Spellman bounces back in cozy confines at Nevin
RADNOR » Returning home was just what Omari Spellman needed to get his offensive game back on track.
The redshirt freshman forward started the season with a bang, averaging 11.7 points in the first three games, but struggled when the Wildcats went to the Bahamas for the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament last week.
Spellman scored just seven points in the three games and was a woeful 3-for-21 from the field. That included an 0-for-8 outing in the championship victory over Northern Iowa.
But Spellman showed no signs of those offensive woes in Tuesday’s 90-62 Big 5 romp over Penn at the Jake Nevin Field House Wednesday night.
He hit his first four shots of the game, including a pair of 3-pointers, as the fourthranked Wildcats (7-0 overall, 1-0 Big 5) extended their record city series winning streak to 19 games.
“For Big O, it was great,” Villanova coach Jay Wright said. “He’s been doing a lot of the little good little things like rebounding and playing unselfishly. It was good to see him get it going offensively.”
Spellman said he did nothing more than play his game.
“I just tried to do the things I always do in practice,” Spellman said. “I really wasn’t trying to do anything different. I just tried to make the right plays and good things happened today.”
The 3-pointers opened up the defense for other shooters. The dunk not only gave Villanova a 16-11 lead, but brought the boisterous crowd of 2,200 to its feet, even though he got away with an infraction.
“I double dribbled,” Spellman said. “They didn’t call it, but I definitely double dribbled. I went to pass to Mikal (Bridges) and it was all bad, but they didn’t call it.”
*** quietly Brunson went over the 1,000-point mark for his career last week in the Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas. That means all five starters from the 2016 national championship team are members of the 1,000-point club at Villanova.
At his current pace, swingman Mikal Bridges (730 career points) should join that group this season. The 6-7 junior is averaging 17.9 points per game. And if guard Phil Booth (580 career points) returns next season, he stands a good chance to join the millennium club, too.
*** NOTES » With its win over Penn, Villanova finished undefeated in November for the fifth year in a row. The Wildcats are 34-0 in that span. The last November loss was a 77-74 setback in overtime to La Salle in 2012 … The Wildcats continue Big 5 play when they visit Hagan Arena to take on Saint Joseph’s in the Holy War Saturday afternoon (5:30). Then it’s off to New York to play No. 15 Gonzaga in the Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square Garden.