'Nova ends Euro trip with loss

Villanova ended a 1-4 European trip with an 87-54 loss Sunday to the Georgia Senior National Team at Almere, The Netherlands.

Junior Dominic Cheek scored 14 points and juniors Mouphtaou Yarou and Maalik Wayns each scored nine points for the Wildcats. Villanova freshman  Achraf Yacoubou scored eight points off the bench. JayVaught Pinkston had seven points and six rebounds.

"This Georgia team was the best team we faced on this trip," Wildcats coach Jay Wright said. "They have great shooters and are well-coached. It's a good team with a great player in Zaza Pachulia.

"This trip worked out perfectly for us. We played the best team in the end and every team we played as we went along was a little bit better than the last. I felt we got a little bit better and the important thing was we learned a lot about ourselves. We played everybody today and treated this one a little bit more like practice to give people a chance. We got a lot of teaching in and a lot of bonding over here. It was a great experience in some big-time games.

"One of the things you see with these professional teams is that we came in all excited and got off to good starts. By the end of the game we were exhausted. At the start these teams look like they aren't sharp but by the end of the game they're killers. I think that's the experience of being professionals. I wouldn't have done this trip any other way."