Badgers hand Sooners first loss of season

A Thanksgiving date with Wisconsin didn’t treat Oklahoma well. The Sooners (4-1) fell 78-58 to the 25thranked Badgers.

OU will face Dayton at 10:30 a.m. Friday in the Battle 4 Atlantis third-place game.

Here are three takeaways from Oklahoma’s loss to Wisconsin.

Two-man game

OU guards Christian James and Aaron Calixte did their parts. They combined for 28 of OU’s 58 points and took 22 of OU’s 51 shots.

James should be Oklahoma’s leading scorer in just about every game, and Calixte is a good bet to be right behind him. Sophomore forward Brady Manek needs to be in that mix, but he was 1 for 5 from the field Thursday with three points.

The Sooners need to find a way to take some of the scoring pressure off James.

Wisconsin proved how a good team can guard OU.

McNeace's defense

Wisconsin All-American forward Ethan Happ was 0 for 5 from the field before he scored his first basket with 35 seconds left in the first half. Several Sooners took their turn defending Happ, but it was senior center Jamuni McNeace who was the primary enforcer.

McNeace recorded three blocks in the first half and disrupted Wisconsin’s offense with his length. He blocked two more shots in the second half.

McNeace could free up OU’s offense if he was a threat to score, but coach Lon Kruger will gladly take the defense McNeace showed Thursday — at least in the first half. Happ is one of the best players Oklahoma will face this season, and he couldn’t be quieted for long. He’s an exceptional passer out of the post, and that ability is magnified with the double teams he attracts.

Happ finished with 14 points, 12 rebounds and five assists.

Trice can’t miss

All the attention was on Happ. Enter D’Mitrik Trice.

The Wisconsin sophomore guard torched OU. He was 7 for 8 from behind the

arc, finishing with a careerhigh 25 points on 8 of 13 shooting.

The Badgers likely won’t

turn in a better shooting performance all season. They shot 14 of 22 (64 percent) from 3.