Villanova guts out tough win over Georgetown

WASHINGTON - At halftime of a game in which both Villanova and Georgetown forgot to pack finesse into their duffel bags, Josh Hart was told by his coaches that he had grabbed only one rebound in the opening 20 minutes.

With 6-foot-11 senior center Daniel Ochefu, the Wildcats' top rebounder, playing hurt and sick, Hart knew he had to stay on the glass Saturday if the sixth-ranked Cats wanted to get out of the Verizon Center with their Big East winning streak intact.

The 6-5 Hart delivered with 11 rebounds in the second half and teamed with Ryan Arcidiacono to fend off a comeback by the Hoyas. Villanova came away with a 55-50 victory, its 21st in a row in conference play, before a crowd of 15,535.

The Wildcats (16-2, 6-0) led by 12 early in the second half, saw their margin trimmed to three after going more than 51/2 minutes without a field goal, and withstood another surge by the Hoyas (11-7, 4-2) late while needing every one of the six free throws made by Arcidiacono (15 points) in the final 29.6 seconds.

"We knew it was going to be this kind of game," Villanova coach Jay Wright said. "They wouldn't go away. I thought we made a couple of good runs and had a chance to put them away, but they kept coming back hitting big shots. I thought our defense was really tough."

The Wildcats, who matched a season low for points, shot just 38.3 percent from the field but limited the Hoyas to 32.7 percent shooting.

In the middle of it was Hart, a junior who played at nearby Sidwell Friends. He finished with 15 points and 12 boards. His most important rebound was his last, when he dove on the floor to smother the basketball after a missed three-pointer by Reggie Cameron.

"That's something you can't teach," Wright said. "You teach rebounding technique and you practice it, but you can't teach the guts to just lay your body out to go get the ball like that, and the desire. You see that and you say, 'Thank God he's on our team.' "

After he learned he had one rebound in the first half, Hart said rebounding was on his mind.

"In the second half, if I'm not going to do anything else, I'm going to rebound, I'm going to help the team in that aspect," he said. "Daniel was hurt, and he was giving us all he had, so when I came out for the second half, that's what I was going to focus on doing."

Ochefu's basket gave Villanova a 35-23 lead with 14 minutes, 22 seconds left in the second half. However, leading by 40-30 with 8:49 remaining, the Cats went the next 5:32 without a field goal. Georgetown closed to 43-40 on Bradley Hayes' two free throws with 4:40 to play.

Arcidiacono broke the drought with a layup, but the Hoyas got it back to one possession, 49-46, on a Cameron three with 1:04 left. However, after Arcidiacono missed a three-point try, the Hoyas lost the rebound out of bounds, and Arcidiacono made the first two of his six closing free throws.

Ochefu, who played despite a bruised tailbone and an illness he described as "a little stomach bug," gutted out 22 minutes and had six points, four rebounds, and three blocks. He said he never had any thought of missing the game.

"I was cool with the sickness, but the bruise was bothering me a little bit," he said. "I was able to play through the pain. The guys stepped up on the glass big time."

jjuliano@phillynews.com

@JoeJulesinq