VILLANOVA, PA. 12/3/2016
Final Score: #2 Villanova Wildcats (8 – 0, 2 – 0 Big Five) 88 Saint Joseph’s Hawks 57 (3 – 4, 0 – 0 Big Five)
Summary: The #2 Villanova Wildcats have started the season winning their first 8 games and their consecutive Big Five winning streak stands at 16 by virtue of their 88 – 57 win over their city rival the Saint Joseph’s Hawks at a sold out Pavilion. The Wildcats have won their last five against the Hawks.
Josh Hart led Villanova recording a tripe-double with 16 points, 11 rebounds, and 10 assists. Kris Jenkins scored a game-high 20 points for the Cats. Lamarr Kimble lead Saint Joseph’s with 15 points.
Nova made more than half of their field goal attempts (32 – 62) and 16 of 34 from beyond the arc.
Defensively, the Cats Limited the Hawks to 25% shooting in the second half, and just 1 of 6 from distance.
With the loss by Kentucky against UCLA, Villanova should move up to #1 in the rankings.
Where Did The Game Turn? The Hawks were hanging tough with the Wildcats in the first half. Saint Joe’s took a 27 – 24 lead with 6:06 remaining on a Lamarr Kimble three-pointer. Villanova answered scoring the next 14 points over the next four minutes, highlighted by Kris Jenkins who had half of the points in the run. Saint Joseph’s turned the ball over 4 times in the space of three minutes. The run was broken at the 2:10 mark on a jumper by Markell Lodge. The Cats closed the half with back to back three-pointers by Josh Hart and Jalen Brunson to go into half time leading 44 – 31, the largest lead of the half. Saint Joe’s hopes for a comeback were snuffed early in the second half. By the time SJU got their first field goal after intermission, a Shavar Newkirk jumper, Nova was on a 10 – 4 run and a 20-point lead.
Guards vs. Guards: The strength of the Hawks were in the guards as Shavar Newkirk and Lamarr Kimble lead Saint Joe’s in minutes and points. Newkirk averaged over 21 points per game and than 35 minutes. Kimble was second on the team in scoring with 14.3 points per game and leads the Hawks in minutes at 36.
Villanova is more balanced, but Josh Hart is their scoring leader (17.3) and Brunson is third coring at an 11.7 clip. Nova also is getting a good contribution from Donte DiVincenzo of 20 minutes and 8 plus points per game.
Check Mark in this game went to Villanova. Hart had a triple-double while Brunson contributed 11 points and 6 assists. Donte DiVincenzo added 10 points.
Kimble and Newkirk scored a combined 26 points and dished out 8 assists.
Ball In The Basket: Villanova was 32 of 62 for 51.6% and 16 of 34 from beyond the arc for 47.1%. Saint Joseph’s made 21 of 62 overall and 5 of 15 from the three-point line. In the second half SJU was 8 for 32 and 1 of 6 from three-point land. The Hawks went 16 – 47 in two-point shooting.
Next Villanova returns to the Palestra for their third straight Big Five contest against the La Salle Explorers on Tuesday night.
The Hawks stay in the city on Sunday as they pay a visit to the DAC for a game against Drexel.
Be the first to comment