Villanova Cruises To 74-46 Win Over St. Joe's
VILLANOVA, Pa. (AP) — Josh Hart scored 12 points and Phil Booth and Darrun Hilliard each had 11 to lead No. 10 Villanova to a 74-46 win over Saint Joseph's on Saturday.
The Wildcats (8-0) scored the first eight points, led by 15 only 6 minutes into the game and treated the rest of it like a glorified exhibition against one of their biggest rivals.
Villanova thumped Saint Joseph's 98-68 last year and has remained the class of Philadelphia's six Division I teams.
Without a true No. 1 scorer, the Wildcats continue to play solid team ball under coach Jay Wright. Up 25 in the second half, no Wildcat had hit double-digit scoring.
Ryan Arcidiacono scored the first basket of the second half and became the ninth Wildcat to score.
DeAndre Bembry led the Hawks (4-4) with 13 points.
The Wildcats had wins on consecutive nights last week against ranked teams Michigan and Virginia Commonwealth to earn the Legends Classic title. They thumped Delaware on Sunday and kept on rolling in a win Wednesday against La Salle.
The Hawks were just the latest team to have no answer to the preseason Big East favorite.
Daniel Ochefu and Hilliard opened the game with nearly identical right-handed lay-ups. Josh Hart hit a 3, Kris Jenkins followed with two straight 3-pointers of his own and Ochefu brought down the house with a thunderous dunk for a 19-4 lead as Villanova quickly set the tempo.
The Hawks were never in this one. Saint Joseph's missed 18 straight shots over 11 minutes, 49 seconds spanning the first and second half. Trailing 44-24 at halftime, the Hawks scored only four points in the first 10 minutes of the second half. The Hawks missed 21 of 22 shots in one stretch.
The Wildcats have found their groove from 3-point range after a slow start behind the arc this season. They were 33 of 114 (29 percent) over the first five games, then made 20 of 46 (43 percent) in the last two games. Led by two each from Dylan Ennis and Jenkins, the Wildcats made 8 of 15 in the first half, the kind of long-range accuracy that ensured the Hawks could not rally.
Villanova is only about 7 miles from Saint Joseph's and the Pavilion was filled with trash-talking chants from the student sections.
TIP-INS
Saint Joseph's: Freshman forward Jai Williams returned after sitting out the last five games because of oral surgery. ... Saint Joe's has not defeated a top-10 team since it knocked off No. 8 Xavier on March 6, 2008. ... Forward Isaiah Miles fouled out and was scoreless in only 9 total minutes. He scored 20 points last game against Temple.
Villanova: The Wildcats have won eight straight games in the city series. ... No Wildcat has scored more than 20 points in a game this season.
UP NEXT
Saint Joseph's: Hosts Loyola-Maryland on Tuesday.
Villanova: Plays No. 24 Illinois on Tuesday at Madison Square Garden in the Jimmy V Classic.
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