National Basketball Association
Villanova 72, Seton Hall 63
When: 7:00 PM ET, Wednesday, January 6, 2016
Where: The Pavilion, Villanova, Pennsylvania
Officials:
# Pat Driscoll, # Lamar Simpson, # Paul Szelc
Attendance:
6500
By The Sports Xchange
VILLANOVA, Pa. -- It was clear early on that Villanova and Seton Hall were not going to play a flashy, high-scoring game on Wednesday night. That was just fine with Daniel Ochefu.
The Villanova senior big man scored 20 points and grabbed 18 rebounds in his team's 72-63 triumph over the Pirates at the Pavilion. The win made the Wildcats (13-2, 3-0) the lone remaining undefeated team in what has been a competitive Big East early in the conference season.
Villanova struggled to shoot the ball, but luckily it had the 6-foot-11 Ochefu inside to clean up misses and be a consistent source of offense. It was his sixth double-double of the season and his third in the last four games.
"We love these types of games, myself especially," said Ochefu, who went 6-for-13 from the field and 8-for-10 from the foul line. "But our team loves it as well, Our practices are uglier than this game. But something we work on every day is preparing for this type of game."
The 18 boards were the second-most of Ochefu's career, and there were plenty of missed shots to be corralled. Villanova shot just 36.2 percent from the field and a lousy 18.2 percent from the 3-point arc, but Ochefu was a big reason why the home side held a 47-39 rebounding advantage.
"His rebounding has really hurt us," Seton Hall coach Kevin Willard said of Ochefu. "I think he was just dominant on the boards. He did a great job of staying with it, pursuing it. He understands where their misses are going to come off."
Wednesday marked the third time this season the Wildcats were limited to four made 3-pointers or fewer in a contest -- a rarity for a guard-heavy team that averaged 9.1 made triples per game entering the game against Seton Hall.
The Wildcats hit just two 3-pointers in each half, and it took the Wildcats until the 6:30 mark in the first half to sink their first shot from long distance.
Junior forward Kris Jenkins hit three of those triples, and he finished with 11 points and six rebounds. Junior guard Josh Hart chipped in 15 points for Villanova, which was heavily aided by the foul line, where it went 26-for-32.
"For most of the game, I thought they did a good job of understanding what we wanted them to do and who we wanted to kind of give up," Willard said of his team's defense. "They're such a talented team and an older team that you kind of have to pick your poison, and I thought we did a good job for the most part."
Sophomore guard Isaiah Whitehead led Seton Hall (12-3, 2-1) with 20 points and went 7-for-17 from the field. He was helped by backcourt mate Khadeen Carrington, a fellow sophomore who finished with 14 points, but was limited due to foul trouble.
Seton Hall similarly struggled from the field, however, shooting 35.6 percent. The team also missed opportunities from the foul line, making only 15 of its 25 free-throw attempts.
"It was an old school Big East game," Villanova coach Jay Wright said afterward. "Ugly to watch, ugly to coach. But you have to grind those out, and you have to find ways to win. Our two seniors were tough, but our young guys, I don't know if they were ready for that physical of a game. But we'll learn and we'll be better."
One of those younger guys was Wildcats freshman Jalen Brunson. The guard went 0-for-6 from the field in 28 minutes and finished with just two points -- well off his 11.7 points per game average.
As Wright said afterward, it was a good test for Brunson and a good test for the entire team, which is not going to have many easy wins in conference play. Villanova is looking for its third consecutive Big East regular-season crown, and, as the only undefeated team left in the conference, the Wildcats are off to a good start.
But Wright knows it's a long way from finished.
"You're going to get it night in and night out," Wright said of the league. "And I think that's what we're going to take from tonight's game. There are nights when we're not going to be making shots, and we'll have to do other things. We'll have to defend and rebound."
NOTES: Seton Hall F Angel Delgado entered Wednesday's game with seven consecutive double-doubles, the first Pirate to accomplish the feat since Eddie Griffin did so in the 2000-01 season. He had just four points and four rebounds Wednesday. ... The Wildcats were playing for the first time since moving up to No. 11 in the Associated Press poll. They rose five spots from the previous poll after topping No. 10 Xavier and Creighton last week. ... Villanova and Seton Hall split last year's season series, each winning on the other's home court. The Pirates handed the Wildcats their first loss of last season on Jan. 3, 2015.
Top Game Performances
Seton Hall |
|
Villanova |
Isaiah Whitehead 20 |
Scoring |
Daniel Ochefu 20 |
Ismael Sanogo 4 |
Assists |
Josh Hart 4 |
Derrick Gordon 10 |
Rebounds |
Daniel Ochefu 18 |
Desi Rodriguez 5 |
Free Throws Made |
Daniel Ochefu 8 |
Derrick Gordon 2 |
Steals |
Jalen Brunson 2 |
Angel Delgado 1 |
Blocks |
Kris Jenkins 2 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
Seton Hall
|
63 |
35.6 |
6-16 |
15-25 |
11 |
35 |
2 |
8 |
12 |
Villanova
|
72 |
36.2 |
4-22 |
26-32 |
11 |
43 |
2 |
7 |
13 |