drives to the basket during the NCAA Men's Final Four Semifinal Championship game against the Oklahoma Sooners at the NRG Stadium on April 2, 2016 in Houston, Texas. The Wildcats won 95-51. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images) HOUSTON, TX - APRIL 02: Jalen Brunson #1 of the Villanova Wildcats drives to the basket during the NCAA Men's Final Four Semifinal Championship game against the Oklahoma Sooners at the NRG Stadium on April 2, 2016 in Houston, Texas. The Wildcats won 95-51. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape/cover/sport/ecadae16eef9c1186862ea58c59474f53545c7753cd45eca781299ff03e0c370.jpg)
Men’s Oklahoma basketball will play Villanova as part of the 2022-23 Big 12/Big East Challenge
The two teams will play at Villanova on Dec. 3. The Big 12/Big East Challenge is in its fourth year of a four-year agreement that started in 2019.
The Sooners are 0-3 in the Big East Challenge series, having lost at Creighton 83-73 in 2019, 99-77 at Xavier in 2020 and 66-62 at home to Butler last season.
This year’s Big 12/Big East Challenge will run from Nov. 29 through Dec. 4 with 10 games scheduled, five at Big 12 locations and five at Big East schools.
Oklahoma and Villanova have played five times previously in men’s basketball. Villanova holds a 3-2 advantage.
The most recent time OU and Villanova met on the hardwood was twice during the 2015-16 season. The two teams during the nonconference schedule and again in the Final Four of the 2016 NCAA Tournament.
Oklahoma defeated Villanova 78-55 early in the season in the Pearl Harbor Invitational in Honolulu, Hawaii. The Wildcats crushed Buddy Hield and the Sooners 91-55 when it counted the most, however, in the Final Four in Houston that same season. Villanova went on to win the national championship that season, defeating North Carolina 77-74 in the championship game.
The 2022-23 season will be the second for the Sooners under head coach Porter Moser, who guided Oklahoma to a 19-16 overall record in his first season despite inheriting just four scholarship players from his predecessor, Lon Kruger, who announced his retirement after the 2020-21 season.
Here is the complete 2022 Big 12/Big East Challenge lineup:
Nov. 29 — Baylor at Marquette
Nov. 30 — Providence at TCU
Nov. 30 — Georgetown at Texas Tech
Nov. 30 — Kansas State at Butler
Dec. 1 — Creighton at Texas
Dec. 1 — Oklahoma State at Connecticut
Dec. 1 — Seton Hall at Kansas
Dec. 3 — Oklahoma at Villanova
Dec. 4 — St. John’s at Iowa State
Dec. 4 — West Virginia at Xavier