COLLEGE: Villanova remains undefeated with win over La Salle
PHILADELPHIA - With under five minutes left in the game, No. 4 Villanova led La Salle by only one possession. Then, redshirt sophomore guard Donte DiVencenzo made a 3-pointer that sparked a Wildcat run. After Amar Stukes drew a foul and made two free throws for La Salle on the next possession, Villanova responded by scoring four straight points on two layups from Mikal Bridges.
What was once a two point Wildcat lead grew to seven points with under two minutes two play. The Explorers were never able to recover from the deficit.
Villanova (10-0, 3-0 Big 5) beat La Salle (5-6, 2-1 Big 5) Sunday afternoon at the Wells Fargo Center 77-68. The Big 5 matchup was competitive all game long, but individual performances from Villanova players down the stretch decided the outcome.
“Good to get a win but I think we all watched what happen and we have to give credit to La Salle,” Villanova coach Jay Wright said. “We got out-played, they were better prepared for the game and they really shut down our perimeter play and they forced us into one on one situations and shut us down defensively and we could not guard their guards. We just have to give the other team credit and thank God for Donte and Phil [Booth] for making great individual plays to get us the win.”
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— Philly Sports Digest (@PhSportsDigest) December 10, 2017
La Salle as a team shot better percentages than Villanova in all categories. Overall the Explorers out-shot the Wildcats 43.8-percent to 43.1-percent. From behind the arc La Salle shot 36.4-percent compared to Villanova’s 30-percent and from the free throw line, La Salle’s 80-percent performance bettered Villanova’s 77.1-percent showing.
The Explorers also had more steals and assists than the Wildcats. The difference was Villanova’s ability to maximize possessions. Villanova out-rebounded La Salle 37-33. As a result, the Wildcats scored 10 second chance points to La Salle’s four second chance points.
“You look at this stat sheet, and there’s a lot of ways we could have won this game,” La Salle coach John Giannini said. “They just are not going to get knocked off very easily. It’s going to take a lot to beat them”
La Salle https://t.co/utmA0CZkEc
— Philly Sports Digest (@PhSportsDigest) December 10, 2017
The Wildcats also shot more free throws. Villanova had 35 free throw attempts compared to just five free throw attempts for the Explorers.
DiVencenzo made three of his four foul shots with under two minutes left in regulation to seal the game for La Salle. DiVencenzo ended the game with a double-double of 18 points and 10 rebounds. He also recorded four steals and three assists in the win.
Phil Booth also finished with 18 points for Villanova but it was his defense that came up clutch in the final moments of the game. Booth managed to block a layup attempt by La Salle’s Amar Stukes. The block kept the Explorers scoreless for over a minute with only three minutes left in the game.
“Those individual plays are as big as the plays offensively,” Wright said. “[Booth is] a veteran, he knows situations, he knows the scouting report. I think it shows how important it is to have big time guys making big time plays.”
La Salle continues play against Mercer on Sunday at Tom Gola Arena while Villanova will take its undefeated overall and Big 5 record to the Liacouras Center on Wednesday night to take on Temple. The Wildcats have a chance to win the Big 5 outright with a victory on Wednesday.
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