No. 3 Oklahoma beats Harvard in Diamond Head title game

Buddy Hield scored 25 points as No. 3 Oklahoma cruised to an 88-60 win over Washington State in a quarterfinal-round game of the Diamond Head Classic Tuesday night.

Oklahoma guard Buddy Hield (24) attempts to drive the baseline in the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against Harvard at the Diamond Head Classic, Friday, Dec. 25, 2015, in Honolulu.

No. 3 Oklahoma escaped with an 84-81 victory over Hawaii in a Diamond Head Classic semifinal at Honolulu on Wednesday night.

WSU went on a 9-0 run after the first media timeout of the game to give it an 11-10 lead with just more than 12 minutes to go in the first half, but OU’s Hield would respond quickly, knocking down a 3-pointer to relinquish WSU’s only lead of the game.

The Tigers came into the semifinal averaging 83.8 points, but shot 30 percent from the field and 1-for-18 over the final 9:04 against Harvard.

Guard Ike Iroegbu scored a team-high 16 points for the Cougars (7-3). Khadeem Lattin added 17 points and eight rebounds and guard Isaiah Cousins finished with 14 points and six assists.

WACO, Texas (AP) — Taurean Prince scored a career-high 34 points and Lester Medford had 10 points and 12 assists for Baylor. The Crimson had won three straight.

Oklahoma shot 56.7 percent (17 of 30) from the field in the second half and 50 percent (31 of 62) for the game. Hield made two free throws and Dante Buford drove for a layup to give the Sooners a 65-58 lead with 11:18 left.

Bobbitt hit his third 3-pointer with 13.3 seconds left to cut the deficit to 81-79. But after Oklahoma jumped ahead 21-5, Hawaii ripped off a 21-5 run to take the lead.

ABOUT AUBURN (6-4): T.J. Dunans was helped off the floor with a knee injury late in the first half and the team’s third-leading scorer won’t play Thursday, according to coach Bruce Pearl, but the injury doesn’t appear to be serious. Harvard’s Tommy Amaker and Oklahoma’s Lon Kruger faced off on December 5, 1999, when Kruger’s IL squad beat Amaker’s Seton Hall team 71-61. They dropped a 76-64 decision at Providence on November 14, and lost 75-69 at Kansas on December 5.

The Mustangs hit six of seven free throws over the final 1:06. He’s the 42nd player in school history to reach 1,000 points.

Oklahoma hosts No. 11 Iowa State on January 2.