Wildcats defeat scrappy Quakers

PENN PLAYED Villanova dead even for 30 minutes Saturday night at the sold-out Palestra. The Quakers were an 18-point underdog.

That the better team showed it was the better team over the final 10 minutes was a story as Jay Wright's team finished off yet another perfect City Series season with a 62-47 win. That Penn's young team got 26 points from two freshman bench players and trailed just 38-37 midway through the second half was another story.

Villanova (17-1) is now an incredible 37-7 in Big 5 games over the last 11 seasons. The Wildcats won the four games this season by a combined 80 points. They beat Penn (4-9, 0-3 Big 5) behind the brilliant play of big man Daniel Ochefu (21 points, 10 rebounds and four assists).

'Nova shot just 10-for-20 from the foul line, but had only six turnovers. Penn got 18 points from freshman Antonio Woods and another eight from fellow freshman Mike Auger. If the Quakers ever get the turnover situation (17 more against the Wildcats) corrected, this Penn team is going to start winning.

After 20 minutes, there was nothing to suggest what was about to go down at Cincinnati. Temple trailed by a point. The Owls lost by 84-53, getting outscored 55-25 in the final 20 minutes against an offensively challenged team, a team that made its first 11 shots of the half while shooting 77 percent. The Bearcats had not scored 80 points all season.

Cincinnati (12-5, 3-2 American) scored 1.31 points per possession against a team that had played solid defense all season. Perhaps, it was just a one-off that will never happen again, a second half so bizarre that it is best forgotten.

Temple (12-7, 3-3) got 15 points from Jesse Morgan and 14 from Obi Enechionyia. Senior point guard Will Cummings did not play because of the leg injury.

When Temple led Tulsa late into the second half on Jan. 10, the Owls were solidly in the NCAA Tournament. Now, they have lost three straight and need to fight their way back into the bracket.

La Salle jumped Fordham at the start, leading 11-0 and 17-2 and cruising home, 60-49, at Gola. La Salle (10-8, 2-3 Atlantic 10) got 15 points from Jordan Price, but this was about defense or the lack of offense by Fordham (5-11, 0-5). The Rams had five turnovers on their first six possessions, shot 19-for-60 (31.7 percent) and 3-for-26 from three. Rams freshman Eric Paschall had 25 points, his teammates 24.

Drexel got the lead 9 seconds into its game at Delaware and never gave it up in its 66-62 win. The Dragons (4-13, 2-4 CAA) got 17 from Damion Lee, 13 from Tavon Allen and 11 off the bench from Tyshawn Miles. Delaware (3-14, 2-4) trailed 35-23 at the half, closed to 64-62 with 30 seconds left, but got no closer.