National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Villanova 68, DePaul 55
When: 2:00 PM ET, Saturday, January 31, 2015
Where: Allstate Arena, Rosemont, Illinois
Officials: # Jeffrey Anderson, # Tim Clougherty, # Ed Corbett
Attendance: 7532

No. 7 Villanova 68, DePaul 55: Ryan Arcidiacono and JayVaughn Pinkston combined to score 30 of their 32 points in the second half as the visiting Wildcats rallied for a Big East triumph.

Arcidiacono was scoreless in the first half before scoring 18 points after intermission, while Pinkston shot 10-of-10 from the foul line, including 8-of-8 in the second half, and finished with 14 points. Darrun Hilliard II essentially had the opposite performance, scoring all of 11 of his points in the first half for Villanova (19-2, 6-2), which has won five of six.

Billy Garrett Jr. paced DePaul (11-12, 5-5) with 14 points and had eight of the team's 12 assists. The Blue Demons' downfall included 9-of-16 free-throw shooting and a 35-18 disadvantage on the boards.

Holding a 49-46 lead with under eight minutes left, Villanova unleashed a 9-2 run, capped by Daniel Ochefu's dunk, to push the advantage to double digits. Arcidiacono made a jumper, a 3-pointer and three free throws down the stretch to keep the Wildcats comfortably ahead as they went on to defeat the Blue Demons for the 10th straight time.

DePaul shot 52 percent - 5-of-11 from 3-point range - in the opening half as Garrett's 10 points staked the team to a 37-31 lead at intermission. The Blue Demons' lead still sat at six points when Arcidiacono made a layup and converted a four-point play on back-to-back possessions before a bucket by Josh Hart and two free throws by Pinkston gave Villanova its biggest lead to that point at 45-41.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Hilliard shot 5-of-7 in the first half. His teammates combined to go 5-of-17. ... DePaul C Tommy Hamilton IV scored nine points but did not grab a rebound. ... Ochefu had a game-high 12 rebounds to go with seven points.
Top Game Performances
 
Villanova   DePaul
Ryan Arcidiacono 18 Scoring Billy Garrett Jr. 14
Kris Jenkins 4 Assists Billy Garrett Jr. 8
Daniel Ochefu 12 Rebounds Billy Garrett Jr. 4
JayVaughn Pinkston 10 Free Throws Made Billy Garrett Jr. 6
Darrun Hilliard 3 Steals Myke Henry 1
Josh Hart 1 Blocks Tommy Hamilton IV 1
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Villanova 68 45.5 5-19 23-27 11 33 2 6 10
DePaul 55 42.2 8-23 9-16 12 17 3 1 8