The Villanova Wildcats used a stifling defensive effort, and an early 16-2 run, on the way to a 78-44 blowout win over the Towson Tigers at the Pavilion on Sunday, November 17th. Towson, coming off of a 75-69 win over the Temple Owls on Thursday night, never threatened Villanova. The Wildcats pressing defense created havoc the entire game. Towson committed 18 turnovers in the first-half alone. In part, Towson’s trouble handling the ball in the early going was the result of point guard Jerome Hairston picking up three early fouls. As a result, Villanova took a commanding 42-20 lead at the half.
The Second half saw the Wildcats continue to build the lead. At one point the lead mushroomed to 39 points, 78-39, with 3:41 left in the game.
Villanova had 4 players score in double figures. Senior James Bell led the way with 20 points, including a highlight reel put-back slam. JayVaughn Pinkston and Ryan Arcidiacono each contributed 12 points, and Darrun Hilliard added 10. Daniel Ochefu, who played a very active 23 minutes, was Villanova’s leading rebounder (8) and shot blocker (4). Senior Tony Chennault led the Wildcats with 5 assists and also grabbed 7 rebounds. The Wildcats shot a respectable 23-57 from the field (40.4%), and hit 8 of 23 three-point tries. Villanova had 13 assists and committed 10 turnovers.
Towson which came into the game with a 3-0 record, including wins over Temple and Navy, was paced by Jerelle Benimon with 11 points. Benimon, who was averaging a double-double through Towson’s first three games, was held in check by Villanova’s aggressive defense, with several players taking turns guarding him. Freshman John Davis, a graduate of Neumann-Goretti high school, topped the Tigers in rebounding with 8, also chipping in 9 points in 18 minutes of action. Towson shot a dismal 30.9% of its field goal attempts, including a frigid 11.8 % (2-17) from behind the arc. The Tigers ended up with 24 turnovers compared to only 8 assists.
The game was the first of four which Villanova will play in November under the ‘Battle 4 Atlantis’ umbrella. The Wildcats will play three more games in the Bahamas over Thanksgiving weekend (November 28-30). Villanova (3-0) next returns to action on Friday night November 22nd when it will host the Delaware Blue Hens (7pm) at the Pavilion. The same night, Towson will travel to Lawrence, Kansas to play the highly ranked Kansas Jayhawks.
[Photo credit: D. Jacob Miller Photography]
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You can view the full post-game press conference (Villanova) and some additional photos in the gallery below (click thumbnails to enlarge):
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