Villanova recovers in second half to beat Lehigh

ALLENTOWN - The excitement for Darrun Hilliard, a native of nearby Bethlehem, began when he boarded the bus from Villanova to the Lehigh Valley and PPL Center, where he wanted to put on a show for his hometown fans.

However, his shot couldn't find the basket Friday night when the 12th-ranked Wildcats found themselves in a season-opening battle with Lehigh. He missed his first five shots and his first seven attempts from three-point range.

But the Wildcats found others to pick up the slack, namely Dylan Ennis and Ryan Arcidiacono, and picked up a hard-earned 77-66 victory over the pesky Mountain Hawks before a crowd of 8,751 in the first college basketball game at the two-month-old arena.

Ennis, making the first start of his Villanova career, had a team-high 19 points. Arcidiacono shot just 4 of 14 from the field and 1 of 7 from three-point range, but had 16 points, seven rebounds, five assists and three steals.

Hilliard, who shot 4 of 18 and hit just one three-point basket in nine tries, finished with 10 points, four assists and four steals.

"That was a good learning experience for him," Villanova coach Jay Wright said. "And it was good for us to win without him. He's one of our most important guys. We got a win without him having a good game. Dylan stepped up. It was good for him to carry us."

Hilliard, a preseason all-Big East player, called the night "crazy." Asked about the pregame ovation he received, he replied, "I knew every single one of the people in those seats."

"I guess I was overly excited right from warm-ups," he said. "I guess you could tell. It kind of got the best of me."

Lehigh, picked to finish seventh in the Patriot League, showed from the start it was not intimidated by the Big East preseason favorite. The Mountain Hawks led for most of the first half and, after trailing by 32-30 at halftime, took a 46-40 lead five minutes into the second half.

But the Wildcats, who launched some wild shots during a first half that saw them make just three of 23 three-point attempts, settled down with the help of a pressing defense and offensive rebounding. They wound up with 31 points off 23 Lehigh turnovers and 21 second-chance points.

A 22-7 run during which seven players scored gave Villanova a 62-53 lead with eight minutes to play. After the Mountain Hawks trimmed the deficit to 62-58 with four minutes left, a clutch three-ball by Ennis sparked a 14-2 run that clinched Nova's win.