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Villanova gets even with Georgetown

The Wildcats, who lost to Hoyas last month, shot 12-for-24 from beyond the three-point arc en route to a 69-53 win.

Villanova's Darrun Hilliard passes the ball to teammate JayVaughn Pinkston past Georgetown's Jabril Trawick. (Yong Kim/Staff Photographer)
Villanova's Darrun Hilliard passes the ball to teammate JayVaughn Pinkston past Georgetown's Jabril Trawick. (Yong Kim/Staff Photographer)Read more

VILLANOVA WAS never in the game at Georgetown on Jan. 19. The Hoyas were never in the game at the Wells Fargo Center on Saturday.

The Wildcats shot it beautifully from the arc (12-for-24), defended the entire court, especially the arc (the Hoyas shot 30 percent overall, 1-for-17 from three) and won comfortably, 69-53.

It was not the perfect game their 30-year ago predecessors played against the Patrick Ewing Hoyas in Rupp Arena on April 1, 1985, but, playing in throwback unis to honor that championship team, these Wildcats (21-2, 8-2 Big East) were plenty good enough, holding Georgetown (15-8, 7-5) to just .79 points per possession.

The Hoyas have not played as well as they did at the Verizon Center that night in any other game this season. The Wildcats, conversely, have been consistently solid all season long.

There are no stars, just a collection of players whose top (only?) priority is winning the next game. Well, if they win the next two games (or even one), they should really control the conference race to the finish line.

The Wildcats go on the road this week to play the teams right behind them in the standings, first Providence (7-4) Wednesday and then Butler (8-3) on Saturday. It is the perfect week to get ready for the NCAA Tournament, which will start for the Wildcats in a little over a month, almost certainly in Pittsburgh's Consol Energy Center.

Brown's points effective

Temple trailed, 36-20, at Memphis with 1 1/2 minutes left in the first half. The Tigers' Shaq Goodwin had more rebounds (17) at the half than Temple (14). The Owls did not get their first lead until 4 1/2 minutes were left in the game. They trailed by a point when Memphis' Kedren Johnson stormed down the left side of the lane for a layup with barely 7 seconds left.

So what did the Owls do? They got the ball to senior point Will Cummings, who rushed it up the left side of the court and found sophomore Josh Brown about 10 feet from the basket on the right side. Brown, who was 0-for-4 in the game, calmly lined up a shot and let it go with 3.5 seconds left. The banker was perfect and the Owls had a gigantic, 61-60 win.

Temple (17-7, 8-3 American) remains unbeaten in games in which all of its players were available. The Owls got hot when transfers Jesse Morgan (16 points, 10-for-10 from the foul line) and Devin Coleman became eligible just before Christmas. They went cold when Cummings was out with an injury. They should be firmly in the NCAA Tournament at the moment, but there are still games to be played and won.

The Owls were far from perfect against Memphis (14-9, 6-4). The others were 10-for-22 from the foul line, but they found a way on the road, the kind of February win the selection committee absolutely loves.

Saint Joseph's survives

If there is a contest that can serve as Exhibit A as to the State of the Game this season, George Mason at St. Joe's is the one.

This was not pretty. SJU won the game, 58-54, but nobody left thrilled. Style points were not evident. SJU (10-12, 4-6 Atlantic 10) shot 16-for-31 from the free-throw line and 2-for-13 from the arc. George Mason (7-15, 2-8) missed 30 of its 51 shots and had 19 turnovers.

The Hawks led all the way, but never by much. DeAndre' Bembry had 14 points, 11 rebounds, four assists, three steals and four turnovers. This was never going to be a piece of art on Hawk Hill this season so any win is a good win. Still, it is February.

Drexel stays hot

All those who thought Drexel would ever win five consecutive games this season after the injuries that took away two starters before the season began and the season began so poorly, please raise your hands. Seeing none, I would suggest what the Dragons are doing should put Bruiser Flint in play for CAA Coach of the Year.

Drexel (9-14, 7-5 CAA) did get its fifth straight, winning pretty easily at Charleston, 59-45. Despite a rare off day by star Damion Lee (12 points), the Dragons won with great three-point shooting (9-for-15), a terrific scoring game from Tavon Allen (18 points) and excellent defense. Charleston (7-18, 2-10) shot just 16-for-55 (29.1 percent) and did not make a single trey in 11 attempts.

Penn crushed

A night after its biggest win of the season on a dramatic last-second shot by Tony Hicks at Cornell, Penn, not shockingly, had nothing against Columbia, especially in the first half. Ivy road trips are never easy, but the Cornell-Columbia trip is really unforgiving. Play the first game, get on the bus, arrive in New York City in the middle of the night and try to play again maybe 13 hours after you get to sleep, if you get to sleep.

Penn trailed 46-19 at the half and lost, 83-56. Columbia (11-9, 3-3 Ivy) was an incredible 15-for-26 from the arc and scored a ridiculous 1.41 ppp. Penn (7-12, 2-3) got a great game from freshman Sam Jones (23 points on 7-for-12 shooting from the arc), but not much from anybody else. Hicks shot 1-for-11. Penn only committed eight turnovers, but, other than Jones, could not make any shots and could not prevent the Lions from making about any shot they took.