Villanova coach Wright wins 600th
Wildcats pull away in 2nd half for milestone
Collin Gillespie and Jeremiah Robinson-earl each scored 18 points for No. 7 Villanova, and coach Jay Wright won his 600th career game in an 85-66 victory over Butler on Wednesday night.
Wright (600-268) was already Villanova’s winningest coach and he became the 39th coach in Division I history to reach 600 wins. Wright is 478-183 since he was hired in 2001 and he has built the Wildcats into one of the elite programs in college basketball. Wright won national championships in 2016 and 2018 and again has the preseason favorite to win the Big East — a team expected to contend for another national title.
Wright earned the milestone in the latest home opener for Villanova since Dec. 22, 1992, against Vermont. The pandemic wreaked havoc on the schedule and Villanova had home games against Temple, Saint Joseph’s and Depaul canceled or postponed. So the Wildcats hit the road and went 4-1 in Connecticut’s “Bubbleville” and won at Texas and Georgetown.
Jair Bolden scored 18 points
and helped the Bulldogs (1-1, 0-1 Big East) stay competitive with 3-pointers that kept them within two in the second half.
Purdue 67, Ohio State 60:
Trevion Williams scored 16 points and came close to a triple-double, leading Purdue past No. 20 Ohio State. Purdue (5-2, 1-0 Big Ten) has won two straight and four of its past five. Justice Sueing led the Buckeyes (5-1, 0-1) with 14 points and Duane Washington Jr. had 13.
Women
Baylor 86, Southern 52: Queen Egbo recorded her second doubledouble with 15 points and 11 rebounds, Nalyssa Smith scored 16 points with eight boards and No. 7 Baylor took control in the second quarter of a victory over Southern (0-4). The Lady Bears (5-1) extended the nation’s longest active home winning streak to 59 games.
Depaul 86, Kentucky 82: Sonya Morris scored 23 points and Deja
Church added 18 to help No. 24 Depaul top ninth-ranked Kentucky. Both Morris and Church made a pair of free throws in the final 25 seconds to seal the Blue Demons’ second straight victory. Chastity Patterson had 22 points to lead Kentucky (6-1).
South Florida 66, Memphis 58:
Elisa Pinzan scored 19 points, Elena Tsineke added 14 and No. 23 South Florida (4-1) beat Memphis (2-3) in an American Athletic Conference opener for both teams.