Villanova pounds Lafayette, 86-41

In a nod to its rich basketball tradition, Villanova honored Fran O'Hanlon by presenting the former standout Wildcats guard and current Lafayette coach with his No. 22 jersey moments before tip-off Saturday night at the Pavilion.

O'Hanlon, Class of '70, received a warm greeting from the crowd and congratulations from seven of his former teammates; his former coach, Jack Kraft; and Villanova coach Jay Wright, who came up with the gesture.

But that's where the hospitality ended.

The No. 6 Wildcats then proceeded to smother O'Hanlon's overmatched Leopards, 86-41, for their fourth straight win and third in five days. It was 'Nova's biggest margin of victory since a 108-61 blasting of Rider on Dec. 20, 2006, and it was their 41st in a row on its home floor.

"I'd rather come back here as just a fan of the Wildcats, and I am a huge fan of the Wildcats," said O'Hanlon, who holds the school's single-game assist record with 16.

Six Wildcats reached double figures, with senior Corey Stokes leading the way with 19 points. Villanova's strangling defense held Lafayette (1-3) to 25.4 percent shooting, including 4 for 28 from three-point distance.

"That was a great defensive effort," said Wright, whose team made the most of what amounted to a tune-up for Wednesday's game against UCLA at Madison Square Garden in the NIT Season Tip-Off semifinals. "They're not an easy team to guard. They run great stuff and Fran O'Hanlon does a great job with them. Three games in five days. . . . I was proud of our effort."

The lopsided game offered Wright the opportunity to use various combinations. During one second-half stretch, Wright had Stokes running the team from the point instead of his lightning-quick backcourt tandem of Corey Fisher and Maalik Wayns.

At 6-foot-5, Stokes was the smallest Wildcat on the floor. The other guard was 6-6 Dominic Cheek, and the frontcourt consisted of 6-11 Maurice Sutton, 6-10 Mouphtaou Yarou, and 6-7 Isaiah Armwood. That's when matters just got worse for Lafayette as the Wildcats closed off the basket with their size and turned a 28-point lead into a 45-point victory, which was not Wright's intention.

"You don't want to embarrass anybody," Wright said. "When we take out Fisher, Wayns, and Stokes, we're not as good offensively but we did better defensively. That's what our practices are like - a lot of times we can't score in practice against those guys. But it was good for Armwood to get time in that three spot and to have Mouph and Sutton playing together, which we want to do. So that was good for us."

Villanova, which has won 16 straight games in the months of November, dating back to 2007, hit just one dry spell. It came late in the first half, when Lafayette went on a 10-0 spurt to pull within 31-20. Wright called a time-out and Fisher got things rolling again with a three-pointer.

The hallmark of Wright's teams has been outstanding guard play, but he's encouraged by the progress his big men are making on offense. Four of 'Nova's frontcourt players combined for 37 points.

"Our bigs are coming around offensively," Wright said, "but defensively they're really mobile, and that makes us a really good defensive team."