Villanova routs UC Riverside in 76 Classic

ANAHEIM, Calif. - The progress is incremental and steady, but Villanova men's basketball coach Jay Wright can see it in his team.

The Wildcats began the 76 Classic with their fourth consecutive victory, a 71-46 rout of UC Riverside on Thursday at the Anaheim Convention Center.

Villanova (4-0) faces its biggest test of the season in Friday's semifinals against St. Louis, which also is unbeaten after four games following a 62-51 win over Boston College.

"We had struggled against teams that had good, quick guards," said Wright, who earned his 350th career victory.

Mouphtaou Yarou led a first-half rally, then Maalik Wayns took over the second half. Wayns finished with season highs of 23 points and seven assists. Yarou added 11 points, 10 rebounds, and 3 steals.

UC Riverside (1-3) - which has only one winning season in the last decade - exploited the Cats' early tendency to overdose on outside shots and took a 9-3 lead in the first 3 minutes, 12 seconds.

James Bell picked up two fouls in the first three minutes, while Villanova missed nine of its first 11 shots.

Then Yarou went to work. The 6-foot-10 center scored seven points, grabbed five rebounds, and made a steal during a 16-0 blitz that put the Cats ahead, 28-14, with 2:40 left in the first half. Riverside failed to score for a span of 7:25.

Yarou did more than compile statistics. On one of Riverside's possessions during the surge, he drew a charging foul. On another, after getting a rebound, Yarou was about to fall out of bounds but bounced the ball off one of Riverside's players, and Villanova kept possession.

"His intensity was really valuable," Wright said. "It wasn't just a matter of posting up but of getting offensive rebounds. It's a weapon we haven't had in a while. That got us going."

Yarou agreed.

"I really think I got my team going on defense," the native of Benin said. "Everybody stepped up on defense. We kept going, kept going, and wore them out."

Yarou also impressed Highlanders coach Jim Wooldridge.

"Their post player was a real load," Wooldridge said of Yarou. "We essentially had to drop another player around him, and that hurt us on pick-and-roll defense."

With Yarou facing double-teams in the second half, Wayns had the space to maneuver. The junior made 8 of 14 shots from the floor in scoring 19 points in the second that half as the Cats extended their lead to 26 points.

"We did a little better with a lead," Wright said. "We had a couple of games where we had a lead at halftime and didn't build on it. But we started great in the second half. That showed me something."

Wooldridge was more emphatic.

"It was an avalanche," he said. "You can make all the adjustments you want, but if you're not scoring, it feels like an avalanche."