Villanova continued Big Five play Wednesday night with a 71-56 win over Penn at the Palestra.
The ‘Cats jumped out to a 9-1 lead only to see Penn rip off an 8-0 run to tie the game at nine. Villanova answered with a 13-0 spurt to open things up and would lead by as many as 16 before consecutive 3s from Max Martz cut the lead to 10. ‘Nova responded with five-straight points from Brandon Slater and the Wildcats ultimately took a 12-point lead into the break.
A 3 from Jordan Dingle to open the second half pulled the Quakers within nine, but the ‘Cats ripped off six-straight points to establish a 15-point advantage. Penn would pull within nine several more times, but never closer, and ‘Nova eventually walked out of the Palestra with a 15-point win.
Collin Gillespie led the way with 26 points on 9-15 shooting. Brandon Slater added 16 points on 7-8 shooting while Caleb Daniels rounded out the double figure scorers for the Wildcats with 12.
Justin Moore struggled shooting the ball, hitting just 3-13 from the floor including 1-7 from 3, but he managed nine points while grabbing a team-high 11 rebounds, one shy of tying a career-high. He also had two assists and two steals. Jermaine Samuels added five points and eight rebounds, while Eric Dixon had three points and eight rebounds.
Chris Arcidiacono logged 18 minutes, missing his lone shot attempt but grabbing four rebounds and dishing an assist. Trey Patterson didn’t record a stat in five minutes of action while Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree had one rebound in three minutes.
It wasn’t the crispest Villanova performance. The Wildcats committed nine turnovers, not a terrible number but a bit higher than usual, especially against a team that doesn’t force a whole lot of giveaways. Meanwhile, ‘Nova had just seven assists. It’s not very often the team has a negative assist-to-turnover ratio. The ‘Cats also forced just 10 turnovers, a disappointing number against a team that has had trouble taking care of the ball.
Villanova shot just 32% from 3 and were outscored by 15 from beyond the arc, another thing that is rare to see.
It wasn’t all bad, however. ‘Nova shot 56% from 2-point range and racked up a 32-10 advantage in points in the paint. The ‘Cats also built a 41-26 advantage on the glass (12-5 offensive rebounds) and had a 14-5 lead in second-chance points. In addition, despite the narrow advantage in turnovers and the uncharacteristic performance in both turnovers committed and turnovers forced, ‘Nova had a 20-11 advantage in points off turnovers.
With a lot of the team struggling shooting the ball, it was also good to see Gillespie and Slater step up. Every time Penn looked to make a push, one of those two was there to get a big bucket and maintain order. We’re used to seeing the Villanova offense run like a machine, but there are going to be days where some of the shots just aren’t falling. It’s on those occasions that you need an individual or two to step up to carry you through, and ‘Nova got that from Gillespie and Slater Wednesday night.
It certainly wasn’t an overwhelming performance. Even so, Villanova led for 39:18 and never trailed. The Wildcats led by double-digits for the majority of the game and won by 15-points. Not bad for a game that is considered a below-average performance.
At the end of the day, a win is a win and Villanova will certainly take this one. With the victory, ‘Nova moves to 5-2 on the season. The ‘Cats will now prepare for the next chapter of the Holy War as they host St. Joe’s on Saturday.
