No. 12 Villanova rolls past VCU

NEW YORK - Villanova discovered Monday night how much easier the game of basketball can be when you make shots.

The 12th-ranked Wildcats entered the Legends Classic semifinal against No. 14 Virginia Commonwealth hitting just 26 percent of their three-point attempts. But they found their shooting stroke from deep in the second half and rolled to a 77-53 victory over the Rams at the Barclays Center.

Villanova (4-0) advanced to the championship game Tuesday night against No. 19 Michigan, a 70-63 winner over Oregon.

The Wildcats shot 58.6 percent from the field in the second half and knocked down six of 10 three-point tries. Things really heated up after the Rams (3-1) scored the first six points of the period to lead, 36-32, and prompt coach Jay Wright to call a timeout.

Wright said he wanted his team to play more aggressively. He couldn't have expected that the Wildcats would make their next seven shots, including three-point baskets by Ryan Arcidiacono and Kris Jenkins, in a 16-0 run to take a 48-36 lead with 16 minutes, 18 seconds to play.

The last basket in the run, by Josh Hart, was an Arcidiacono special. The junior point guard, who had nine assists and zero turnovers against the VCU press, dove for a loose ball in the Rams' backcourt and tipped it ahead to Darrun Hilliard, who fed Hart for a layup that became a three-point play.

"I thought that was a really pivotal play in the game," Wright said. "That play kind of set the tone."

Wright also was glad to see the ball go in for his team.

"We just had to get our forwards the ball and get some inside-out threes," he said. "We've got guards that can come off ball screens and get off threes . . . but we weren't putting the ball in the post and then letting our forward get off threes. We did a better job on that, or get in the lane and kick out and get threes."

Hilliard had 14 points, Jenkins 13, and Hart 10 for the Wildcats.

JayVaughn Pinkston, a former star at Bishop Laughlin High School, about 15 minutes from the Barclays Center, celebrated his homecoming with 15 points and seven rebounds.

"It felt great," said Pinkston, who said his mother and a few family members were in attendance. "Coach has always talked to me about coming up to New York to play in front of my family. He just told me to take it easy and focus on defense, and that's what I did the first couple of plays."