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Spellman’s breakout night keys 87-67 ‘Nova win at Temple

12/14/2017, 1:00am EST
By Jeff Griffith

Omari Spellman (above) had a career-high 27 points in Villanova's win over Temple on Wednesday night. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

Jeff Griffith (@Jeff_Griffith21)
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Omari Spellman has played 11 games in a Villanova uniform.

In each of those contests, for the most part, the redshirt freshman big man has seen gradual improvement, particularly since a scoreless outing against Northern Iowa on Nov. 24.

That crescendoing start to his young Villanova career reached an unprecedented pinnacle in one of the Wildcats’ marquee non-conference games, the de facto Big 5 title game against Temple.

Fueled in large part by his standout second-half performance, Villanova earned its fifth straight title and its 22nd consecutive victory in the city series, by a final of 87-67, Wednesday night at the Liacouras Center.

“They took away all our perimeter guys, and it left Omari open,” Villanova head coach Jay Wright said. “He was either going to make shots and we were going to be good tonight, or he was going to miss shots and we were going to be in a tight game. Obviously he made them, I thought that was the big difference.”

With senior wing Mikal Bridges kept under wraps, senior guard Phil Booth hampered with a virus, and freshman guard Colin Gillespie out with a wrist injury, Spellman was able to get loose and showcase his outside threat, while remaining equally impressive in the paint. 

Spellman found his rhythm early on, scoring five of the Wildcats’ first ten points as they opened up a 17-4 advantage in the game’s first five. That lead quickly ballooned to 20 points on the hot hand of junior point guard Jalen Brunson, who finished with a career-high 31 points to lead all scorers.

After Temple fought to within seven on the wings of a 13-0 run, the 6-foot-9, 245-pound Spellman found the bottom of the net once again from long-range to push the Wildcats’ lead back to double digits, a threshold it would never cross back over for the remainder of the game.

Spellman, a 43 percent three-point shooter — a clip that ranks third on the Wildcats' roster — marks the first time under Jay Wright that Villanova has had this kind of shooting presence out of its center.

“We still want to keep developing him as a post player, and he did a good job tonight, but we can’t disregard the fact that he’s one of our best shooters,” Wright said. “Again, with Phil down tonight and losing GIllespie, we said to him you’ve got to do this, I’m sure he’s been waiting for it, he never asked, but he showed what he can do tonight.”

On Wednesday night, he shot 4-of-7 from deep, with two of those makes coming before halftime. 

It was in the second half, though, that Spellman truly made his mark on the Wildcats’ dominant half-decade of Big 5 play. He took over both inside and outside of the paint on his way to a career-high 27-point outing against the Owls.

The former five star recruit, who sat out last season, shot 11-of-14 from the field while also snatching a team-high eight rebounds.

“We need an inside presence, and we know he can do it, and we’re working on him with it and he’s doing a great job,” Wright added. “As we’re doing it, we’re working on footwork and we’re watching and we’re saying like, this kid, we chart our shooting every day and this kid is one of our best shooters.”

For Spellman, he attributed the growth he’s experienced over the first month of his college playing career to the guidance he’s received from the guys around him.   

“It definitely helps to be around players that are as good as my teammates are, and just learning from them every day,” Spellman said. “I’m very appreciative of my teammates and my coaches, they make it a lot easier for me. I’m very thankful for them.”

Facing a career night from Spellman, as well as Brunson, the Owls, in most respects, played a statistically sound game. Temple shot 47 percent from the field and 7-of-19 from outside, was only outrebounded by two, and turned the ball over just 11 times, the same amount as its opponent.

But Villanova, as it has now been for five years of undefeated Big 5 play, was just that much better, shooting a blistering 60 percent from the feld. The Wildcats were unstoppable from beyond the arc, with four different players connecting on 13 of their 28 total three-point attempts, on top of a 21-9 advantage in fast break points.

And while Brunson having a major impact on the game wasn’t particularly out of the ordinary, a breakout performance from Spellman was more than the Owls could handle.

“Spellman, you’re trying to pick your poison a little bit,” Dunphy said. “We knew he could make shots because he had done it in previous games. But you’re just hoping that he’s not going to be as efficient as he was, he was terrific.”

With another Big 5 title wrapped up, Villanova will soon take its undefeated record into Big East play, barring a misstep against Hofstra following a nine-day hiatus. The Owls will look to rebound Saturday against Drexel, with a road test at Georgia looming ahead of their American Athletic Conference slate.


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