City of Basketball Love

Ari Rosenfeld (@realA_rosenfeld)
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In a battle of early-season unbeatens, 11th-ranked Villanova overcame yet another slow start to defeat Akron, 75-56, led by a career-high 27 points from junior wing Josh Hart.

At first…
Akron came out on fire from the field, hitting 10 of its first 17 shots and jumping out to a quick 16-8 lead. At the same time, the Wildcats were getting some good looks but were struggling to convert, making just 11 of their first 29 field goals and four of their first 12 attempts from beyond the arc. Zips point guard Antino Jackson hit three treys in the opening minutes, and Villanova didn’t hold a single lead over the first 18 minutes of the game.

Turning point…
With just under two minutes remaining in the first half, junior guard Josh Hart continued his hot start with an and-one finish, giving him 15 points on the game and giving the Wildcats their first lead of the game at 34-31. The bucket was part of a 9-0 run to close the half, and coincided with Akron going cold and missing 11 of 13 field goals. When all was said and done, the run was 27-5 spanning across halftime and ‘Nova held a commanding 56-36 lead.

Shining stars…
Hart was simply all over the court for the Wildcats, scoring a career-high 27 points, knocking down three triples, and grabbing nine boards to boot. When his teammates were struggling from the floor early on, Hart kept the team afloat with 15 first half points on an efficient 6-for-11 shooting performance.

Ryan Arcidiacono played his typically strong floor game, chipping 15 points and eight assists without any turnovers.

Noteworthy numbers…
The Wildcats once again struggled from beyond the arc, shooting just 9-for-28 (32.1 percent) on the game. Hart and Kris Jenkins knocked down three apiece, with the rest of the team combining for just three more from long range.

On a positive note, Villanova turned the ball over just seven times after entering the game with an average of 11.7 giveaways per game; on the defensive end, they forced the Zips into 16 turnovers.

Up next…
Vilanova (4-0) vs. Stanford (2-1) (Nov 26, 4:30 p.m. @ Barclays Center)
Akron (3-1) @ Green Bay (0-3) (Nov 24, 8:00 p.m.)