Villanova easily handles Nebraska

IT SEEMS like a worthwhile concept. Start an annual series between the Big East and Big Ten named in honor of Dave Gavitt, the man whose vision was mostly responsible for the Big East becoming the monster it did.

Villanova was the marquee team the last two seasons in this new version of the conference, and the preseason choice to be the best once again. So the possibilities looked appealing for this week's inaugural set of eight Tipoff matchups, to be held over four consecutive nights.

The Wildcats are ranked 11th. The only other Big East member in the poll is No. 22 Butler, which isn't participating this season. Three of the five Top 25 Big Ten teams are in the field: No. 3 Maryland, which Villanova scrimmaged a couple of weeks ago, No. 14 Indiana and No. 24 Michigan. Any of those opponents obviously would have made for, at least on paper, a better early-season measuring stick for the Wildcats on Tuesday night at the Pavilion, where they'd won 27 in a row.

But naturally, with scheduling conflicts or whatever else that factored into the decision, they instead ended up hosting Nebraska, which had finished near the bottom of its 14-deep neighborhood.

Maybe if it had been football . . .

Anyway, it happens. There's always a next time.

The Wildcats, who are replacing three starters from a squad that won a program-record 33 times, had opened with a 91-54 win Friday over Fairleigh Dickinson. The Cornhuskers had beaten Mississippi Valley State at home by 46.

Your final was 87-63. But the visitors were ahead by seven after 12 1/2 minutes. Then the Wildcats closed out the first half on a 22-2 run, during which five players scored. Nebraska made four of its first seven three-pointers before missing its next six. It didn't seem to matter that Villanova was 4-for-17 from the arc.

"The way (Nebraska) came at us (early) was a good experience for us," Villanova coach Jay Wright said. "It's something we've gotten used to over the years. Even if (everyone else thinks) you're supposed to beat a team, anyone can beat you if you don't play well. I think our guys understand that. They've been through that, and have been beaten. We saw some things they did, and we let them do it."

The Wildcats never led by fewer than 13 in the closing 20 minutes. The bulk of the time, it was by way more. The 'Cats won easily, despite being outrebounded, 40-33. They had 14 fewer turnovers than the Cornhuskers.

For the second straight game, the other guys had no big-man answer for 6-11 Daniel Ochefu, who had 11 points on seven shots and six rebounds by halftime. He finished with 17 and 10, his second straight double-double.

"It's big. When you have to deal with him inside, it's another threat," Wright said. "If it was a close game, we would have gone to him more. There's really a value to that."

Ochefu downplayed his contributions on offense.

"It's not super-duper important. Defense and rebounding wins games," he said. "But they're looking to me a lot more in the post. That's a responsibility I have to take on."

Josh Hart, now a starter after earning the Big East Sixth Man of the Year honor, had 19 points (8-for-14, 3-for-7 shooting), two off his career high.

He acknowledged it was an adjustment in becoming a starter.

"Coach is on me about that all the time, how to start a game," Hart said. "Before, I could see everything (first). It's definitely a different feeling. At the end of the day, it's just basketball."

Ryan Arcidiacono had 15, to go with four assists. And heralded freshman Jalen Brunson had six assists to go with nine points. He did have his first two college turnovers, but you want the ball in his hands. Phil Booth, yet another guard, had 11 points and four assists off the bench.

Once more, Wright has no shortage of perimeter options.

Junior guard Andrew White III had 18 for the Cornhuskers for the second straight game.

This was the third meeting between the teams, and first since the 1998 Top of the World Classic in Alaska. It was the first time a Big Ten team had visited the Main Line since Michigan in the 1989 NIT.

Next up for the Wildcats is East Tennessee State on Friday night, also at home. They'll host Akron on Sunday afternoon before heading to Brooklyn, N.Y., for the NIT Season Tipoff on Thanksgiving and Black Friday at the Barclays Center. In the second half of the semifinal doubleheader, they'll play Stanford, which won the NIT title last April in Madison Square Garden. The following day, they'll get either Georgia Tech or Arkansas. We should have learned more about them by then. Maybe even a whole bunch. Dare we mention that they haven't lost a game in November since 2012, when they dropped three straight (one in New York) to close out the month?

The Barclays, by the way, is one of the opening weekend sites for the NCAA Tournament. Just duly noting.