Going toe-to-toe and trading blow-for-blow with the No. 3-ranked men’s basketball team in the nation, Hawai’i came up just short Wednesday night against Oklahoma, 84-81, in the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic semifinals.
All-America candidate Buddy Hield scored 27 points — including the go-ahead free throw with 1:28 remaining — and grabbed nine rebounds to help lift the Sooners (10-0) into the championship game vs. Harvard at 3:30 p.m. Christmas Day.
An electrified crowd of 4,828 at the Stan Sheriff Center and ESPN2 national audience watched the Sooners overcome a spectacular 32-point, six-assist, four-rebound, three-steal performance by Rainbow Warriors point guard Roderick Bobbitt as UH fell to 8-2 and into Friday’s 1:30 p.