Big East Basketball: No. 1 Villanova coasts to victory over Seton Hall

Top-ranked Villanova kept pace with Creighton atop of the Big East basketball conference standings with a victory over Seton Hall.

The Villanova Wildcats, who returned to the top of the Associated Press’ poll, coasted to a 76-46 home victory over the Seton Hall Pirates at The Pavilion on the Main Line.

Related Story: Creighton shows mental toughness in road win at Xavier

Kris Jenkins scored a game-high 16 points to lead five Wildcats (17-1, 6-1 Big East) in double-figures. Jalen Brunson contributed 13 points and six assists, while Josh Hart had a well rounded game with 11 points, four rebounds, four steals, as well as three assists. Eric Paschall and Donte DiVincenzo  added 10 points apiece off the bench.

“It was a real good win for us against a very good Seton Hall team,” Villanova head coach Jay Wright said. “It wasn’t their night tonight. We know we have to see them again. They are much better than that. We were good tonight and it was nice to have our students back. It was a totally different atmosphere in there. I’m proud of the leadership from our seniors tonight.”

Both teams got off to a slow start as Seton Hall’s Khadeen Carrington opened the scoring with a three-pointer 1:45 into the game. That would be Seton Hall’s only field goal over the first 9:28 of the half as the Wildcats completely confused the Pirates with their combination defense. The Pirates missed 17 of their first 20 shots.

Villanova used its suffocating defense to ignite a 8-0 run to go up 12-5. Mikal Bridges then knocked down the Wildcats’ third three-pointer of the game, and Darryl Reynolds electrified the crowd with this follow-up dunk to increase the lead to double-digits.

A three-point play by DiVincenzo gave the the Wildcats their biggest lead of the first half, 25-7, with 8:10 to go.

The Hall battled back late in the half as they got into the teeth of the Wildcats’ defense with penetration. Desi Rodriguez concluded a 16-8 Pirates run to cut the deficit to 10 with a three-pointer. But Hart answered Rodriguez’s triple with a trey of his own to make the score 36-23 at the half.

Villanova held Seton Hall to just 27.6 percent from the field (8-of-27). Offensively, the Wildcats moved the ball well, compiling seven assists on their 12 field goals. Jenkins led the way with seven first half points.

The second half belonged to Villanova as well. The Wildcats opened the stanza with a 9-1 run that included a Hart steal and flush.

Jenkins had a very efficient shooting night as he was 4-of-8 from the field and 4-of-6 from beyond the arc. He knocked down three trifectas to help push the Wildcats lead from 22 points to 34 (65-31) with 10:33 left.

Villanova is back at No. 1 in the AP rankings following a one week hiatus. The Wildcats fell to third in the poll after their loss to Butler. They returned to the top spot as a result of their win over Xavier and Baylor’s first loss of the season.

Villanova’s defense was strong all night, limiting Seton Hall to a season-low point total. The Wildcats held the Pirates to 16-of-55 shooting (29.1 percent shooting) and 7-of-28 from beyond the arc (25 percent). The ‘Cats also scored 27 points off 16 Pirates turnovers, which includes seven fast break points.

Next: Is Villanova number one in our latest top 25?

Seton Hall has lost three straight games. Rodriguez was the only Pirate in double-figures with 15 points.