City of Basketball Love

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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Villanova's undefeated streak in the Big 5 reached a dozen on Sunday afternoon, as the Wildcats shot the lights out in a 76-47 win over the Explorers of La Salle.

At First…
The first seven minutes of the game were back-and-forth, helped by the fact that the first media timeout didn’t come until past the 13-minute mark of the first half. And at that point, La Salle was keeping it close, trailing just 16-12 despite starting center Tony Washington hitting the bench with two fouls just two minutes into the game.

Turning Point…
Leading by 15 at the half, Villanova slammed the door shut out of the break. The Wildcats made nine of their first 10 shots of the second half, including six of their first seven 3-pointers, to open up a 33-point lead on the Explorers, who had no response for a relentless ‘Nova attack.

Standout Stars…
It’s tough to pick someone on Villanova who wasn’t on top of his game on Sunday afternoon. Junior wing Josh Hart led all scorers with 18 points on 7-of-13 shooting; senior point guard Ryan Arcidiacono (14 points, seven assists), freshman point guard Jalen Brunson (13 points), redshirt freshman Mikal Bridges (12) and sophomore point guard Phil Booth (10) all joined him in double figures.

Noteworthy Numbers…
3: That’s the number of point guards Villanova put in its starting lineup, as Booth joined Arcidiacono and Brunson for the opening tip for the first time all season.

1103: The number of days since Villanova last lost a Big 5 game. That was on Dec. 5, 2012, when Temple came to the Pavilion and walked away with a 76-61 victory. Since then it’s been a dozen straight wins for the Wildcats in the city series, who are going for their third straight outright title in the 60th year of the competition.

Up Next…
No. 9 Villanova (7-1) @ No. 10 Virginia (8-1) (Dec. 19, Noon, Charlottesville, Va.)
La Salle (4-3) vs. No. 17 Miami (Fl.) (8-1) (Dec. 22, 5 PM, Palestra)