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NORMAN, Okla. (AP) — Buddy Hield is on a pretty neat pace: nearly a point per minute.
The preseason first-team All-American kept it up Tuesday night, scoring 22 points in 22 minutes to help No. 7 Oklahoma defeat Incarnate Word 96-63.
Hield shot 7 of 12 from the field and had six rebounds and five assists. In three games this season, he has 76 points in 80 minutes.
Hield considered leaving for the NBA after being selected Big 12 Player of the Year last season, but returned to school to round out his game.
"You're seeing the result of all that preparation," Oklahoma coach Lon Kruger said. "Buddy worked awfully hard in the spring, the summer, the fall, and he's carried that over to the games."
So far this season, Hield is shooting 57 percent from the floor, 58 percent from 3-point range and 88 percent at the free throw line.
"It's no big surprise in any of those areas because Buddy works so hard," Kruger said. "It's great to see him get the results he's getting. He knows, too, that going forward, he'll be a marked guy in other people's scouting reports. He's got to continue to work even harder to maintain that rate."
Ryan Spangler had 12 points and 10 rebounds, and Jordan Woodard added 10 points for the Sooners (3-0), who shot 59 percent from the floor. Oklahoma outrebounded the Cardinals 51-23 in a warmup for Sunday's home game against Wisconsin.
Oklahoma controlled the game from the beginning, and the starters rested for much of the second half.
Jontrell Walker scored 16 points and Tyler Singleton added 11 for Incarnate Word (2-2), which shot 34 percent from the field. The Cardinals were coming off a 96-61 loss at Purdue last week.
Oklahoma scored the game's first 10 points. Incarnate Word missed its first four shots and didn't score until 17:18 remained in the first half.
Spangler scored 11 points in the first 6:39 to help the Sooners take a 21-7 lead.
"I'm getting open shots right now," he said. "I'm not going to take contested ones or any bad ones. I'm going to move the ball, and if it comes back, I'll shoot."
Akolda Manyang scored nine points and blocked two shots in just 7 minutes during the first half. The 7-foot junior college transfer created a buzz late in the period with his skill and shot blocking.
Oklahoma led 54-23 at the break. Hield had 14 points and five assists, and Spangler had 12 points. The Sooners shot 63 percent while holding Incarnate Word to 27 percent shooting.
ON THE RISE
Manyang, just now getting back from a stress fracture in his right heel, sat out the season opener against Memphis and played 10 minutes against McNeese State. Against Incarnate Word, he played 12 minutes and finished with nine points, two rebounds and three blocks.
"To see what he did tonight was a nice step, and he'll keep making progress," Kruger said. "He's going to have a better understanding all the time of what he has to do to get results, and he'll take that to practice, and older guys will help him continue making that progress."
STAT LINES
Oklahoma committed 19 turnovers, but 13 came from backups. The starters had 13 assists and six turnovers, while the reserves had five assists and 13 turnovers.
TIP-INS
Incarnate Word: The Cardinals went 18-11 last season. ... Incarnate Word has nine straight winning seasons. ... Kyle Hittle, who entered the game averaging 15 points, scored seven on 3-for-10 shooting.
Oklahoma: The school's No. 7 ranking is its highest since the end of the 2008-09 season. ... Woodard has started all 71 games in his Oklahoma career. ... Khadeem Lattin is the only new starter for the Sooners this season. He finished with six points on 3-for-3 shooting and grabbed four rebounds.
UP NEXT
Incarnate Word hosts Dallas Christian on Dec. 3.
Oklahoma hosts Wisconsin on Sunday.
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Follow Cliff Brunt on Twitter: www.twitter.com/CliffBruntAP.
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