Villanova's Saddiq Bey had 22 points and eight rebounds, and Collin Gillespie added 20 points to lead the 23rd-ranked Wildcats to a 78-66 win at Saint Joseph's in a Big Five game in Philadelphia on Saturday.

The Wildcats (7-2) did not pull away until the last 4 minutes after Saint Joseph's (2-8) cut the lead to 65-62. Bey had six points in a game-ending 13-4 surge.

Jeremiah Robinson-Earl converted a 3-point play and made two free throws in the final 40 seconds to help secure the win. Justin Moore had 14 points, and Jermaine Samuels chipped in 12 for the Wildcats.

The Hawks were led by Ryan Daly's 32 points and five rebounds. No teammate scored in double figures.

Saint Joseph's has lost its past seven games while Villanova is 3-0 in the Big Five with a game remaining against Temple in February. The Hawks have games remaining against Big Five opponents La Salle, Temple and Penn.

Despite their losing streak, the Hawks hung around. A 3-pointer by Cameron Brown cut Villanova's lead to 63-60 with 4:51 left. That was the closest Saint Joseph's had been to the Wildcats since there was 17:10 left in the first half.

Villanova built a 41-25 lead at halftime behind 37 points from Gillespie, Samuels and Bey.

Saint Joseph's rallied at the start the second half with a 13-3 run, capped by a 3-pointer by Brown with 16:37 left that cut the lead to 44-38.

After Brandon Slater's jumper gave Villanova a 50-41 lead with 12:47 left, Saint Joseph's again responded by scoring on a 3-pointer by Myles Douglas and a layup by Anthony Longpre. Villanova called timeout with its lead trimmed to 50-46 with 11:40 left.

--Field Level Media