Nardi scored a season-high 23 points, and Curtis Sumpter added 14 as the Wildcats beat Oklahoma, 67-51, Wednesday night to end the Sooners’ NCAA-best 49-game homecourt winning streak against nonconference foes.

“Mike did a good job. He didn’t really force anything on me. He just told me to go out and play the way we play,” said Reynolds, who signed with Oklahoma before instead deciding to attend Villanova. “He was on fire today.”

Nardi hit eight of his first 10 shots to propel the Wildcats (7-1) to a double-digit lead, and the Sooners (4-3) were unable to mount a comeback despite holding Villanova scoreless for more than five minutes in the second half.

Oklahoma’s last loss to a nonconference opponent at the Lloyd Noble Center came against No. 4 Cincinnati on Dec. 22, 1999. Duke, which beat Holy Cross 57-45 on Wednesday night, now has the longest such streak at 47 games.

“We just didn’t have the energy and the passion that I want our basketball team to have, and that was probably what’s most disappointing about this game,” first-year Oklahoma coach Jeff Capel said.

Capel instead saw those qualities in Nardi, who ended up one point shy of matching the highest point total of his career.

“Coming into this game, I thought Sumpter was their best player, but I thought Nardi was the heart of their team, and we saw it tonight,” Capel said. “I think they go as Nardi goes. He gives them energy, and those other guys feed off of him. He plays with passion and plays with fire.”

In a rematch of teams that met last season in the top 5, Nardi sparked a 15-2 run midway through the first half to push the Wildcats ahead for good. Nardi connected on a three-pointer from the top of the key to start the spurt and then had assists on three-pointers by Shane Clark and Sumpter. Villanova led 28-16 after back-to-back layups by Sumpter and Reynolds and a left-handed hook shot by Nardi.

The Wildcats led 36-25 at halftime after forcing 15 Oklahoma turnovers, then pushed the lead to 55-40 after Dante Cunningham dunked a miss by Reynolds.

After that, Villanova went more than five minutes without a point, but Oklahoma was equally cold. OU scored only four points in the same span, and Sumpter ended the drought with back-to-back three-pointers to stretch the lead to 61-44 with under five minutes to play.

Texas Tech 66, Louisiana Tech 59

Ruston, La. – Bob Knight tied legendary Kentucky coach Adolph Rupp for second place on the career victory list as Texas Tech beat Louisiana Tech.

Knight’s 876th victory moved him within three of tying former North Carolina coach Dean Smith for the most in Div. I history.

The 66-year-old Knight began his coaching career at Army in 1965.