IS BUYING CROSS-COUNTRY SKIS
There were some things about Villanova's 81-63 Big Five win over La Salle yesterday that weren't so pretty for the No. 4 Wildcats, such as being outrebounded by 17 and shooting just 25 percent from three-point range.
But Villanova still managed to control the game thanks to its tenacity on the defensive end. The Wildcats forced 27 turnovers that led to 29 points and pulled away in the second half before a sellout crowd of 6,500 at the Pavilion.
Villanova (6-0, 2-0 Big Five), which hounded the Explorers (3-2, 0-1) into 19 first-half turnovers, was credited with 18 steals in the game. Corey Fisher led the way with six to go with 13 points.
"Creating turnovers in the first half, when we were pressuring the ball, that was the best thing we did," Wildcats coach Jay Wright said. "Once they got us into the scoring area, posting us up and putting the ball up on the glass, we were in a little bit of trouble. But on the perimeter, that was to our advantage."
On the glass, the Explorers grabbed 51 rebounds to 34 for the Wildcats, a surprise considering that 'Nova had bettered each of its previous five opponents on the boards by eight to 18 rebounds.
For the Explorers, Jerrell Williams pulled down a career-high 16 boards - including 12 of La Salle's 27 off the offensive glass - while freshman Aaric Murray had 14. Each player scored 15 points.
"It's a team that really focuses on offensive rebounds," said Wildcats junior forward Antonio Pena, who had 14 points and eight boards for 'Nova. "They've got a lot of strong guys. It seems like that's a main focus of theirs."
But there were some ugly numbers on La Salle's side. In addition to the turnovers, the Explorers shot just 54 percent (20 of 37) from the free-throw line.
La Salle coach John Giannini said that with better free-throw shooting and fewer mental mistakes on defense, his team could have made it a better game.
"The free-throw shooting [has] become absurd," he said. "Our players are better than that. They've shot better than that in the past.
"The turnovers were bad, but you've got to give their defense a lot of credit. But missing free throws, it's hard to give them credit. Not knowing what we're doing defensively, it's hard to give them credit."
Rodney Green, the Explorers' top scorer, saw his streak of double-figure games end at 30. He shot just 2 of 13 from the field as he scored seven points; Green also committed seven turnovers against four assists.
Because of turnovers, the Explorers fell behind by 14 with six minutes left in the first half but held Villanova to only two field goals after that to draw to within eight, 38-30, at intermission.
But after getting as close as 45-39 in the first four minutes of the second half, La Salle made just 1 of 15 shots over a stretch of more than nine minutes.
Two baskets each by Pena and Taylor King fueled a 16-5 run that increased the Wildcats' lead to 61-44 on a three-pointer by Corey Stokes with 8 minutes, 55 seconds remaining. La Salle never got closer than 12 after that.
Wright said he understands that style points aren't an issue in Big Five games, but effort is.
"I really never hold our team responsible for how we look in these games," he said. "But I do hold them responsible for their effort and their ability to fight through it. That's what we did today, we fought through it."
Notes. Villanova's Mouphtaou Yarou (viral infection) and La Salle's Ruben Guillandeaux (foot injury) missed the game. Wright and Giannini said they hoped to have updates on their players in the next few days. . . . Pena did not start because of what Wright called "a little disciplinary issue."
Contact staff writer Joe Juliano at 215-854-4494 or jjuliano@phillynews.com.
|
|
|
|
|
|
