Villanova survives a scare against Bucknell

The statistics and the rankings suggest that 12th-ranked Villanova isn't supposed to have that much trouble defeating a team from the Patriot League, but don't tell that to Jay Wright.

As with Lehigh last Friday, the Wildcats sweated out another tight one against a Patriot League squad, this one a Legends Classic contest Thursday night at the Pavilion against Bucknell, and they needed a 9-0 run at the end to take a 72-65 victory over the upset-minded Bison.

Bucknell (1-2) was coming off a 24-point loss Monday night at Michigan, but it appeared to have all the answers on the Main Line, taking a 65-63 lead with 1 minute, 51 seconds to play on the last three of 10 straight points by junior Chris Hass, who had a game-high 32 points on just 12 shots from the floor.

But the Wildcats (3-0) turned up the heat on defense down the stretch. On one Bison possession, Daniel Ochefu blocked two shots and altered a third. Darrun Hilliard forced a turnover by tapping the ball off Hass, and then came up with a steal and a layup to ice the game with 12 seconds to play.

"They're a good, smart team," Wright said, referring to his alma mater. "They saw how Lehigh played us. [Bucknell coach Dave Paulsen] is a really smart coach, a really good coach. They did exactly what Lehigh did to us, just spread us out, backed off of us, kind of suckered us into taking bad shots, and they played the exact same way."

Villanova, which led by 14 late in the first half, made just five of 22 shots from three-point range and shot 38.9 percent for the game. The Bison connected on just two of their first 10 shots but picked it up and sank half their shots in the second half. They also outrebounded the Wildcats, 38-31.

Dylan Ennis, who made four free throws in the final minute, led the Wildcats with 16 points. Ryan Arcidiacono added 15, and Ochefu chipped in with 14 points, 10 rebounds, and three blocks.

"We have a pretty experienced team from last year, and we work on certain situations like that at the end of practice every single day," Arcidiacono said. "We tied it up with a couple of free throws, and then we just made plays. That's what Coach wants us to do every day in practice."