The Sports Xchange
Dec 27, 2017
Mikal Bridges scored 20 points, and No. 1 Villanova opened Big East play with an easy 103-85 win over host DePaul on Wednesday at Wintrust Arena in Chicago.
Villanova (13-0, 1-0 Big East) never trailed and led by as many as 30 points in the second half. The Wildcats hit 15 of 31 3-point attempts and reached 100 points for the third time this season.
Max Strus scored 20 points and Marin Maric added 17 points and 10 rebounds for the Blue Demons (7-6, 0-1), who dropped their 15th straight game to Villanova.
Seven Wildcats finished in double figures. Phil Booth had 17 points, Jalen Brunson and Eric Paschall each scored 16, and freshman forward Omari Spellman had 12 points and 12 rebounds for Villanova. Donte DiVincenzo and Jermaine Samuels finished with 11 apiece.
The Wildcats stormed out to an 18-6 lead. DiVincenzo hit a pair of 3-pointers during the hot start.
DePaul climbed back into the game and was down only 28-21 on a layup from Maric with eight minutes left in the first half. However, the Wildcats turned it on when they needed to and took a 48-33 lead into halftime.
Villanova opened the second half with a 15-5 run, capped by a layup by DiVincenzo that pushed the Wildcats' lead to 63-38. Villanova hit six of its first seven 3-pointers in the second half and was never seriously threatened.
The Wildcats are off to a 13-0 start for the second straight season.
DePaul outrebounded Villanova 50-31 and had 22 offensive rebounds but couldn't keep up with the hot-shooting Wildcats, who hit 54.3 percent of their shots. The Blue Demons shot 40.8 percent from the floor.
NOTES: Villanova remained ranked No. 1 in the AP Top 25 for a third straight week. It is the 13th week in the past three seasons that the Wildcats have been No. 1. ... DePaul fell to 3-21 all-time against No. 1-ranked teams. The Blue Demons' last win over a top-ranked team came 65 years ago to the day. DePaul beat La Salle on Dec. 27, 1952. ... DePaul travels to No. 6 Xavier on Saturday. ... The Wildcats are at Butler on Saturday.