Free throw gap dooms La Salle in bid for upset
PHILADELPHIA » John Giannini looked at the box score following Villanova’s 77-68 victory over La Salle Sunday at the Wells Fargo Center and shook his head.
The La Salle coach could not believe his eyes.
The Explorers had six more total field goals than the fourthranked Wildcats and two more 3-pointers. La Salle forced Villanova into 43 percent shooting from the field and 30 percent from 3-point range, its worst shooting performance in both categories in the same game since the opener against Columbia.
“I don’t know how we lost by nine,” Giannini said. “We outshot them from the field. We outshot them from three. They didn’t beat us by nine. Great team, the best team in the country and one of the best men and coaches in the country, but they didn’t beat us by nine. That stat sheet tells me they didn’t beat us by nine.”
It did once Giannini looked at the team fouls and free throw categories. La Salle (5-6, 2-1 Big 5) was whistled for 24 fouls and had two players, Pookie Powell and Isiah Deas, foul out. Villanova was charged with 12 fouls. Eric Paschall was the only Wildcat with four fouls.
The free throw discrepancy was worse. Villanova shot 27-for-35 while the Explorers were 4-for-5.
“It was a pretty evenly matched game,” Giannini said. “I think we defended well. I think it was evenly played and the stats show that except for one category. They’re big and strong, and they’re going to get to the line, but the difference was just too gigantic to overcome.
“That’s a 23-point differential. That’s a lot to overcome … I’m not surprised that they got to the line more than us because they’re really good, but I am surprised that it was that enormous of a differential.”
Giannni wasn’t complaining, either. He gave the Wildcats (10-0, 3-0) credit for making the plays they had to make to stretch their Big 5 winning streak to 21 games and grab a share of their fifth straight city series title. The Explorers had a 62-61 lead with 4:46 to play, but the Wildcats went on a 10-2 run over the next 2:07 to foil La Salle’s upset bid.
“You have to play almost perfectly to beat those guys,” Giannini said.
*** Phil Booth continued his offensive surge with 18 points to share team-high honors with guard Donte DiVincenco, who also grabbed 10 rebounds. Booth was 4-for-6 from the field that included a 3-for-4 effort from 3-point range. He was also 7-for-7 from the foul line.
Yet his defense may have been the key to Villanova’s victory.
He came out of nowhere to block a shot by 6-10 center Tony Washington early in the second half that could have given the Explorers a 46-45 lead.
“They do a great job of rolling,” Booth said. “The five-man, he really gets to the front of the rim and Pookie threw it up to him. I was kind of late, but I just tried to make a play.”
Booth came up big again later in the half when he rejected a layup attempt by Powell with about three minutes left and the Wildcats clinging to a 69-64 lead.
“Pookie had it going in the second half, just as he has done before against us,” Booth said. “I was just trying to make a play against he when he came down the lane.”
Give Paschall a lot of credit for shutting down BJ Johnson down the stretch. Johnson led all scorers with 21 points, but had no points and just two shots after hitting a 3-pointer with 6:12 to play in the game.
“Eric’s our best defensive player,” Villanova coach Jay Wright said. “He got two fouls in 45 seconds (in the first half) and that hurt us.”
*** The Wildcats will be without guard Collin Gillespie for “three to four weeks,” with an injury to his left, non-shooting hand, Wright said. The 6-3 freshman from Archbishop Wood suffered the injury in practice and did not play against the Explorers. He sat on the bench with the hand in a splint.
“Someone fell on his hand in practice. He was on the floor and someone fell on his hand,” Wright said. “It’s the back of his hand and we really don’t know what it is yet. “They put him in a splint so we know it’s not good.”
Gillespie has been producing off the bench, averaging 4.4 points on 46 percent shooting overall (13-for-28) and 42 percent from 3-point range (9-for-21) in 13 minutes per game.
“It’s just a bruise,” Wright said. “We missed him tonight. We needed another perimeter shooter and we struggled without him.”
*** Put together a list of all the men who have coached in the Big 5 and it’s a Who’s who of Philadelphia basketball. Hall-of-Famers Jack Ramsey, Harry Litwack, Chuck Daly and John Chaney are just a few of the coaches who called the Big 5 home.
Rollie Massimino, Speedy Morris, Jack McKinney, Jack McCloskey, Paul Westhead, Fran Dunphy and Phil Martelli are also part of that legacy.
Yet the man with the most wins in Big 5 games is Jay Wright.
Villanova’s victory over La Salle was Wright’s 55th city series history.
“Wow,” Wright know that.”
Chaney is second with 52 Big 5 victories. Rounding out the top five are Dunphy (48), Massimino (41) and Martelli (39). It should be noted that Chaney and Dunphy coached during the eight-year span from 1992-99 when the Big 5 only played two games and not a full round-robin schedule. That cost them a total of 16 games. Martelli was involved in the last four years of that two-game schedule.
At 55-12, Wright also has the highest winning percentage in city series game history (82). Wright can claim his record ninth outright title with a win at Temple Wednesday.
“It’s shocking,” Wright said. “I can’t get over it. I’m trying to digest it. It’s very humbling because all of those guys were my idols. I went to Harry Litwack’s camp, Jack Kraft’s camp, Rollie Massimino, Paul Westhead, All those guys. I wanted to go to La Salle and play for Paul Westhead. It’s very humbling and shocking.” said. “I didn’t