There will be no trophy coming home with Arizona from the Bahamas.
The 24th-ranked Wildcats played from behind almost the entire game and could never catch up to Oklahoma, falling 82-77 on Thursday in the Battle4Atlantis semifinals. Arizona (3-3) will play fellow Big 12 school West Virginia in the third place game Friday at 1 p.m. MT.
Both teams shot 43.1 percent but the difference was on the perimeter, as Oklahoma (6-0) made 12 of 29 3-pointers including 8 of 14 in the second half while Arizona was 5 of 19 after making 11 of 22 in Wednesday’s 104-71 win over Davidson.
Caleb Love led Arizona with 17 points, 12 in the second half, but he needed 18 shots, while Jaden Bradley had 16, Motiejus Krivas 14 and Trey Townsend 10.
The UA had no answer for Oklahoma freshman Jeremiah Fears, who 26 points, five rebounds and five assists, or senior wing Jalon Moore, who went for 24. They were 14 of 32 from the field but hit 6 of 10 3s and made 16 of 17 free throws as the Sooners were 20 of 21 from the line.
Oklahoma turned it over 17 times, leading to 23 points for Arizona, but the Sooners won the rebound battle by four.
Arizona trailed 36-30 at halftime, shooting 28.6 percent in the first half. It started 3 of 7 in the second half yet the deficit grew, as Fears drove on Krivas and then drained a long 3 to give the Sooners a 46-36 lead with 15:30 left.
Back-to-back 3s by Love and Lewis cut it to a 4-point game, but Lewis was hit with a technical after his make for pointing at Oklahoma’s bench. It was his second such T this season and fourth foul of the game, sending him to the bench with 14:07 to go.
The Sooners extended the lead out to nine before Arizona went on a 6-0 run with its defense leading the charge. Bradley got a steal and score, then Anthony Dell’Orso drew a charge to set up a Love layup to get the UA within 53-50.
Four straight makes by Oklahoma, three from the perimeter, put it up 68-57 with 8:18 to go. It was still an 11-point lead with 4:06 left when Arizona went small and it started to pay off, forcing a couple of turnovers and then scoring on the other end.
Two Bradley free throws got the UA within 78-75 with 1:14 left, but after getting a stop the Wildcats missed their next final five shots including three on one possession. Oklahoma responded by getting four free throws from Fears in the final minute.
Arizona missed its first 10 shots, including five from outside, not making a field goal until Dell’Orso drove for a layup with 12:55 left as its first six points came from the line. The Wildcats started 2 of 17, allowing Oklahoma to jump out to a 13-point lead before starting to get some offensive rhythm.
Free throws kept the UA in it until it started making shots, with a Love bank shot off a Lewis steal getting it within 28-23 and a logo 3 from Love cutting it to 34-30 in the final minute of the first half.
