Villanova is back in the win column.

Cam Whitmore made his debut, made an impact and Villanova snapped a four-game losing streak with a 70-66 win over Oklahoma at the Wells Fargo Center.

Kyle Neptune made a change to the starting lineup, with Mark Armstrong starting in place of Jordan Longino, but the ‘Cats still stumbled to a slow start, particularly on the defensive end. Oklahoma hit six of its first nine attempts, including three of four from three, to open a 15-7 lead five and a half minutes into the game. The Sooners would extend the lead to 20-9 before Villanova finally started to get its footing.

‘Nova took advantage of an Oklahoma drought that lasted 7:23 to go on a 10-0 run to pull within one with 5:42 to go in the half. The Wildcats weren’t quite able to get over the hump, however, and went into halftime trailing 32-30.

Villanova’s struggles defending the three was the biggest difference in the half, with the Sooners connecting on 6-11 attempts compared to Nova’s 3-8. Whitmore and Caleb Daniels led the way with seven points apiece in the half.

After a concerning pattern of slow starts to the second half last week in Portland, Villanova did better to start the period on Saturday. Oklahoma did score the first four points of the half, but ‘Nova avoided falling behind by double-digits as it had during the losing streak.

After Oklahoma opened the period with those four straight points, the ‘Cats ripped off an 8-1 run capped by a Daniels three that gave them their first lead of the game with 17:38 to go. The teams traded blows for the next 10 minutes before Villanova suffered through a nearly four-minute drought during which Oklahoma ripped off seven straight points to reestablish a six-point advantage with 6:41 to go. At this point, it felt like the game was in danger of getting away from the ‘Cats.

As they have all season, ‘Nova battled back, using a 7-0 push of its own to retake a one-point lead with 4:04 to play. The teams again traded blows down the stretch, but Villanova managed to outscore the Sooners 10-7 over the final four minutes to earn the four-point victory.

“They jumped on us to start the game,” Neptune said. “I give our guys a lot of credit. We’ve been down it seems like every game and our guys just keep battling and battling and battling and this time we got a win.”

The veterans did a great job closing out the game. Brandon Slater had a big layup and Daniels had a huge layup and three-pointer to give Villanova a bit of a cushion. Eric Dixon also had a huge steal during the stretch.

The three-point defense was much better in the second half, with ‘Nova limiting Oklahoma to 4-12 from deep in the period. ‘Nova shot 4-9 from deep in the second half but was an impressive 9-11 on two-point attempts. Rebounding threatened to derail Villanova’s efforts, as Oklahoma pulled down 12 offensive rebounds, including nine in the second half. The Sooners won the overall rebounding battle 31-19. But the improved defense helped limit Oklahoma’s ability to convert those second chances into points, as the Sooners had just seven second chance points.

Despite the rough first half results, Neptune thought the three-point defense was okay and seemed to think the second half results were more indicative of the overall performance. He also believes the difference in the game was made at the defensive end. “They made tough shots, we were there for a lot of them early,” Neptune said. “I think we turned our defensive intensity up to another level and I think that’s what finally overwhelmed them.”

Daniels was fantastic for the ‘Cats, leading the way with 22 points on 8-10 shooting, adding three rebounds and three assists.

Dixon added 12 points on 4-7 shooting while Armstrong chipped in 10 on 3-4.

Of course, all eyes were on Whitmore. There were naturally some hiccups, but his talent and the reason for the excitement surrounding him was obvious. Whitmore showed his range, hitting one from deep. He attacked the rim and had a couple nice finishes at the basket. He didn’t score in the second half, finishing with seven points, but his athleticism and strength were on full display, and he pulled down three rebounds and swiped three steals. He also helped Villanova play with a bit more pace, grabbing rebounds and immediately heading the other way. His ability to put pressure on the defense both in transition and attacking the basket should be huge for the offense and seemed to go a long way towards opening things up for his teammates on Saturday.

“Honestly, I’m shocked,” Neptune said of Whitmore’s performance. “He literally has not played basketball except for four, five days for seven weeks. I think he gave us a big boost, especially defensively, his body and athleticism and just energy.”

The veteran Daniels was also proud of his young teammate. “Honestly, I’m so proud of this kid,” Daniels said. “That starts in practice. He’s willing to struggle and that’s unique about a freshman. He had a great showing tonight and honestly, he’s a very poised young man. I’m just really proud of him on both sides of the floor.”

It was Villanova’s most complete performance since the season-opener against La Salle and the Wildcats showed clear improvement on both ends of the floor. As a result, they got a very important win, not only in terms of adding a quality win to the resume but also getting into position to potentially build some momentum heading into Big East play, where they will have to make up some of the ground lost during the losing streak. For the first time in a few weeks, there’s legitimate hope that they will be able to so.

They’ll look to build on the performance on Wednesday when they host Penn at the Finn.