Villanova earned its fourth straight victory Saturday, dispatching DePaul 79-64 in Chicago.

“They’re a good team and that’s a good road win,” Jay Wright said.

The Wildcats were propelled to victory by a strong second half after struggling a bit in the first half.

The Blue Demons jumped out to an early 7-2 lead, but ‘Nova was able to quickly close that gap, pulling within one with 13:52 to play in the half. From there, the teams would play within a basket or two of each other for much of the next 10 minutes. But DePaul was able to end the half on a 13-4 run to take a five-point lead into the break.

Javon Freeman-Liberty was virtually unstoppable for the Blue Demons in the first half, torching the ‘Cats for 22 points on 7-11 shooting. “Freeman-Liberty is incredible, he was amazing,” Wright said. “We really couldn’t stop him. Physical as hell offensively, getting to the rim, getting fouled, just taking it to us physically. He’s a real physical, athletic, guard. He can shoot, he makes his free throws, he’s really good.”

A couple issues stood out for the ‘Cats in the first half. First, they committed a ton of fouls. The fouls had a two-pronged impact as not only did DePaul shoot 9-12 from the free throw line and gain a five-point advantage from the stripe, but it disrupted Villanova’s lineups in a big way as three starters plus sixth man Caleb Daniels all had two fouls.

Another issue was the turnovers. Villanova committed six, which isn’t horrible but is a bit high for the ‘Cats, and only forced two. That disparity led to a 6-2 Blue Demon advantage in points off turnovers and helped DePaul get some extra possessions.

The tide quickly changed in the second half.

The Wildcats opened the second half on an 8-0 run that was extended to 15-2. It ended up being enough, as DePaul wouldn’t lead again. The Blue Demons pulled within four with just under 10 minutes to play, but that would be as close as they would get. Villanova scored four straight points to go back up eight, and DePaul would never get closer than seven the rest of the way as the ‘Cats built the lead on the way to a 15-point victory.

“We just knew that we had to get back to playing Villanova basketball, I think we got away from it a little bit early in the first half and our guys did a good job of sitting down, talking and adjusting at halftime,” Collin Gillespie said of the big run to start the second half.

It was an impressive turnaround on both ends of the floor. Offensively, Villanova shot 54.2% overall and 55.6% from 3 in the second half while holding DePaul to 25% overall and 11.1% from 3. Villanova committed just three turnovers, managed a two-point advantage from the free throw line and was +6 in the paint after being -4 in the paint in the first half. Villanova also did a better job on Freeman-Liberty, who still managed 12 second-half points but wasn’t nearly as impactful as he was in the first half.

“I think we got our guys back on the court,” Wright said of the improved second-half defense, particularly on Freeman-Liberty. “We really didn’t do anything that much different, just got Slate and Justin back in there.”

“I think we on a few of those possessions blitzed Freeman-Liberty and got it out of his hands and it kind of got him out of his rhythm,” Wright continued. “We got it out of his hands. There was like six, seven possessions there, a few of them we blitzed him, a couple of them we denied him, and other guys had to make plays.”

While Villanova took a healthy number of 3s, and hit at an encouraging 40.9%, the ‘Cats again did a good job inside. While this looked like a game, much like Creighton on Wednesday, where the opponent had an advantage on the inside, ‘Nova was able to get the better of things inside.

The ‘Cats shot 16-26 (61.5%) on 2-point attempts while DePaul hit just 13-30 (43.3%). Villanova held its own on the glass (31-30 DePaul) and had a slight advantage (26-24) in points in the paint. The teams were even in second-chance points at eight apiece.

It was really the Gillespie and Justin Moore show offensively. The former poured in 28 points on 9-17 shooting, adding four rebounds and four assists. Moore added 21 points to go with seven rebounds, three assists and a steal. He shot 5-10 from the field.

“I was proud of our guys, playing on the road, having a rough first half, everyone was in foul trouble and Justin and Collin really held us together,” Wright said. “I thought those two were outstanding.”

It ended up being a nice win for the ‘Cats, who remain tied atop the Big East standings with Providence with a 4-1 record. They will have a few days to recover and prepare for a road matchup with Xavier on Wednesday.