Villanova got started on another winning streak Tuesday night, dispatching DePaul 67-43 at the Finn for its second win in a row after seeing its six-game streak end against Marquette.

The start of the game felt like the first few rounds of a boxing match where the fighters are getting a feel for each other. ‘Nova scored the first five points, only to see DePaul score the next six. From there the teams traded jabs, with neither team doing much to separate itself nor looking particularly sharp. Through the first nine minutes of the game the teams combined to shoot 3-13 on 2-point attempts. Then, however, Villanova started to land some power punches.

Over a two-and-a-half-minute stretch, the ‘Cats made four-straight baskets and ripped off a 7-0 run in the process. That push opened a nine-point lead for ‘Nova. A Yor Anei layup and Javan Johnson 3 on back-to-back possessions cut the lead to four, but the Wildcats answered with 11 straight points to take their biggest lead at 15 before a Johnson jumper closed the first half scoring.

DePaul did it’s best to make things interesting in the second half. The ‘Nova offense hit a rough patch, missing six consecutive shots and suffering through a four-minute drought. The Blue Demons would make up six points over that stretch, part of a larger 12-4 DePaul push that narrowed the gap to 40-34 with 12:07 to play and forcing a Villanova timeout.

Collin Gillespie ended the ‘Nova drought with a 3 and DePaul wouldn’t get closer than seven the rest of the way. A 12-3 ‘Nova run pushed the lead back to 16 and from there the Wildcats kept building, with a Trey Patterson layup wrapping up the scoring and setting the final margin of 24.

Villanova did a great job on the glass in the second half. After DePaul had six offensive rebounds in the first half, converting them into six second-chance points, it had just one in the second half. ‘Nova had a 6-0 advantage in second-chance points in the second half and was able to erase a deficit on the glass, ending up with a 33-30 edge.

“We know they’re a great offensive rebounding team and they did do a great job in the first half,” Jay Wright said. “I thought we did a really good job in the second half.”

The ‘Cats did a lot of things well outside of the second-half work on the glass. They again built an advantage in points in the paint (26-16). They shot 44% from 3. And they committed just five turnovers while forcing 15, taking a resounding 18-2 advantage on points off turnovers.

Another encouraging development was the rotation. Two bench players played over 20 minutes as Caleb Daniels got 25 minutes and Bryan Antoine got 21. Jordan Longino played 12 minutes. Daniels chipped in five points and three rebounds while playing some excellent defense. Longino had four points, two assists and a steal. Meanwhile, Antoine added four points and two rebounds and finished as a team-high +23.

Finally, the defense was fantastic. DePaul shot just 32.6% overall and had as many turnovers (15) as made field goals.

All in all, there was a lot to like about the performance. It was great to see extended minutes for Antoine and Longino and to get some contributions from them. The ‘Cats continued their recent habit of gaining advantages inside and on the glass. They took care of the ball and shot the 3 well, and the defense was excellent.

The ‘Cats will look to build on the performance on Saturday when they host St. John’s.