Quick Report: Villanova 68, DePaul 65

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After an ugly first half, Villanova fought their way through a gritty second half on their way to a 68-65 win over DePaul to extend their school-record win streak to 19 games as well as tie the school-record for best start to a season as they improved to 13-0 for their 2016-17 campaign.

At First…

Villanova did not look itself early on as an ugly offensive half plagued the top team in the country. After turning the ball over nine times and shooting just 5-of-16 (.313) from beyond the arc in the early going, Villanova took a 32-24 lead into the half. The lone bright spot for the Wildcats in the early going was senior forward Kris Jenkins, who scored nine first half points on 2-of-3 shooting from beyond the arc and also converted on all three of his free throw attempts.

Leading by just four points, 39-35, with 14:38 to go, Jenkins drilled a three from the left wing to give Villanova a seven point lead. Jenkins’ bucket sparked a 12-4 Villanova run over the next 3:32 that would extend their lead to 12 with just under 11 minutes of play remaining.

Turning Point...

DePaul responded to the Villanova run with one of their own, as the Blue Demons spun off a 14-0 run of their own to take a 53-51 with 6:26 to go. It looked like the nation’s No. 1 team could be in true danger of losing their first contest of the season until an and-one basket by Josh Hart broke a deadlock at 58 and gave Villanova a 61-58 lead with 1:57 to go that Villanova would hold onto until the final buzzer sounded.

Standout Stars…

Per the usual for Villanova, it was the senior guard Hart that led the way for the Wildcats. The National Player of the Year candidate racked up 25 points while also adding in six rebounds, all while never committing a turnover. Aiding Hart’s effort was sophomore guard Jalen Brunson. Brunson did it all for Villanova as he cashed in for 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting, while dishing out a team-high of six assists and reeling in four rebounds.

Junior forward Tre'Darius McCallum carried the load for DePaul as the 6-foot-7 wing torched Villanova for a team-high of 19 points on 9-of-13 shooting while also grabbing seven rebounds.

Noteworthy Number…

14- The amount of times Villanova turned the ball over. This marks their second-highest total on the season, falling just short of the 17 turnovers they made in their win over Penn on November 29th.

Up Next…

No. 1 Villanova (13-0) @ No. 10/9 Creighton (13-0), Sat., Dec. 31, 1:00 PM

DePaul (7-7) vs. St. John’s (6-7), Sun., Jan. 1, 1:00 PM