The Villanova Wildcats won their ninth-straight game and moved to 8-0 in the Big East with an 86-74 win over DePaul Wednesday night in a game that played out eerily similar to the last meeting between the two teams.

The first half was competitive, with the team’s playing within five points of each other for much of the period. The ‘Cats were eventually able to open a nine-point advantage, but the Blue Demons battled back and closed to within four at the break.

A 6-0 run to start the half pushed the Villanova lead back to double digits, and the ‘Cats would push the lead as high as 17. To the Blue Demons’ credit, they kept fighting and were able to get within seven with just under three minutes to go, but ‘Nova had an answer every time and was able to prevent DePaul from getting any closer.

The ‘Cats again struggled to defend DePaul’s shooters, as the Blue Demons once again outperformed Villanova in that department, shooting 52.9 percent from the field and 43.8 percent from 3, both over their season averages.

Villanova did do a good job on Max Strus, holding him to 13 points on 4-13 from the floor and just 2-9 from 3.

The Wildcats were again excellent taking care of the ball, committing just three turnovers. That helped them get up 15 more shot attempts than DePaul, which in turn helped the ‘Cats to a 24-point edge in 3-point shooting.

One area of the game that played out differently than the first meeting was the battle on the boards. After getting outrebounded 36-24 in the last matchup, Villanova won the rebounding battle 35-31 on Wednesday night. The ‘Cats were especially ferocious on the offensive glass, grabbing 14 offensive boards, which also played a role in their big advantage from beyond the arc.

Phil Booth and Eric Paschall again led the way, combining for 39 points. Booth had 19 points and eight assists, while Paschall added 20 points despite not having his best shooting night.

Saddiq Bey was fantastic, netting a double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds. He shot 6-9 from the floor and 4-6 from 3. He had seven offensive rebounds and added three assists and two steals.

Collin Gillespie chipped in 12 points on 4-8 from 3 to go with four rebounds and two assists.

Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree provided a nice boost off the bench with nine points and nine rebounds, continuing his efficient play.

Joe Cremo added six points on 2-3 from beyond the arc as well as two rebounds and two steals.

Jermaine Samuels had two points, five rebounds, two assists, and a block while Jahvon Quinerly chipped in two points.

The ‘Cats are going to be tough to beat when Booth and Paschall find success and get such solid support from at least three of their teammates, and that proved to be the case Wednesday despite it not being Villanova’s prettiest game. Add in the fact that they controlled the boards, knocked down 3’s, and were phenomenal taking care of the ball and you have a recipe for success.

It was Villanova’s 18th straight win over DePaul.

The ‘Cats will look to keep things rolling when they host Georgetown on Sunday.