Marist is no match for Villanova in NIT Season-Tipoff

There was a bit more than 3 minutes remaining in an increasingly one-sided game when the Marist pep band began playing a song that, given the circumstances, seemed particularly appropriate.

AC/DC's "You Shook Me All Night Long" is what Villanova did yesterday evening to the outmanned Red Foxes, who were thumped, 84-47, in the opening round of the NIT Season Tip-off at the Pavilion.

Villanova plays a second-round game tonight against Boston University, which beat George Washington, 76-67, in the second game of the doubleheader.

Just imagine how much wider Villanova's final margin might have been if its most dangerous scorer, Corey Fisher, had not had a rare off night shooting the ball, or if the Wildcats not clanked 13 of their first 16 attempts from beyond the arc. But coach Jay Wright's sixth-ranked squad won't need to be at peak efficiency for the full 40 minutes to win a slew of games this season, at least not until it enters the annual Big East Conference gantlet.

"Villanova is what they said they are," third-year Marist coach Chuck Martin said with a trace of awe and envy. "They're really, really good. Their guard play is tremendous. They're big and athletic.

"I got a point of reference when I was at Memphis [the Tigers reached the national championship game in 2008]. They're maybe not as deep as that Memphis team, but their length and athleticism are unbelievable."

Wright has had plenty of quality athletes in his nine previous seasons on the Main Line, but his 10th edition has the sort of bigs - 6-8 1/2 Antonio Pena, 6-10 Mouphtaou Yarou, 6-7 Isaiah Armwood and 6-11 Maurice Sutton - who can control the backboards, block shots, tighten the interior defense and even provide Villanova's usual complement of sweet-shooting guards with some scoring assistance as the need arises.

With a break or two, this young Villanova team, featuring two freshmen and five sophomores, could end up being the most multidimensional Wright has had, maybe even more so than the 2008-09 Final Four outfit. Wright doesn't mind progress coming incrementally.

"I'm very pleased with our effort," Wright said of the Wildcats, who opened their season on Friday with a 68-52 victory over Bucknell that was not nearly as aesthetically satisfying. "I think we got better from the Bucknell game. We showed improvement defensively. I thought we took care of the ball a little bit better."

The key performers were sophomore guard Maalik Wayns, the Roman Catholic product who scored a game-high 17 points, and the enigmatic Sutton, who added 13 points, nine rebounds and two blocked shots.

Wright hopes Sutton's big game was a sign of things to come for a player who has the disconcerting habit of giving his all in games but not always in practice.

"It's all part of my maturing process," Sutton said of Wright's constructive criticism. "I just try to play defense, rebound, block shots and run the floor. Everything else is a plus."

Fisher's stroke was off (2-for-9) but he finished with seven assists, two steals and no turnovers to go along with 10 points after torching Bucknell for a career-high-tying 24 points.

"Corey's going to have great nights," Wayns said. "He's the best guard in the country to me. But when he doesn't have it going, I just try to pick him up, try to pick up Corey Stokes and play off those guys."

Slow-starting Villanova was trailing, 8-5, when the Wildcats went on a 19-1 run to make it 24-9. They took a 36-25 advantage into the break, but Marist again came clawing back and was within 38-30 with 15 minutes, 53 seconds remaining when 'Nova went on a 46-17 finishing kick.

"I'm sitting there thinking, 'It's a six-point game, it's an eight-point game, don't let them run away from us,' " said Martin, a former Drexel assistant under Bruiser Flint. "Then they blew it open. That's what makes them really, really good. They understand how to finish you, how to keep their foot on your throat."

Guard Jay Bowie was the Red Foxes' only double-digit scorer with 14 points, while sophomore Sam Prescott, the former Imhotep Charter star, finished with seven on 2-for-12 shooting.