Justin Moore scored 13 of his 15 points in the first half to lift No. 12 Villanova to a convincing 87-53 victory over Hartford on Tuesday in a "Bubbleville" event at Uncasville, Conn.
Moore, Cole Swider, Caleb Daniels and Brandon Slater each drained three 3-pointers for the Wildcats (3-1), who made 15 of 37 attempts (40.5 percent) from beyond the arc.
Eric Dixon had 14 points and fellow bench players Swider and Slater each added 13. Villanova received 40 points from all of its bench players on Tuesday after totaling just 23 in the first three games.
Big East Player of the Week Jeremiah Robinson-Earl had two points and matched Dixon with a team-high 10 rebounds for the Wildcats.
Philadelphia native Traci Carter scored 13 points and Austin Williams added 11 for the Hawks (0-2), who made 7 of 23 attempts from 3-point range (30.4 percent).
Moses Flowers, who had a team-high 24 points in Hartford's 69-57 loss to Connecticut on Friday, missed his first six shots from the field before finishing with two points.
Playing its fourth game in seven days in Connecticut, Villanova benefited from an early sizzling shooting performance to make itself at home on Tuesday. The Wildcats made 16 of 31 shots from the floor (51.6 percent) and 8 of 19 from 3-point range (42.1 percent) to seize a 43-24 lead at intermission.
Villanova wasted little time bolting out of the blocks, with Daniels, Moore and Swider each draining a 3-pointer to give the Wildcats an early 9-2 lead.
Slater and Moore connected from beyond the arc midway into the first half and Moore and Collin Gillespie later did the same to extend Villanova's lead to 39-19 with 3:31 remaining.
Jermaine Samuels started the second half with a 3-pointer for Villanova, which overcame a 6-0 spurt by Hartford before breezing to victory.
--Field Level Media
Villanova | Hartford | |
Justin Moore 15 | Scoring | Traci Carter 13 |
Justin Moore 5 | Assists | DJ Mitchell 3 |
Eric Dixon 10 | Rebounds | Thomas Webley 6 |
Eric Dixon 2 | Free Throws Made | Thomas Webley 3 |
Collin Gillespie 1 | Steals | Austin Williams 2 |
Eric Dixon 1 | Blocks | N/A |