Villanova gets scare from Penn before winning, 62-47

Jay Wright has been around the Palestra enough to know the types of roars that a sellout crowd will generate during a game, such as the time Saturday night when Penn's Antonio Woods drained a three-pointer to tie Villanova late in the first half.

"There's a distinct roar here when the underdog either ties it or takes the lead," the Wildcats coach said. "I don't know [whether] I can explain it, but when I hear it I know it. I didn't have to look at what the scoreboard says."

The Penn fans in the sellout crowd of 8,722 waited to give another such roar after another Woods three pulled the Quakers to within a point with just under 10 minutes to play. But then the fifth-ranked Wildcats, carried by the inside play of 6-foot-11 Daniel Ochefu, asserted themselves and gradually pulled away to a 62-47 victory.

The win, Villanova's 11th in a row in Big Five play, gave the Wildcats (17-1, 4-0 Big Five) their fourth consecutive City Series title. The Quakers fell to 4-9 and 0-3 in the city.

The game, however, was much closer than the final score shows. The Quakers, who held a 37-34 rebounding edge, trailed by 23-21 at the half and 38-37 with just under 10 minutes to play. But Penn would account for only one field goal over the next seven minutes, and Villanova gained control with a 17-4 run.

Ochefu, who scored a career-high 21 points to go with 10 rebounds and four assists, sparked the spurt. He found Ryan Arcidiacono in the right corner for a three-pointer and blocked Tony Hicks' three-point try that led to a Dylan Ennis basket.

After a Villanova stop, Ochefu dunked a pass from Ennis to make it 45-37. The Quakers closed to five, but Ochefu added a basket and four free throws, the latter pair putting 'Nova up, 55-41, with 2:37 remaining.

"In our game plan, Coach told me to just be aggressive in the post, and, if I get it in there and they play me one-on-one, to go score," Ochefu said. "If I don't, get the ball opposite to one of our shooters."

Penn coach Jerome Allen lamented that he probably should have provided more help for his big men in guarding Ochefu. But Ochefu noted that his teammates have had the hot hand in recent games, and that's why he didn't see many double-teams.

"That's just a credit to our shooters," he said. "We have great three-point shooters with a lot of confidence."

Allen said the Quakers gave themselves a chance to win "for about 32 minutes, 30 seconds.

"We were struggling to score the ball, but we were coming up with stops," Allen said. "Villanova wasn't going to beat themselves. It was just our inability to sustain our defensive principles for a full 40 minutes."

The Wildcats, who got 10 points, 5 assists, and 4 steals from Ennis, shot 56 percent from the field in the second half. They also forced 17 Penn turnovers, leading to a 21-4 edge in points off turnovers.

The Quakers limited Villanova to two field goals in the final 10:47 of the first half, tied the game briefly at 19, and trailed at halftime by only 23-21.

Woods finished with 18 points to lead Penn.